Binaural Beats
Generate binaural beats live or as WAV files — honest about the science.
About this generator
Pick a beat frequency (or a delta/theta/alpha/beta/gamma preset), press play with headphones on, and adjust live. The download button renders up to 30 minutes of clean WAV with gentle fades. Headphones are mandatory — the effect is one tone per ear.
The real illusion and the oversold claims
The binaural beat itself is solid, replicated perceptual science: play 200 Hz in one ear and 210 Hz in the other and you perceive a 10 Hz pulsing that exists in neither signal — it's constructed in the brainstem where the ears' inputs first meet, and it only works with headphones (through speakers the tones mix in the air into an ordinary acoustic beat). Discovered in 1839, verified endlessly since. The oversold part is "brainwave entrainment" — the claim that a 10 Hz beat drives your brain into 10 Hz alpha states and thereby sleep, focus or meditation on demand. The honest research summary: results are mixed, effects where found are modest, and reviews call for better studies. What's uncontroversial: many people genuinely find the sound pleasant to work or drift to, it's harmless, and a steady tone bed masks distracting noise the way white noise does. Use it because you like it — that's reason enough. The labels on the presets say "associated with", and that's the honest verb. The tone generator plays the raw single frequencies for the curious.
Frequently asked questions
Do binaural beats actually work?
The auditory illusion is real and well-documented. The entrainment claims (forcing brain states) have mixed, modest evidence — this page labels presets 'associated with' because that's what the research supports.
Why do I need headphones?
The illusion requires each ear receiving its own tone — the beat is constructed inside your auditory system. Through speakers, the tones mix in the air and the binaural effect is gone.
Which preset should I try first?
Alpha (10 Hz) is the crowd favourite for relaxed focus, with a carrier around 200 Hz. If the pulsing distracts rather than settles, plain white or brown noise may suit you better.
How long can the download be?
Up to 30 minutes of WAV (about 300 MB at stereo 44.1 kHz). It fades in and out gently and loops cleanly for longer sessions.