Morse Code Audio Translator

This page is the MorseDecoder audio workspace: one place to hear Morse as a clean tone and to turn recorded or uploaded beeps back into readable text. People search for “morse to sound” and “audio morse code” when they need both directions — practice by ear on the way out, and recovery of a clip they cannot copy by eye on the way in. The tool UI above stays focused on that job. You keep the same translator card, Audio tab, Play / WAV actions, and Advanced playback controls; the sections below explain how to use them well.

If you already have dots and dashes typed out, start on the Morse decoder online home page and paste there. When the Morse arrives as sound — a practice file, a clip from a radio net, a phone recording of a keyer — stay here. When you want to knock Morse with your finger instead of listening, open the Morse code tap translator. When you need a shareable picture of Morse built from text, use the Morse code image translator (text to image export only).

Everything on this page runs in your browser. Playback uses the Web Audio API. Decoding uses short-frame analysis and a Goertzel filter tuned near 600 Hz. Timing follows ITU-style unit ratios (dot one unit, dash three, symbol gap one, letter gap three, word gap seven), with the PARIS-standard unit length of 1200 / WPM milliseconds. You do not create an account, and decoding does not depend on a server round-trip.

Converting Morse to sound is the outbound half of the page. Type plain English (or paste Morse) into the text field. The Morse line updates as you type. Press Play to hear a sine tone shaped with a soft gain envelope so the starts and stops of each element are clear without hard clicks. Press WAV when you want the same rendering as a downloadable file for drills, sharing, or offline listening.

Open Advanced playback before you hit Play if you care about speed or pitch. The WPM slider sets overall character rate. The tone slider sets frequency in Hertz (600 Hz is the decode-friendly default). Volume scales output level. Loop repeats the phrase so you can drill without pressing Play every pass. Farnsworth is covered in the practice section below; set it equal to WPM when you want standard spacing.

A simple outbound workflow

1. Enter a short phrase you already know, such as SOS, CQ, or HELLO WORLD, using the example chips if you like.
2. Set WPM to a pace you can follow (18 is a practical starting point).
3. Press Play and listen for the 1:3 relationship between dots and dashes.
4. Change one setting at a time — only tone, or only WPM — so your ear learns what each control does.
5. Export WAV when the phrase sounds right, then listen away from the browser.

Outbound audio is useful beyond casual curiosity. Instructors build listening homework. New operators check whether their fist “sounds” even before they touch a key. Designers and makers preview bracelet or tattoo lettering as sound. Because the renderer follows fixed unit math, two people with the same WPM and Farnsworth settings hear the same rhythm.

If Play is silent, check the volume slider, your device mute switch, and browser autoplay rules (many browsers require a click before audio starts — pressing Play is that click). If the Morse line looks empty, swap direction or clear and re-enter text. The Audio tab’s Play current Morse control is another way to trigger the same tone path from the upload/record panel.

Inbound decoding is for clips you cannot read as dots on a screen. Stay on the Audio tab. You have two inputs:

• Upload Morse audio — choose a WAV, MP3, or M4A file of single-tone Morse. The file is read with decodeAudioData in the browser.
• Record 5s — grant microphone permission when asked, then key or play Morse near the mic for about five seconds. When the window ends, the same detector runs on the captured buffer.

Under the hood, the signal is split into short frames. A Goertzel filter measures energy near 600 Hz. An adaptive threshold turns “tone on” and “tone off” into a run-length pattern. Those runs become dots, dashes, and gaps, then letters via the Morse alphabet. The decoded Morse stays editable, so you can fix a stray element by hand before you trust the English line.

What decodes cleanly

Clear, single-tone continuous-wave (CW) audio at a steady speed is the sweet spot. A practice WAV you exported from this same page usually decodes well because tone and timing match what the detector expects. A quiet room recording of a straight key or a practice oscillator also works when the pitch sits near the filter and the noise floor is low.

What reduces accuracy

• Background noise, speech, or music mixed over the tone
• Multiple or drifting frequencies instead of one steady carrier
• Heavy reverb or echo that blurs on/off edges
• Very fast or uneven keying where dots and dashes overlap in length
• Clips that are mostly silence, or Morse buried under AGC pumping

When the signal is unclear, the UI reports that it could not find a usable signal rather than inventing letters. That is intentional. Re-record closer to the speaker, export a cleaner practice file, lower WPM on the source, or fall back to typing what you hear into the Morse decoder online text box once you have identified the elements by ear.

