Binaural Beats Generator

A free binaural beats generator with a timer and downloads

This binaural beats generator plays two pure tones, one in each ear, a few hertz apart. Your brain hears the difference as a slow, soft pulsing — the “beat” — even though neither tone pulses. Choose the carrier tone (40–1,000 Hz) and the beat rate (0.5–45 Hz, including the popular 40 Hz), add a pink, brown or white noise bed if you like, set a session timer, and press Play. You can also download the same sound as a WAV or MP3 file of up to an hour.

For listening without headphones there is an isochronic mode: one tone in both ears that switches on and off at the beat rate, so the pulse is in the sound itself. Everything is generated in your browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no sign-up.

How to use the Binaural Beats Generator

1. Put on headphones and set your device volume low. Binaural beats only work when each ear hears its own tone.
2. Pick a Beat preset (2, 6, 10, 18 or 40 Hz) or type your own Carrier tone and Beat frequency.
3. Optionally choose a Noise bed and its level, and a Session timer.
4. Press Play. The sound fades in over five seconds and, with a timer, fades out and stops at the end.
5. To keep it, choose a Length and Format under Download and press Download.

Binaural Beats Generator features

What the science says — and doesn’t

The beat itself is real and well documented: it is a perception created in the auditory brainstem when the two ears receive slightly different frequencies, and it is easiest to hear with carriers below about 1,000 Hz and beat rates under about 30 Hz.

Claims that binaural beats “entrain” brainwaves and so improve focus, sleep, anxiety, memory or anything else are not established. A 2023 systematic review in PLOS ONE (Ingendoh, Posny and Heine) found 14 studies on brain activity: five supported entrainment, eight contradicted it and one was mixed, with very different methods. The band names on this page — delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma — describe EEG frequency ranges only. Use the sound as a listening aid or background if you enjoy it, not as a treatment, and talk to a doctor about sleep, attention or mental-health concerns.

Safety

• Keep the volume low: the tones are pure and steady, and long sessions at high level can damage hearing. Stop if you notice ringing, pain or dizziness.
• Do not listen while driving, cycling or doing anything that needs your full attention.
• If you have epilepsy or another seizure disorder, or a pacemaker or other medical condition you are unsure about, ask a doctor before using rhythmic sound stimulation. The on-screen pulse slows to a steady glow above 8 Hz and stops animating if your device asks for reduced motion.
• Children should use it only with an adult setting the volume.

Choosing settings

Lower carriers (100–300 Hz) sound warmer and make the beat easier to hear. For single test tones, sweeps and hearing checks use the Tone Generator; for longer soundscapes try the Noise Generator or the Ambient Sound Mixer.