Audio and Music
From Just Solve the File Format Problem
Revision as of 05:04, 26 May 2021 by Dan Tobias (Talk | contribs)
Electronic Formats concerned with audio and musical data, including sound recording, instrument control, musical notation, etc.
For additional multimedia formats that may contain audio, see Video.
Introduction
- For an excellent introduction to the issues around audio and video formats, see A Primer on Codecs for Moving Image and Sound Archives - and 10 Recommendations for Codec Selection & Management PDF version
- Basics of streaming protocols
Album formats
(files containing entire music albums, with some track structure)
- Connected Media Experience (CME, CMX)
- iTunes LP
Audio and sequencer software
- Ableton
- Adobe Audition
- Cool Edit / Audition Multi Track Session file (.ses)
- Audition (.sesx)
- Aldrin
- Creative Commons Module (.ccm)
- Audacity Project Format (.aup)
- Cakewalk
- Cakewalk Bundle (BUN) (.bun)
- Cakewalk Bundle (CWB) (.cwb)
- Cakewalk Dump Request Macro (.drm)
- Cakewalk Instrument Definition File (.ins)
- Cakewalk Project (CWP) (.cwp)
- Cakewalk Project (WRK) (.wrk)
- Cakewalk Sample Definition File (.sfz)
- CPS project (.cps)
- Digital Performer
- FruityLoops / FL Studio
- BeatCreator/BeatSlicer Grid File (.zgr)
- DrumSynth Preset (.ds)
- FL Studio Score File (.fsc)
- FL Studio State File (.fst)
- Humanize Preset (.fpr)
- Raw FL Studio Project (.flp)
- SimSynth Preset (.syn)
- Speech Preset (.speech)
- GarageBand (Mac)
- GarageBand project (.band, .gbproj)
- Magic GarageBand template (.wand)
- GarageBand MagicMentor template (.mwand)
- Hydrogen (.h2song, .h2pattern)
- Jeskola Buzz
- Jeskola Buzz machine (.dll)
- Jeskola Buzz machine preset (.prs, .prs.xml)
- Jeskola Buzz song (.bmx, .bmw)
- LMMS (Linux MultiMedia Studio) (.mmp, .mmpz)
- Logic Pro / Logic / Notator Logic
- Logic Pro project file (.logic, .logicx)
- Maestro (RISC OS)
- Make-A-Melody (Big Blue Disk #42) (.mus)
- Nero SoundTrax (.npf)
- Nero WaveEditor (.nwf)
- Piston Collage / PxTone
- Piston Collage noise (.ptnoise)
- Piston Collage song (.ptcop, .pttune)
- Piston Collage voice (.ptvoice)
- Pro Tools
- Pro Tools (Mac) (.pt5, .p24, .pt4, .pt3)
- PTS (Pro Tools 5.1-6.9)
- PTF (Pro Tools 7-9)
- PTX (Pro Tools 10)
- Propellerhead (Reason, ReCycle)
- Propellerhead Reason NN-XT Patch File (.sx2)
- Propellerhead Reason Project File / song file (.reason, .rns, others)
- Propellerhead Reason ReFill Sound Bank (.rfl)
- Propellerhead ReCycle Loop File (.rex)
- Reason Studios REX2 Audio File (.rx2)
- Renoise
- Renoise song (.xrns)
- Renoise instrument (.xrni)
- Renoise DSP device-chain (.xrnt)
- Roxio
- SeaTone / PixTone
- PXT (.pxt)
- SoundDesigner II (.sd2)
- Soundtrack Pro (.stmp)
- Steinberg
- (Super) Studio Session song (.sss)
Audio recording and sound waves
- Lossless compression
- ATRAC Advanced Lossless (.aal)
- ADA (Advanced Digital Audio)
- ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec)
- APAC (Marian's A-pac)
- Dakx Wav
- Dolby TrueHD
- DTS-HD (Lossless variant of DTS- DTS-HD Master Audio)
- FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)
- Kexis (.kxs)
- LA (Lossless Audio)
- LiteWave
- LPAC (Lossless Predictive Audio Coding)
- MKW
- MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing Audio)
- Monkey's Audio (.ape)
- MPEG-4 ALS (MPEG-4 Audio Lossless Coding)
- MPEG-4 SLS (MPEG-4 Scalable lossless coding mode)
- MQA (Master Quality Authenticated)
- OptimFROG (.ofr, .ofs)
- Perfect Clarity Audio (.pca)
- RALF (Real Lossless Audio Codec)
- RK Audio (.rka)
- Shorten (.shn)
- Sonarc
- Split2000
- TAK (.tak)
- True Audio (.tta)
- VocPack
- WavArc
- WavPack (.wv)
- WMA Lossless (Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless)
- Lossy compression
- AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)
- Adaptive differential pulse-code modulation
- Adaptive Multi-Rate WideBand Audio
- Adaptive Multi-Rate Audio (.amr)
- Archimedes VIDC audio
- ATRAC or Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (.aa3, .oma, .at3)
- Audible Audiobook (.aa, .aax)
- Audition Loop (.cel)
- CELT (.ogg)
- Digital Theater Systems (.dts)
- Dolby Digital (AC-3 or ATSC A/52)
- GSM (GSM 6.10 RPE-LTP)
- M4B (iTunes Audio Book)
- M4P (Fairplay DRM Encrypted M4A)
- MP1: See MPEG Audio Layer I
- MP2: See MPEG Audio Layer II
- MP3 (MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 Audio Layer III)
- MPA (MPEG Audio): See MPEG Audio Layer II
- MP+ (MPEGplus Audio): See Musepack Audio
