Reverse Audio
Flip a recording backwards, with an optional pre-reverse reverb swell
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Your file is decoded, processed, and re-encoded in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded to an OfflineTTS processing API.
Interactive Workspace
Reverse Audio
Play any recording backwards. Reversing audio is the oldest trick in sound design and still one of the most useful: a reversed cymbal becomes a riser, a reversed vocal phrase becomes a texture, and a reversed reverb tail becomes a swell that lands exactly on the beat.
The pre-reverse reverb trick: if you apply reverb *before* reversing, the decay becomes a build-up. The quiet tail of the reverb ends up at the start of the file, growing into the dry transient instead of fading out of it. That is how the classic reverse-cymbal riser is made, and it is the reason the reverb control sits before the reverse step rather than after it.
Speed control: the same page can also change speed, so a reversed clip can be slowed or quickened without a second pass through another tool. Speed uses time stretching, so pitch is preserved.
Good uses: building risers and transitions, creating unsettling backwards speech for a horror or dream sequence, making textures from spoken word, and hiding an edit point in a music bed.
Export: WAV for editing, MP3 for listening. Decoding, processing, and encoding all run in this browser tab. The file you select is not uploaded, and the rendered audio is not stored on any server.
How It Works
Load audio
Add the sound, vocal, or music you want to reverse.
Optional reverb
Add reverb before reversing to create a rising swell.
Reverse and adjust speed
Flip the audio and optionally change its speed.
Export
Download the reversed result as WAV or MP3.
Features
True Reversal
Sample-accurate reversal across every channel of the file.
Pre-reverse Reverb
Build the classic swell that rises into a downbeat.
Speed Control
Slow or speed the reversed result with pitch preserved.
A/B Preview
Compare the reversed result against the original instantly.
Why Reverse Reverb Works
A reverb tail is a decaying series of reflections. In normal playback, you hear the direct sound and then the tail fading away behind it. Reverse the whole file and the order inverts: you hear the tail first, growing in volume, and the direct sound arrives at the very end. Placed immediately before a downbeat, that growing tail creates anticipation and lands the listener exactly where the beat begins.
This is why the reverb control on this page is applied before the reversal rather than after. Applying reverb to already-reversed audio produces a decay that trails away from the end of the swell, which is a different and generally less useful shape.
Practical Uses and Review
The two most common production uses are risers and edit hiding. A reversed cymbal or a reversed reverb tail placed under a transition gives the listener a cue that something is about to change. A reversed ambience laid quietly under a cut makes the splice sound intentional rather than abrupt.
Reversed speech is a different decision entirely. It is a recognisable effect, and listeners will notice it. Use it deliberately — for a dream sequence, a horror cue, or a texture — rather than as a way to make a voice sound interesting, because it removes all intelligibility from the material.
Every effect here is deterministic: the same file and the same control values produce the same output. That means you can reproduce a result later, but it also means the tool will not guess what you intended — check a short excerpt before rendering a long file, and keep the original.
Related Tools
Pitch Shifter
Transpose a recording up or down while keeping its original length
Tempo & Speed Changer
Slow down or speed up audio while holding the original pitch
Add Reverb to Audio
Place a dry recording in a room, hall, plate, or cathedral
Audio Trimmer
Drag a selection on the waveform, add fades, and export just that part
Reverse Audio — FAQ
Why add reverb before reversing?
Reverb produces a decaying tail. Reversing the file turns that decay into a build-up, so the sound swells into the dry transient. This is the standard technique for creating risers and reverse-cymbal transitions.
Does reversing change the sound quality?
No. Reversal is a pure reordering of samples, so there is no generation loss and no frequency change. The only audible difference is direction in time.
Can I reverse just part of a file?
Not on this page — the whole file is reversed. To reverse one section, trim the region you want first with the audio trimmer, reverse it, then join the pieces back together with the audio joiner.
Can I reverse speech to understand hidden messages?
Reversing speech produces something that occasionally resembles words by coincidence. That is a perceptual effect, not hidden content. This tool simply plays the file backwards; it does not decode anything.
Is the original file changed?
No. The tool loads a copy into memory and produces a new file when you download. Your original stays exactly as it was.
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