Mic tips: use wired headphones with a mic when possible, keep the tone source 20–40 cm away, avoid Bluetooth latency for timing-critical drills, and disable other tabs that might capture the mic. File tips: prefer WAV for short clips; keep loudness moderate so clipping does not square the sine; avoid music-app “enhancement” that adds bass or reverb.

Words per minute (WPM) on this tool follows the common PARIS definition: the time unit in milliseconds is 1200 / WPM. At 20 WPM a unit is 60 ms; a dash lasts 180 ms; a letter gap lasts 180 ms; a word gap lasts 420 ms. Raising WPM shortens every unit. Lowering WPM stretches the whole rhythm. The Morse on screen does not change — only how long each element lasts in the audio.

Tone frequency is independent of WPM. Many learners prefer 550–700 Hz; this page defaults near 600 Hz because that is also where the decoder looks. If you upload a clip keyed at a very different pitch, expect weaker detection unless you re-record closer to 600 Hz or regenerate the practice file here. Volume is local gain only; it does not change timing.

Choosing a starting WPM

• New listeners: 12–15 WPM character speed with Farnsworth gaps slower than character speed.
• Everyday practice: 18 WPM with Farnsworth equal to WPM (standard spacing).
• Copy practice: 20–25 WPM once characters are familiar.
• Matching a recording: set WPM near the source speed before you judge decode quality.

Farnsworth timing keeps each character at the full character WPM but lengthens the spaces between letters and words. That lets beginners hear authentic element lengths inside a letter while still having time to think between letters. Set the Farnsworth slider below WPM for learning; set both equal for contest-style or standard timing. The on-page hint restates the current pair so you can confirm before Play.

Loop is a practice aid, not a decode setting. Turn Loop on when you want a phrase to repeat while you write copy on paper. Turn it off before you export a WAV you plan to share as a single pass. None of these controls send data off-device; they only shape the local oscillator and gap math.

Ear training is the long game behind every Morse code audio translator. Reading a chart teaches shapes; hearing tone teaches rhythm. A reliable drill loop looks like this:

1. Pick a tiny set of letters (for example E, T, A, N) or a short phrase you care about.
2. Play at a character speed you can almost catch, with Farnsworth gaps wide enough that you are not guessing.
3. Write what you hear before you look at the Morse line.
4. Compare, note the misses, and repeat the same clip with Loop until the pattern feels familiar.
5. Tighten Farnsworth toward standard spacing, then raise WPM in small steps.

Export WAV files for sessions away from the browser — commuting with headphones, paper copy at a desk, or a study group sharing the same drill. Because exports carry your exact WPM, tone, volume, and Farnsworth choices, a class can standardize on one file. When you want to check whether you can send as well as hear, switch to the tap translator and key the same phrase by hold length, then come back here to play the model tone.

Common pitfalls: jumping WPM too fast, practicing only with eyes on the Morse line, and drilling only SOS. Mix short common words, callsign-like strings, and numbers. Use the ITU timing page and the full chart when you need a reference, but keep most minutes on listening. The goal is recognition of sound patterns, not memorizing printed dots alone.

Privacy fits practice too. Because audio stays on your device, you can drill personal phrases without uploading them. Clear the translator when you finish if you share the computer. Offline use works after the page and assets have loaded once, subject to your browser cache.

MorseDecoder splits input modes so each page can stay honest about what it does.

• Audio (this page): Morse as tone. Play text to sound, export WAV, decode from file or microphone. Best when the signal is acoustic or you are training by ear.
• Tap (/morse-code-tap): Morse as timing of presses. Dot vs dash comes from how long you hold, not from a speaker. Best for silent practice, knock-style input, and learning element length with your hand.
• Image (/morse-code-image-translator): text to a Morse picture you can export (PNG or SVG). It does not read Morse out of a photograph; if you only have a photo of dots, type what you see into the home decoder.
• Home decoder (/): paste or type Morse or text when you already have symbols on screen. Use the Morse decoder online when sound is not involved.

A practical rule: if you can hear beeps, use audio; if you can tap a rhythm, use tap; if you need a graphic to share, use image export; if you can already type the dots and dashes, use the home decoder. Linking these tools together matters for searchers who land on “audio morse code” but discover mid-task that their clip is actually a screenshot — send them to the right surface instead of promising features this page does not have.

None of these modes require signup. All of them keep the core translation client-side. Pick the path that matches how the Morse showed up, then return here whenever sound is the medium.