- MPEG-4 Audio (.m4a, .m4b, .m4p, .m4r, .mp4)
- MPEG Audio Layer I (MP1)
- MPEG Audio Layer II (MP2; MPEG-1 Audio Layer II)
- Musepack Audio (.mpc)
- Opus (.opus)
- RealAudio (.ra)
- Speex (.spx)
- SWA
- Vorbis (.logg, .oga, .ogg)
- WMA (Windows Media Audio)
- Proprietary
- DCT (Dictation format by NCH Software)
- Digital Speech Standard (.dss)
- Digital Voice File (.dvf)
- IC Sound (.ics)
- IKLAX (iKlax Media)
- Memory Stick Voice (.msv)
- Pono
- Separated parts of tracks
- Uncompressed audio
- AIF / AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format)
- Berkeley/IRCAM/Carl Sound Format (.sf)
- BWF (Broadcast Wave Format; variant of WAV)
- DSD (Direct Stream Digital) (.dsf)
- RAW (.raw, .pcm)
- RF64 (extended variant of BWF)
- Sony Wave64 (.w64)
- WAV (Waveform Audio File Format)
- Various encodings
- AIFC (AIFF Compressed)
- AU (Sun Microsystems audio format)
- Computerized Speech Lab NSP (.nsp)
- DiamondWare Digitized (.dwd)
- Bonk (lossy/lossless audio compression)
- INRS-Telecom file (.aud)
- SIFF (.son)
- SPPACK (.d)
- WVE (Psion)
Chiptune
- SAM Coupé song (.cop, .sng)
Configuration files
- X2A (Yamaha S70xs/S90xs keyboard workstations)
Container formats
- AAF (Advanced Authoring Format)
- ASF (Advanced Systems Format)
- Core Audio Format (.caf)
- Extensible Music Format (.xmf)
- IFF
- Matroska Audio (.mka)
- MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14 media container)
- Ogg (.ogg, .oga, .ogx, .spx, .opus)
- OMF Interchange (Open Media Framework Interchange format)
- Qualcomm QCP (Purevoice)
- Rich Music Format (.rmf)
- RealMedia (.rm)
- WAV
- WebM (.webm) (also used for video)
Converters
Emulated music
- 2SF (Nintendo DS PSF)
- 3G2 (3GPP, also a video format)
- 3GP (3GPP, also a video format)
- Atari SoundHeader (SNDH)
- AY (Amstrad CPC / ZX Spectrum)
- AZX (ZX Spectrum)
- Custom Amiga Module (CUST)
- DSF (Dreamcast PSF)
- EPSGMOD (.epsgmod, Mod2PSG)
- Fuxoft AY Language (.fmx)
- GBR (Game Boy Sound)
- Game Boy Sound (.gbs)
- GSF (Game Boy Advance PSF)
- GSR (Gens Sound Record)
- HES (Hudson Entertainment System)
- KSS (MSX)
- KSSX (Possible expansion of KSS)
- MDX (Sharp X68000 / MXDRV)
- NES Sound Format (.nsf)
- NES Sound Format Extended (.nsfe)
- NSD
- PSF (Portable Sound Format)
- PSF1 (Playstation PSF)
- PSF2 (Playstation 2 PSF)
- QSF (Capcom Q-Sound PSF)
- SC68 (Atari ST / Atari STE / Amiga)
- SGC (Sega Master System / Game Gear / Colecovision)
- SID (Commodore 64)
- SPC (Super Nintendo SPC700)
- SSF (Sega Saturn PSF)
- USF (Nintendo 64 PSF)
- YM (Amstrad CPC / Spectrum ZX / Atari ST)
- ZXAYEMUL Sound (.cpc)
Game audio and music
(see also Game data files)
- 4X IMA ADPCM
- Accolade
- Adept Software
- AFC (AFX Audio File) -- used in Mass Effect 2
- Apogee
- Atari
- Slight Atari Player (Atari POKEY)
- BAF (Blur ADPCM)
- BAKA (PCM 16 bit)
- Bandai
- WSR (WonderSwan / WonderSwan Color)
- BH2PCM
- BNSF (G.722.1)
- Cave Story
- Commodore Amiga
- A.M. Composer v1.2 (.amc)
- AC1D-DC1A Packer (.ac1d)
- Actionamics Sound Tool (.ast)
- AMOS Music Bank (.abk)
- AMOS Samples Bank (.abk)
- Amos Basic Konverter (.ambk)
- Art & Magic (.aam)
- Audio Sculpture (.as)
- Beathoven Synthesiser (.bss)
- Ben Replay (.ben)
- Benn Daglish (.bd)
- Benn Daglish SID (.bds)
- Channel Players (.chan)
- Cinemaware (.cin)
- Core Design (.core)
- CustomMade (.cm)
- Darius Zendeh (.dz)
- Dave Lowe (.dl)
- Dave Lowe New (.dln)
- David Hanney (.dh)
- David Whittaker (.dw)
- Desire (.dsr)
- Digital Illusions (.di)
- Digital Sonix & Chrome (.dsc)
- Digital Sound Creations (.han)
- Dirk Bialluch (.tpu)
- Dynamic Synthesizer (.dns)
- Editeur Musical Sequentiel (.ems)
- Follin Player II (.tf)
- Fred Editor (.fred)
- Fred Gray (.fg)
- Future Player (.fp)
- FWMP (.fw)
- Game Music Creator (.gmc)
- Gnu Player (.gp)
- Hippel (.hip)
- Hippel-COSO (.hipc)
- Hornet Packer (.hrt)
- Howie Davies (.hd)
- IFF-MAUD
- Images Music System (.ims)
- Infogrames INS (.ins)
- Janko Mrsic-Flogel (.jmf)
- Jason Brooke (.jcb)
- Jason Page (.jp)
- Jeroen Tel (.jt)
- Jesper Olsen (.jo)
- Jochen Hippel (.hip)
- Kefrens Sound Machine (.ksm)
- Kris Hatlelid (.kh)
- Leggless Music Editor (.lme)
- Magnetic Fields Packer (.mfp)
- Maniacs of Noise (.mon, .jt)
- Mark Cooksey (.mc)
- Mark II Sound-System (.mii, .mk2, .mkii)
- Martin Walker (.mw)
- MaxTrax (.mxtx)
- Mike Davies (.md)
- MMDC (Module packer)
- Mugician (.mug)
- Mugician II (.mug2)
- NoiseRunner (.nr)
- NovoTrade Packer (.ntp)
- Pierre Adane Packer (.pap)
- Power Music (.pm)
