Morse Code Translator With Audio
Hear your message as Morse, at the speed and pitch you choose. Generated in your browser, nothing uploaded.
Morse alphabet
How the audio is produced
There is no sound file involved. The tones are generated as you press play, using the browser's own audio engine: a sine wave at the pitch you set, switched on and off according to the code. That is why the speed and pitch controls take effect immediately with nothing to download, and why the page works with no network connection once it has loaded.
Each mark is faded in and out over about five milliseconds rather than being switched on abruptly. A hard edge on a tone produces an audible click, which over a long message is tiring and makes the shorter marks harder to distinguish.
The timing is the code
Morse carries its meaning in proportions, not in absolute durations, which is why a message is readable at any speed as long as the ratios hold.
| Element | Length in dits |
|---|---|
| Dit | 1 |
| Dah | 3 |
| Gap between marks in a character | 1 |
| Gap between characters | 3 |
| Gap between words | 7 |
Speed sets how long a dit lasts, and everything else follows from it. The reference word is PARIS, giving a dit of 1.2 seconds divided by the words per minute: 80 milliseconds at 15 wpm, 60 at 20, 40 at 30.
Learning to hear it
The common mistake is learning at a very slow speed. At five words per minute the ear has time to count individual dits, and counting is a habit that has to be unlearned later before any real speed is possible. It is generally easier to learn each character as a single rhythmic shape, which means a reasonably quick character speed from the start.
A practical approach with this tool is to set the speed somewhere around 15 to 20 words per minute and start with a handful of letters rather than the whole alphabet. Type a few of them, play the result, and only add more once those are recognised without effort. Slow down only if you are losing whole characters rather than struggling to keep up with the message.
Pitch is worth setting once and leaving alone. Between 500 and 700 Hz suits most people; a tone that is comfortable over twenty minutes matters more than one that is momentarily clearer.
How to use it
Type into the upper box and the Morse appears below as you go. Play sounds it, and pressing it again pauses. The speed and pitch sliders apply to the next play rather than to a message already sounding, so stop and start again after changing them. Swap moves the result into the input and flips the direction, which is a quick way to check that a message survives a round trip.
The player always sounds the Morse side, whichever box is currently holding it, so it works the same when you are decoding as when you are encoding.
Questions
Why does no sound play when I press Play?
Browsers block audio until you have interacted with the page, and pressing Play is that interaction, so the first press should work. If it does not, check that the device is not muted and that the output box actually contains Morse; the player sounds the Morse side, not the plain text.
What timing does the audio use?
The standard ratios. A dah is three dits, the gap inside a character is one dit, between characters three dits and between words seven. Speed sets the length of the dit itself, using the PARIS reference: 1.2 seconds divided by the words per minute.
What speed should I learn at?
Most people learn the character shapes faster at a higher character speed than feels comfortable, because at slow speeds the ear counts individual dits instead of hearing a whole letter. Around 15 to 20 words per minute is a common starting point, slowing only if you are losing whole characters.
Does pitch change the message?
No. Pitch only affects how easy the tone is to pick out. Somewhere between 500 and 700 Hz is the usual choice because it sits where hearing is sensitive without becoming tiring over a long session.
Is anything sent to a server?
No. The translation and the audio are both generated inside your browser using Web Audio, and this tool has no backend, so nothing you type is transmitted, logged or stored.
Related tools
Browse all Sigma Wire tools - every free tool on the site, grouped by category.