Upload a reference audio file, then select a folder to search for similar files using MFCC (Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients).
Choose a single audio file to use as reference.
Select a folder containing audio files to search through.
Upload one reference audio file, scan a folder, and Sakarto finds everything that matches its timbral character using Meyda.js MFCC fingerprinting. The reference card is always pinned first — protected from move or delete — and matches appear once the full scan completes.
Reverse Audio Search is the audio equivalent of reverse image search. Instead of scanning a folder and automatically grouping everything that sounds alike, you choose one specific audio file as your reference, then Sakarto scans a folder to find everything with a similar timbral fingerprint.
Use it when you already know what recording you're looking for — for example: "find all copies and re-encoded versions of this specific podcast episode or voice memo."
Upload a single audio file. Sakarto processes it immediately and displays a player so you can verify you picked the right file.
Select a folder and Sakarto extracts MFCCs from every audio file in it using Meyda.js, then compares each against your reference using Euclidean distance.
Only the first 10 seconds of each file are analysed, so scanning is typically under 1 second per file. Very large folders complete in seconds rather than minutes.
The reference card is pinned first with a blue REFERENCE badge. It can never be accidentally moved or deleted.
Both the duplicate finder and this reverse search use the same Meyda.js MFCC pipeline. The difference is what gets compared to what: here, every folder file is compared against your reference only — not against each other.
When you select your reference audio, Sakarto processes it right away using Meyda.js — decodes the first 10 seconds at 22,050 Hz, splits into 512-sample frames (hop 256), and extracts 13 MFCCs per frame via Meyda.extract("mfcc", frame). A preview player appears so you can confirm you chose the right file.
For each audio file in the folder, the browser decodes the first 10 seconds at 22,050 Hz. Only the left channel (channel 0) is used. Files over 100 MB are skipped. The reference file itself is skipped if it also appears inside the scanned folder (matched by name + size + date).
Each folder file's 10-second sample is split into 512-sample frames (hop 256). For each frame, Meyda.extract("mfcc", frame) computes 13 Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients by mapping the spectrum to the Mel scale, taking the log, and applying a Discrete Cosine Transform.
The shorter of the two MFCC sequences determines the alignment length. For each corresponding pair of 13-element vectors, the Euclidean distance is computed — measuring the straight-line distance between the two points in 13-dimensional MFCC space. These per-frame distances are averaged to produce a single distance value for the file pair.
A duration pre-check first rejects any folder file shorter than 50% of the reference duration. For the remaining files, if the average Euclidean distance is at or below the threshold set by the slider, the file is added to the results list as a match. Files above the threshold are silently skipped.
Unlike the duplicate finder (which shows groups live), reverse search completes the full folder scan first, then displays all matches together. The reference card is pinned at position 0 with a blue REFERENCE badge. All matching files appear after it. The result count shows how many similar files were found.
The MFCC Distance Threshold slider (5–50) controls how closely folder files must match your reference to appear in results. Lower values are stricter. Adjusting after a scan re-filters results instantly without re-scanning.
Only near-identical files match. Use for exact copies, same recording at different bitrates, or lossless vs. lossy exports of the same master. Very few or no false positives.
Catches re-encoded versions, different bitrates, and recordings with similar vocal or timbral character. A good starting point for spoken-word and podcast searches.
Groups files with broadly similar timbral character. Useful for finding recordings from the same room or microphone. Expect more false positives — always listen before deleting.
Every audio card has a built-in player. Here's how to use it:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| ▶️ Play button | Starts playback. Automatically pauses any other playing track on the page. |
| ⏸️ Pause button | Pauses playback. Audio position is remembered. |
| Progress bar | Click anywhere on the bar to seek to that position. Drag left/right to scrub. |
| 🔊 / 🔇 Mute button | Mutes or unmutes this individual track. |
| 🔇 Audio (toolbar) | Mutes or unmutes all audio on the page at once. |
| Time display | Shows current position / total duration (e.g. 1:23 / 3:45). |
| ← / → arrow keys | When the progress bar is focused, seeks backward or forward 5 seconds. |
Click Choose Reference Audio. Select any audio file. Sakarto processes it immediately using Meyda.js — a preview player with the purple art background appears so you can play and confirm you chose correctly. Only the first 10 seconds are processed, so this is near-instant.
Supported formats: MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, M4A, AAC. Files over 100 MB are not supported as reference files.
Once a reference file is loaded, Choose Folder to Search becomes active. Click it to open a native folder picker (Chrome / Edge). Or drag and drop a folder directly onto the page.
The folder count shows how many files were found. The Start Search button activates only when both a reference file and a folder are selected.