- Professional Sound Artists (.psa)
- Promizer 0.1 (.pm01)
- Promizer 1.0c (.pm10)
- Promizer 1.8a (.pm18)
- Promizer 2.0 (.pm20)
- Promizer 4.0 (.pm40)
- ProPacker 1.0 (.pp10)
- ProPacker 2.1 (.pp21)
- ProPacker 3.0 (.pp30)
- Prorunner (.prun1, .prun2)
- Richard Joseph or Vectordean (.rjp)
- Rob Hubbard (.rh, .rho)
- Ron Klaren (.rk)
- Sean Connolly (.scn)
- Sean Conran (.scr)
- Sidmon (.sid, .sid2)
- Silmarils (.mok)
- SKYT Packer (.skyt)
- Sonic Arranger (.sa)
- Sound Images (.tw)
- Sound Master (.sm)
- Sound Programming Language (.spl)
- Soundcontrol (.sct)
- Soundfactory (.psf)
- SoundPlayer (.sjs)
- Special FX (.jd)
- Speedy System (.ss)
- Steve Barrett (.sb)
- Steve Turner (.jpo)
- Star Trekker Packer (.stpk)
- Synth Dream (.sdr)
- Synth Pack (.osp)
- The Musical Enlightenment (.tme)
- The Player (.p22a, .p30a, .p40a, .p40b, .p50a, .p60a, .p61a)
- Titanics Player (.ttp)
- Tracker Packer 1 (.tp1)
- Tracker Packer 2 (.tp2)
- Tracker Packer 3 (.tp3)
- Thomas Hermann (.thm)
- Wally Beben (.wb)
- Wanton Packer (.wn)
- XANN Packer (.xann)
- Zen Packer (.zen)
- CRI Middleware
- DCS (ADPCM)
- Death Rally Archive (.bpa)
- DMSG (PCM 16 bit)
- EACS IMA ADPCM (.kcey)
- Electronic Arts
- 8-Bit Sampled Voice (.8svx, .iff)
- Asylum Music Format (.amf, used in Crusader: No Remorse / Crusader: No Regret)
- Electronic Arts AS4 / ASF Music (.as4, .asf)
- Electronic Arts KSF Music (.ksf)
- Electronic Arts MUS (.mus)
- Electronic Arts SCxl
- Electronic Arts Sound Effects (.bnk, .crd)
- Electronic Arts Sound / Speech Files (.eas, .sph)
- IFF (Amiga 8SVX)
- Sonix Music Driver (.smus)
- EMFF (ADPCM)
- Epic Megagames
- Epic Megagames MASI (.masi, .psm)
- Final Fantasy XI Music file (.bgw)
- FMOD Sample Bank (.fsb)
- Funcom ISS
- Galaxy Music System
- GCW (PCM 16 bit)
- Generic Header (.genh, Generic Header Creator)
- Herad Music System
- Herad Music System AGD (.agd)
- Herad Music System SDB (.sdb)
- Herad Music System SQX (.sqx)
- HIS (PCM 8 bit)
- id Software
- Doom MUS
- id Software DNF (.dnf)
- id Software Music Format (.imf)
- id Software WLF (.wlf)
- IMA ADPCM (.bar, .dvi, .hwas, .idvi, .ivaud, .myspd, .stma, .strm)
- Interplay ACM (.acm)
- Inverse Frequency Sound format
- iXMF (Interactive Extensible Music Format)
- Ken Silverman
- Ken's Adlib Music (.ksm)
- Ken's Digital Music (.kdm)
- SM (Ken Silverman) (.sm)
- SND (Ken Silverman) (.snd)
- LOUDNESS Sound System (.lds)
- LucasArts
- LucasArts Adlib Audio (.laa)
- SCUMM (SCUMM)
- Martin Fernandez (.adlib)
- Microsoft
- 0x0069 (Xbox ADPCM)
- 2DX
- 2DX9 (ADPCM)
- DE2 (ADPCM)
- Xbox IMA ADPCM (.matx, .wavm, .wvs, .xmu, .xvas, .xwav)
- Mojang AB (Minecraft)
- Nintendo
- Advanced Mario Sequencer file (.mss)
- BRSTMPSM (Super Paper Mario)
- Donkey Konga 2 DSP (Donkey Konga 2)
- Mario Paint Composer (MPC)
- Mario Sequencer file (.msq)
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii AAAP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii ADP (Nintendo Gamecube) (.adp)
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii AFC (Nintendo Gamecube)
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii AGSC (.agsc)
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii AMTS
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii ASN (Nintendo Gamecube)
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii ASR (Nintendo Wii)
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii AST (Nintendo Wii sound format)
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii BNS
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii BO2
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii BRSTM (Nintendo Wii streaming format)
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii CAPDSP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii CFN
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii DDSP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii DSP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii GCA (Nintendo Wii)
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii GCM
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii GSP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii HPS
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii IDSP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii ISD
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii ISH
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii KRAW (Nintendo Wii)
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii LPS
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii MPDS
