Overview
A microphone recorder that captures audio entirely in your browser: a live timer while recording, an inline player for the take, and a one-click download. It prefers the WebM audio format and falls back to MP4-style audio where a browser only supports that, and it never uploads a recording anywhere.
How It Works
Press Start recording and grant microphone permission; a pulsing indicator and a minutes-and-seconds timer confirm capture is live. Press Stop recording to finish. The take appears with its duration, file size, and detected format, alongside an audio player and a Download recording button that saves as .webm or .m4a depending on the format your browser produced. If permission is denied or the browser lacks MediaRecorder, a specific error explains what to change, with a retry.
Step-by-Step Usage Guide
- Press Start recording and allow microphone access.
- Speak; the timer confirms audio is being captured.
- Press Stop recording and preview the take in the player.
- Download the file, checking the format shown for the extension.
Technical Specifications & Standards
The recorder checks for MediaRecorder support up front and names Chrome, Edge, or Firefox as the browsers that have it. For the container it asks isTypeSupported in order — audio/webm first, then audio/mp4 — and falls back to the browser default if neither matches, which is why the downloaded extension varies: webm on Chrome and Firefox, m4a on Safari. Chunks accumulate as they arrive and are assembled into a Blob only on stop, and the microphone's tracks are stopped immediately afterwards, releasing the hardware. Permission failures are handled distinctly: a blocked request produces an explanatory error with a retry that re-runs the checks, because a denied permission sticks until the user fixes it in the browser's site settings. The take exists only as an object URL in tab memory — the page says so explicitly — so a refresh loses an undownloaded recording. There are no input-level or format-quality settings by design; what MediaRecorder defaults to is what you get.
Targeted Use Cases
- Recording voice notes or interview answers to transcribe later.
- Checking microphone setup and levels before a call.
- Capturing pronunciation practice for language study.
- Producing quick audio attachments without installing a recorder.
Notes & Gotchas
- Download before navigating away — the take lives only in the tab until saved.
- If permission was denied before, fix it in the browser's site settings and use the retry.
- Expect .webm from Chrome and Firefox, .m4a from Safari; both play in common players.
- Record in a quiet room; there are no post-capture filters or noise reduction here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my recording uploaded anywhere?
No. Capture, encoding, and playback all happen in your browser, and the download is a local file. The page states that recordings live only in the tab until you download them.
What audio format do I get?
The tool prefers audio/webm and falls back to audio/mp4 where WebM is unsupported, so Chrome and Firefox produce .webm files and Safari produces .m4a. The detected format is shown with the take before you download.
Why does it say my browser does not support recording?
The tool requires the MediaRecorder API, which Chrome, Edge, and Firefox provide. Without it, no capture is possible in-page — the error names the supported browsers instead of failing quietly.
Can I pause mid-recording or adjust quality?
No. A take is a single start-to-stop capture with MediaRecorder's default quality, and there are no pause, gain, or format settings. Stop and start a new take for the equivalent of a pause.