Click 🔍 Start Search. A progress bar shows how many files have been processed. Audio processing runs fully in the background — you can switch browser tabs freely without pausing the scan.
Once the scan completes, the reference card appears at position 0 (blue REFERENCE badge) followed by all matching files sorted by closeness to the reference. The result count shows how many similar files were found.
Use the MFCC Distance Threshold slider above the results to tune sensitivity. Releasing the slider re-filters results instantly without re-scanning. Start at the default of 15 and adjust based on results.
Every card has a built-in player. Use it to listen and confirm similarity before taking action. Playing one track automatically pauses all others.
Ctrl+Click the reference card and one or more match cards, then click ⚖️ Compare. A modal opens with a player per file, full metadata (duration, size, type, path), and a similarity percentage. For 3+ files, a pairwise similarity matrix is shown.
The reference card in the compare modal shows only a Copy Name button — no Move or Delete — to keep it protected.
Select match cards (not the reference — it's protected) and use the toolbar. With Queue Mode on (recommended), files are staged first:
With Queue Mode enabled (default), clicking Move or Delete stages files in the Move Queue or Delete Queue tab. Switch to those tabs in the sidebar, listen to each file, remove any you change your mind about, then execute. The default destination folder is Audio-Duplicates, created inside your scanned folder.
| Button / Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Choose Reference Audio | Select the audio file to search for. Player preview appears immediately. |
| Choose Folder to Search | Select the folder to scan. Activates once reference is loaded. |
| 🔍 Start Search | Begin scanning. Processes all folder files, then shows all matches. |
| MFCC Distance Threshold slider | Adjusts matching strictness (5–50, lower = stricter). Re-filters on release without re-scanning. |
| 🔄 New Search | Reload the page and start fresh with a new reference file |
| 📋 Copy (N) | Copy selected filenames to clipboard. N = count. |
| 📂 Move (N) | Move match files or stage them in Move Queue (reference excluded) |
| 🗑️ Delete (N) | Delete match files or stage in Delete Queue (reference excluded) |
| ✕ Deselect All | Remove selection from all cards |
| ⚖️ Compare (N) | Open compare modal for Ctrl+clicked files. Needs 2+. |
| 🔇 Audio | Mute / unmute all audio players on the page |
| Queue Mode checkbox | Stage files for review before executing. Recommended on. |
| Click card | Select / deselect the card |
| Ctrl + Click card | Add / remove from compare list (purple border) |
| Click & drag (empty area) | Box-select multiple match cards |
| Right-click card | Context menu: Copy / Move / Delete / Compare. Move & Delete disabled on reference. |
| 🔍 hover icon | Open full-size preview with modal player. Reference shown as REFERENCE. |
| ▶️ on player | Play audio. Pauses all other players on page automatically. |
Always back up your audio library before deleting anything. Deleted files bypass the recycle bin and cannot be recovered.
Use the highest-quality version of the file as your reference — a lossless WAV or high-bitrate MP3. A heavily compressed reference may produce slightly different MFCC profiles, leading to missed matches.
The default of 15 is well-calibrated for most spoken-word and voice content. If expected matches are missing, raise the slider toward 20–25. If too many unrelated files appear, lower it toward 8–10.
Use the built-in players to audition reference and match side-by-side. MFCC captures timbral texture, not pitch — always listen to confirm it is truly the same recording before deleting.
MFCC reverse search works best when your reference is a voice recording, podcast episode, or sound effect. For music matching, Essentia HPCP is more reliable.
If Meyda MFCC finds nothing, raise the Distance Threshold toward 20–30. If copies still don't appear, the similarity may start after 10 seconds — try Chromaprint or Essentia HPCP which analyse the full track.
To keep scanning fast, MFCC only processes the first 10 seconds of each folder file. If your reference's timbral character only appears after 10 seconds, it will not be found. This is by design for speed; use Chromaprint or Essentia HPCP for full-track analysis.
The File System Access API bypasses the OS recycle bin entirely. Use Queue Mode to review files before executing any delete operation.
You can't scan two separate folders in one session. Workaround: scan their common parent directory so both are included.
Meyda.js v5.6.3 is loaded from cdn.jsdelivr.net at page load. If this CDN is blocked, scanning will fail. Check the browser console for load errors. Chromaprint requires no external library.
The File System Access API is only available in Chrome 86+ and Edge 86+. Firefox and Safari can scan and display results but cannot move or delete files.
remove() call via the File System Access API permanently deletes files without going through the OS Recycle Bin. The reference file is fully protected and can never be deleted or moved regardless. For matched files, always use Queue Mode: stage them, play each one in the built-in player, compare it against the reference in the Compare modal, and only execute the deletion when you're certain it's a true copy you no longer need.