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii MPDSP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii MSS
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii MUS
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii PDT
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii SDT
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii SMP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii SNS
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii SPD
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii SPT
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii SSM
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii STM
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii STR
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii STS
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii SWD
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii THP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii TYDSP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii VJDSP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii WAS
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii WSD
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii WSI
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii YDSP
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii YMF
- Nintendo GameCube / Wii ZWDSP
- SHI (ShroomTool Instrument, used for Mario Paint instruments)
- SHO (ShroomTool, used for Mario Paint sounds)
- Origin Software
- Ultima 6 Music (.m)
- PC-98 and PC-88
- Professional Music Driver PMD (.m, .m2)
- Pixel
- Pixel Painters (.fmf)
- Ragnarok Online 2 RMP
- Shadowlands (.cal)
- Sierra
- Sierra AGI (Sierra AGI)
- Sierra SCI (Used in Sierra PC games)
- Sony
- Sony Playstation ADS (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation ASS (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation AST
- Sony Playstation BG00
- Sony Playstation BMDX
- Sony Playstation CCC (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation CNK
- Sony Playstation DXH (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation ENTH
- Sony Playstation FAG (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation FILP
- Sony Playstation FSB (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation GCM
- Sony Playstation GMS (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation HGC1
- Sony Playstation I100 (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation I400 (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation I80 (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation IKM
- Sony Playstation ILD (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation IVB
- Sony Playstation JOE
- Sony Playstation KCES (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation KHV (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation LEG (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation MCG
- Sony Playstation MI4 (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation MIB (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation MIC (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation MIH
- Sony Playstation MIHB (merged MIB & MIH)
- Sony Playstation MSA
- Sony Playstation MSVP
- Sony Playstation MUSC
- Sony Playstation NPSF
- Sony Playstation PNB
- Sony Playstation PSH
- Sony Playstation RKV
- Sony Playstation RND
- Sony Playstation RSTM
- Sony Playstation RWS
- Sony Playstation SFS
- Sony Playstation SIR
- Sony Playstation SL3
- Sony Playstation SMPL
- Sony Playstation SND
- Sony Playstation SPU (Sony Playstation)
- Sony Playstation STER
- Sony Playstation STH
- Sony Playstation STR
- Sony Playstation STS
- Sony Playstation SVAG
- Sony Playstation SVS
- Sony Playstation TEC
- Sony Playstation TK5
- Sony Playstation VAS
- Sony Playstation VAG
- Sony Playstation VB2 (Playstation / PS2)
- Sony Playstation VGS
- Sony Playstation VIG
- Sony Playstation VPK
- Sony Playstation VS
- Sony Playstation VSF
- Sony Playstation WP2
- Sony Playstation XA2
- Sony Playstation XA30
- Sony Playstation 2 MI2 (Sony Playstation 2)
- Sound Images Generation 2 (.sig)
- Sound Interface System (.lem)
- STOS memory bank (.mbk)
- Unreal Music Format (.umx)
- Union Logic Software Publishing
- Unique Development Studios (.uds)
- Video Game Music (.vgm, .vgz)
- Westwood Studios
- Westwood Studios ADL (.adl)
- Westwood Studios AUD (.aud)
- Whacky Wheels (.klm)
- XMP Game Module (.j2b)
Identifiers of musical works, recordings, artists, etc.
- International Standard Musical Work Code (ISWC)
- International Standard Recording Code (ISRC)
- MusicBrainz Identifier
- APE tag
- Cue Sheet - See CUE and BIN
- ELAN Annotation Format
- Exif
- ID3
- MDZ - strictly not itself a music format, but a metadata file for other music files used by Open Cubic Player. See http://www.cubic.org/player/doc/node72.htm
- Monkey's Audio metadata (.apl)
- Vorbis comment
Music trackers
(For more on this subject, listen to Jason Scott Talks His Way Out Of It: The Music Tracker Episode.)
- 1tracker module (.1tm)
- AHX (Abyss) (Abyss Highest eXperience)
- Aley's Module (.alm)
- All Sound Tracker module (.ast)
- Amiga Module (.mod)
- AProSys module (.aps)
- Archimedes Tracker module (.musx)
- Arkos Tracker (.aks)
- Art of Noise module (.aon)
- ASC Sound Master module (.asc)
- B's Pro Tracker module (.bpm, .bps)
- Beepola song (.bbsong)
- BeRoTracker module (.br)
- BoyScout Tracker module (.bsf)
- Brian Postma SoundMon
- Buzzic
- Buzzic v1.x (.buz)
- Buzzic v2.0 (.buz2)
- Chaos Music Composer
- Chuck Biscuits/Black Artist module (.cba)
- Coconizer module
- Composer 669 module (.669)
- craptracker ii module (.ct2)
- Custom Amiga Module (.cus. .custom)
- CyberTracker
- CyberTracker instrument (.ci)
- CyberTracker module (.ct)
- DeliTracker custom (.cust)
- DeltaMusic module (.dta)
- Delta Music Composer
- Delta Music Composer module (.dlt)
- Delta Music 2.0 module (.dl2)
- Desktop Tracker module (.dtt)
- DigiBooster / DigiBooster PRO
- Digital Symphony module (.dsym)
- Digitrakker
- Digitrakker instrument (.ist)
- Digitrakker module (.mdl)
- Digitrakker sample (.spl)
- DigiTrekker module (.dtm)
- Digital Tracker module (.dtm)
- DisorderTracker 2 module (.plm)
- Dual Module Player DSMI (.amf)
- Eureka Packer module (.eu)
- Extended MOD (.emd)
- Extreme's Tracker module (.ams)
- FAC Soundtracker (MSX, extension unknown)
- Face the Music module (.ftm)
- Famitracker
- FamiTracker module (.ftm)
- FamiTracker instrument (.fti)
- Farandole Composer
- Farandole Form 2.0 (.f2r)
- Farandole Composer module (.far)
- Farandole Composer pattern (.fpt)
- Farandole Composer sample (.fsm, .usm)
- Fashion Tracker module (.ex)
- FastTracker / FastTracker 2
- FastTracker module (.ft, .ftc)
- Extended instrument (.xi)
- Extended Module (.xm)
- FC-M Packer module (.fcm)
- Flash Tracker module (.fls)
- Flex Tracker module (.flx)
- Fuchs Tracker (.fchs)
- FunkTracker module (.fnk)
- Future Composer
- Future Composer v1.x module (.fc)
- Future Composer v1.3 module (.fc13)
- Future Composer v1.4 module (.fc14)
- Future Composer (BSI)
- Fuzzac Packer module (.fuzz)
- General Digital Music module (.gdm)
- GoatTracker module (.sng)
- Grave Composer module (.wow)
- Graoumf Tracker
- Graoumf Tracker module (.gtk)
- Graoumf Tracker 2 module (.gt2)
- Global Tracker v1.x module (.gtr)
- HeatSeeker Module Cruncher v1.0 (.crb)
- Hively Tracker module (.hvl)
- Ice Tracker module
- Imago Orpheus module (.imf)
- Impulse Tracker
- Impulse Tracker module (.it, .itbz, .itgz, .itr, .itz)
- Impulse Tracker sample (.its)
- JAMCracker Pro module (.jam)
- jacker-tracker
- klystrack
- klystrack instrument (.ki)
- klystrack module (.kt)
- KRIS Packer / ChipTracker module (.kris)
- Liquid Tracker
- Liquid Digitized Sample (.lds)
- Liquid Tracker module (.liq)
- MadTracker 2
- MadTracker 2 envelope (.mte)
- MadTracker 2 extension (.mtx)
- MadTracker 2 instrument (.mti)
- MadTracker 2 module (.mt2)
- MadTracker 2 pattern (.mtp)
- MadTracker 2 sample (.mts)
- maxYMiser
- maxYMiser instrument (.myi)
- maxYMiser module (.snd)
- Megatracker module (.mgt)
- MO3 (MP3 / Vorbis compressed module)
- MOD Edit sample (.sam)
- Module Protector + noID (.mp)
- Microdeal Quartet
- Moonblaster (MSX)
- Moonblaster music (.mbm)
- Moonblaster sample kit (.mbk)
- Multi Track Module (.mtm)
- Muse Tracker / Pornotracker
- Music Pro Tracker
- Music Pro Tracker DoublePlay (.mpd)
- Music Pro Tracker module (MD1) (.md1)
- Music Pro Tracker module (MD2) (.md2)
- Music Pro Tracker module (MPT) (.mpt)
- Music Studio, The (Activision / Audio Light) (.sng, .song, .mss, .snd, .sound)
- Nerdtracker II module (.ned)
- NesTracker module (.nest)
- NoisePacker
- NoisePacker 2.x (.np2)
- NoisePacker 3.x (.np3)
- NoiseTracker module (.mod)
- Noisetrekker module (.ntk)
- OctaMED
- OctaMED module (MED) (.med)
- OctaMED module (MMD1) (.mmd1)
- OctaMED v2.00 module (.med3)
- OctaMED v2.10 module (MED4) (.med4)
- OctaMED v2.10 module (MMD0) (.mmd0)
- OctaMED v5 module (.mmd2)
- OctaMED SS module (.mmd3)
- MED Packer (.mmdc)
- Oktalyzer
- Oktalyzer module (.okt, .okta)
- Onyx Music File (.omf)
- Open MODPlug Tracker module (.mptm)
- Oracle module (.orc)
- Pha Packer (.pha)
- PlayerPRO
- Extended PlayerPRO module (.madx)
- PlayerPRO module (.mad)
- Polly Tracker module
- Pro Sound Creator v1.xx (.psc, ZX Spectrum)
- Pro Sound Maker (.psm)
- Pro Tracker
- Pro Tracker v1.xx module (.pt1)
- Pro Tracker v2.xx module (.pt2)
- Pro Tracker v3.xx module (.pt3)
- Pro Tracker (MSX) (MSX-Music, extension unknown)
- Poly Tracker module (.ptm)
- Pumatracker module (.puma)
- Quadra Composer module (.emod)
- RASTER Music Tracker module (.rmt)
- Real Tracker
- Real Tracker instrument (.rti)
- Real Tracker module (.rtm)
- Real Tracker sample (.rts)
- Renoise
- Renoise song (XRNS) (.xrns)
- Renoise instrument (XRNS) (.xrni)
- Renoise effect chain (XRNT) (.xrnt)
- Renoise Song (NTK) (.ntk)
- Renoise Song (PTK) (.ptk)
- Renoise Song (RNS) (.rns)
- SBStudio module (.pac, .son, .sou)
- SCC Blaffer NT
- SCC Blaffer NT music (.sbm, MSX)
- SCC Blaffer NT instrument kit (.sbk)
- Scream Tracker
- SMUS
- SoundFX module (.sfx, .sfx2)
- Sound Tracker
- Soundtracker v2.6 / Ice Tracker module (.mtn)
- SoundTracker v2.6 module (.st26)
- Sound Tracker / Super Sonic module (.stc)
- Sound Tracker Pro module (.stp)
- SoundSmith module (.mtp)
- Soundtrakker
- Soundtrakker 128 instrument (.ins)
- Soundtrakker 128 module (.128)
- Soundtrakker v1.x instrument (.ins)
- Soundtrakker v1.x module (.sng)
- SQ-Tracker module (.sqt)
- Starkos Tracker module (.sks)
- StarTrekker / Star Tracker module (.mod, .nt, .flt4)
- SunVox module (.sunvox)
- TFMX
- TFMX pattern data (.mdat)
- TFMX 7V pattern data (.mdat)
- TFMX Pro pattern data (.mdat)
- TFMX sample data (.smpl)
- Theta Music Composer
- Trackerpacker 3 module (.tp3)
- Unic Tracker 1.0 (.unic1)
- Unic Tracker 2.0 (.unic2)
- Ultra Tracker (.ult)
- Velvet Studio AMS v1.x module (.ams)
- VIC-TRACKER module (.vt)
- Vortex Tracker module (.vtx)
- X-Tracker
- D-Lusion Music File (.dmf)
- D-Lusion Sound File (.dms)
Musical instrument control
- ELECTONE - For Yamaha Electone Range Electronic Organs
- MIDI & Clones
- Compact MIDI
- GMD (MIDI clone)
- Gravis Ultrasound patch (used by MIDI synthesizers)
- HMI (MIDI clone)
- HMP (MIDI clone)
- HMZ (Compressed MIDI)
- KAR (MIDI Audio)
- MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
- MIDS (MIDI clone)
- MIZ (Compressed MIDI)
- MSS (MIDI Clone)
- RIFF MIDI
- RIFF MIDS
- Sample Vision (.smp)
- Scalable Polyphony MIDI
- SFARK (SoundFont archive compressed file)
- SoundFont 1.0 (.sbk)
- SoundFont 2.0 (.sf2)
- Synthetic Music Application Format
- XMI (Extended MIDI)
- ZIPI (proposed MIDI replacement)
- Hardware specific
- AdLib Sound Cards
- AdLib instrument (.ins)
- AdLib instrument bank (.bnk)
- AdLib MSCplay (.msc)
- AdLib music (.mus)
- Adlib Tracker
- Adlib Tracker instrument (.ins)
- Adlib Tracker module (.sng)
- Adlib Tracker II instrument (.a2i)
- Adlib Tracker II instrument with fm-register macro (.a2f)
- Adlib Tracker II instrument bank (.a2b)
- Adlib Tracker II instrument bank with macros (.a2w)
- Adlib Tracker II module (.a2m)
- Adlib Tracker II pattern (.a2p)
- Adlib Tracker II tiny module (.a2t)
- AdLib Visual Composer / Roland Synthesizer song (.rol)
- AMusic
- AMusic module (.amd)
- AMusic XMS (.xms)
- Beni Tracker module (.pis)
- Bob's Adlib Music (.bam)
- Boom Tracker v4.0
- Boom Tracker v4.0 instrument (.cif)
- Boom Tracker v4.0 module (.cff)
- DeFy Adlib Tracker module (.dtm)
- Digital FM module (.dfm)
- Drum Traker module (.dtl)
- EdLib packed module (.d00)
- Exotic AdLib module (.xad)
- Extra Simple Music (.xsm)
- Faust Music Creator module (.sng)
- FM Tracker module (.fmt)
- FM-Kingtracker
- FM-Kingtracker bank (.fib)
- FM-Kingtracker instrument (.fin)
- FM-Kingtracker module (.fmk)
- HSC AdLib Composer / HSC-Tracker
- JBM Adlib Music (.jbl)
- JCH
- Johannes Bjerregård module (.jbm)
- Master Tracker module (.mtr)
- MK-Jamz audio (.mkj)
- Mlat Adlib Tracker module (.mad)
- MPU-401 Trakker module (.mtk)
- Palladix module (.plx)
- RAW (AdLib Sound Card)
- Reality AdLib Tracker module (.rad)
- SNG Player module (.sng)
- Surprise! Adlib Tracker
- Twin TrackPlayer module (.dmo)
- Vibrants module (.vib)
- XMS-Tracker module (.xms)
- Akai
- Akai S-series MESA multi file (.mlt)
- Akai S-series MESA I program (.prg)
- Akai S-series MESA II program (.s3p)
- Codisk Audio File
- Creative Labs
- Creative Music Format (.cmf)
- Creative Voice File
- Sound Blaster Instrument (.sbi)
- Disney Sound Source
- DOSBox Raw OPL (.dro)
- Downloadable Sounds Banks (.dls)
- Ensoniq Concert Wavetable (.ecw)
- Gravis Ultrasound
- UltraSound GF1 patch (.pat)
- Instrument Bank (Instrument Bank)
- Software Music Synthesis System (for 8080/Z-80 systems with S-100 bus)
- TRS-80 Orchestra-90 (.orc)
- Voice Sequence (.vsq)
- Yamaha sound chips
- Callus OPL Register Log (YM2151, .cym)
- GYM (YM2612 / Sega Genesis)
- AdLib Sound Cards
- Software Synthesizers
- Farbrausch BR404 music (.bmf)
- iZotope iDrum (.idrum)
- Native Instruments
- Steinberg VST Presets
Musical notation
- Drum tablature
- Guitar tablatures
- ASCII tab (.tab, .btab, .txt)
- Guitar Pro (.gtp)
- Guitar Pro 3 (.gp3)
- Guitar Pro 4 (.gp4)
- Guitar Pro 5 (.gp5)
- Guitar Pro 6 (.gp6)
- KGuitar (.kg)
- Power Tab (.ptb)
- Progression
- Rich MIDI Tablature Format (.rmtf)
- TablEdit (.tef)
- VexTab
- Musical notation
- ABC (musical notation)
- ANSI Music
- Capella
- ChordML
- ConcertWare
- Copyist
- Encore (.enc)
- Extensible Music Notation Markup Language
- Finale (.etf, .mus, .musx)
- Forte (.fnf)
- Guido
- JMSL
- JScoreML
- LilyPond
- MEI
- MHTML
- MidiXML
- minimusic
- MPEG4-SMR
- Mup
- MuseScore
- Music Description Language
- Music Markup Language
- Music Time (.mus)
- Music Time Pro (.mts)
- Musical Notation Markup Language
- MusicML
- MusicWrite (.mwk)
- MusicXML
- MusicXML compressed (.mxl)
- Musink (.musink)
- MusiqueXML
- MusiXML
- Myriad Software (.msf)
- NeumesXML
- Neuratron Photoscore Format (.opt)
- Notation Interchange File Format
- NoteAbility Pro
- Noteworthy Composer and Music Publisher (.nwc)
- NoteWriter
- Notion
- NtEd
- Overture (.ove)
- PriMus
- Rhapsody Notation Program File (.rhp)
- Rhapsody 2/3 (RISC OS. Unrelated to the above "Rhapsody Notation Program File")
- Rhapsody 4 (RISC OS, .c00)
- Rosegarden (.rg)
- QuickScore Elite (.qsd)
- SCORE (.mus)
- Score Perfect (.spp)
- ScoreML
- ScoreWriter (.scw)
- Sibelius
- SMDL
- SongWrite
- Studio Session Song (.sss)
- Theta
- Tilia
- VexTab
- Virtual Musician Markup Language
- WEDELMUSIC
- XMF
- XMusic
- XScore (eXtensible Score Language)
Playlists, music libraries, music store downloaders
- Amazon downloader file (.amz)
- B4S (Winamp 3 playlist)
- FPL (foobar2000 playlist)
- iTunes Music Library
- Kapsule (Kazaa XML Manifest)
- KPL (Kazaa Playlist Format)
- M3U (Multimedia Playlist Format)
- MAGMA (Magnet URI)
- MOD4WIN Module List (.mol)
- PLS (Multimedia Playlist)
- RAM (RealAudio)
- SMIL (W3C open standard)
- Windows Media Metafile (.asx, .wax, .wxv)
- Windows Media Playlist (.wpl)
- XML Sharable Playlist
Programming languages and APIs (audio/music-specific)
- ChucK (.ck)
- Csound (.csd, .orc, .sco)
- Cycling 74 Max (.maxpat, .max)
- FAUST (.dsp)
- Music Macro Language
- Native Instruments Reaktor (.rkplr)
- Pure Data (.pd)
- Scala (music software) (.kbm, .scl, .cmd)
- SuperCollider (.scd, .sc)
- WaveGL
- Web Audio API
Ringtones
- i Melody
- M4R (Apple iPhone Ringtones - see M4A)
- Polyphonic ringtone
- RTTTL
Signal processing
These aren't specific file formats, but generic mathematical methods used by other file formats.
Speech synthesis
- Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML)
- VoiceDescription (OS X)
Unclassified (need to move to other categories)
- ACM (Audio Compression Manager)
- ADM (ADM Audio File)
- Audfprint fingerprint file (.afpk)
- AVR
- B1S
- BDSP (BotDetect Sound Package)
- BVG
- CBD2
- DeskMate Music (.sng)
- DeskMate Sound (.snd)
- DSM (DSIK Internal)
- DSPW
- DTK
- FFW
- First Rate Music Hall (.pck, MSX-Music song editor using Music Macro Language)
- GBTS
- GCUB
- GSB
- HLWAV
- IAB
- IADP
- INT (RAW File)
- ISWS
- JSTM
- KOVS
- MA (Music Assembler)
- MNSTR
- MSF
- MTAF
- S98 (NEC PC-98)
- SD (ESPS sampled data file)
- SGI (Sound Generator 3.0 instrument)
- SNG (SCC Musixx)
- Sound Effect Editor (.see, MSX)
- SoundHelix XML
- TFMX (TFMX)
- Vivaldi (RISC OS)
See the Open Cubic Player homepage for a list of demo formats: http://www.cubic.org/player/features.html
See also Piano Rolls (which is under the Physical File Formats).
Links
- Kickstarting free, open recordings of Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1"
- MPC-HC: media player for Windows handling just about all video/audio formats
- How Music Works
- Some discussion of "advanced music formats" from 1994
- FAQ on audio file formats (1992-07-09)
- Chiptune version of Talking Heads song
- Beatles 3000: humorous video of how the future might misunderstand 20th century pop culture if artifacts decay as happened in the past
- The Music Written on This Dude's Butt
- "Eye of the tiger" played on a modified dot matrix printer
- A Short History of Hardcore Chipmusic
- You Need to Hear This Extremely Rare Recording
- Library of Congress Recommended Format Specifications: Audio Works
- In a bid for more emotional snacking, Frito-Lay patents culinary theme songs
- Scientists reconstruct speech through soundproof glass by watching a bag of potato chips
- Apple releases tool to remove free U2 album (which they gave you whether you wanted it or not)
- Excel sheet that plays video and audio
- Web Audio API (W3C)
- Why Collecting Matters: Citizen Archivists and the Battle for Future Pasts
- MediaInfo: software that shows metadata for audio/video files
- Save our Sounds
- David Systems tools: includes online loudness analysis of sound files
- The next Web standard could be music notation
- How Oldschool Sound/Music worked (video)
- Understanding surround sound formats
- Reverse engineering the 76477 "Space Invaders" sound effect chip from die photos