AudioGridder is a network bridge for audio and MIDI that allows for offloading the DSP processing of audio plugins to remote computers. This can come in handy when mixing complex projects or running CPU intensive instruments.
AudioGridder Server runs on a computer hosting your effect and instrument plugins. On your workstation, on which you run your DAW, you use the AudioGridder FX or instrument plugin to access your plugin library over the network. The plugin is looking for available servers on your network and once connected allows you to create insert chains or load instruments. Midi and audio data from your DAW will be streamed over the network, processed on the server and streamed back.
Author Archives: tom2tec
foobar2000-catbox ~ Foobar, Discord, Catbox & Images
This is a helper application that uploads images to Catbox, and is meant to be invoked by the foo_discord_rich plugin. With a fork of the Discord Rich Presence Integration component, uploads cover art to catbox.moe and prints the URL.
github.com/realoksi/foobar2000-catbox
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SDIF ~ Sound Description Interchange Format
The Sound Description Interchange Format (SDIF) is an established standard for the interchange of sound descriptions and analysis data. This project provides libraries, SDIF (in C) and Easdif (in C++), tools, and wrappers to read and write SDIF files.
sourceforge.net/projects/sdif
cnmat.berkeley.edu/library/sdif
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDIF
groups.google.com/g/sdif-forum
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Producer Player ~ Mastering Workspaces
A desktop app for producers who bounce a lot. Drag in a folder of exports and Producer Player auto-groups versions, organizes your album, and gives you a full mastering workspace — all in one place.
ethansk.github.io/producer-player
github.com/EthanSK/producer-player
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Lattice ~ CLI Toolkit For Music Collectors
A high-performance CLI toolkit for music collectors who manage their own libraries. Lattice provides a suite of tools for library visualization, integrity verification, cover art extraction, and metadata auditing — all from a single, zero-dependency script.
Why this exists
Modern music players often hide your library behind proprietary databases. Lattice is built for collectors who treat the filesystem as the source of truth. It reads tags directly via mutagen, ensuring your library is portable and player-agnostic.
Features:
| Mode | Flag | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Library Tree | --library | Generate a formatted ASCII/Unicode tree of your entire collection. |
| AI Library | --ai-library | Token-efficient export designed for LLM recommendation prompts. |
| Genre Wings | --all-wings | Generate separate library catalogs segmented by genre. |
| Integrity Checks | --testFLAC | Parallel verification of FLAC/MP3/Opus/WAV integrity via FFmpeg. |
| Art Extraction | --extractArt | Extract embedded covers with format-priority ranking (FLAC > Opus). |
| Tag Audit | --auditTags | Identify and report files with missing or inconsistent metadata. |
github.com/VirInvictus/Lattice
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Bitfake2 ~ Audio Tool Handler & Manipulator
Bitfake was originally created to detect fake
.FLACfiles through spectral analysis. It has since grown into a multipurpose CLI tool for handling music more easily and efficiently.One common problem was that getting a track’s metadata required long
ffprobecommands with messy output. Converting music withffmpegwas also repetitive. The command itself is easy to remember, but writing scripts to convert entire directories felt inefficient and slow. This project now performs metadata and conversion tasks directly through linked libraries (TagLib/libsndfile/libav*).
Features:
- Get metadata
- Get ReplayGain info (useful for music players)
- Spectral analysis on 44.1 kHz
.FLACfiles (higher sample rates may be misrepresented, so be careful) - Lossy diagnosis (banding score)
- File Conversion + VBR Support (Works for outputs like
.wav,.flac,.ogg,.mp3,.aac,.opus) - Tagging metadata (Works for single files, but not directories yet)
- Calculating ReplayGain and applying it to files (Works for track replay gain iterating through directories, album replay gain is a bit funky?)
- Directory Conversion (works for all previously mentioned formats!)
- CoverArt+ (Brings along cover art among all conversions!)
- Organizing Files by album! (Give a dir of random music, and bitfake will organize it – ty to uncognic)
- Directory Tagging (YAY!)
- Album folder renaming from tags (Artist – Album (Year))
- Spectrogram generation (in .png)
- Version info (WOW! BEST YET!)
- MusicBrainz Syncing data.
github.com/Ray17x/bitfake2
gpo.zugaina.org/app-misc/bitfake2
repology.org/maintainer/ray%40atl.tools/feed-for-repo/gentoo_ovl_guru
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RxFFmpeg ~ Android Development Framewok
RxFFmpeg is a high-performance multimedia processing framework built on top of FFmpeg and optimized specifically for Android environments, enabling developers to perform complex audio and video editing operations programmatically. It integrates widely used encoding libraries such as x264, mp3lame, and fdk-aac, allowing it to support a broad range of media formats and transformations. The framework provides a wrapper around FFmpeg commands, making it easier to execute advanced media operations without directly handling low-level command syntax. It supports both synchronous and asynchronous execution, enabling developers to manage long-running media tasks efficiently within mobile applications. The system also includes features like hardware acceleration through MediaCodec, significantly improving performance on supported devices. Its design focuses on flexibility, allowing users to perform tasks such as transcoding, clipping, filtering, and compositing media with minimal overhead.
Features:
- Callback system for tracking execution progress
- Execution of FFmpeg commands through a simplified interface
- Support for synchronous and asynchronous media processing
- Hardware acceleration using MediaCodec
- Wide range of video and audio editing capabilities
- Integration with multiple encoding libraries
github-com.translate.goog/microshow/RxFFmpeg
sourceforge.net/projects/rxffmpeg.mirror
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Winamp ASIO ~ ASIO & SRD Resampler
Further development of the ASIO output module by otachan (2006) for the Winamp player, including:
- problem with setting the sample rate fixed
- gapless mode completed
- added individual channel assignment
- added upsampling to a non-fractional multiple of base-frequency
- added high quality resampler: sample rate doubler for best audio playback
winamp-asio-plugin.sourceforge.io
sourceforge.net/projects/winamp-asio-plugin
forums.winamp.com/forum/winamp/winamp-technical-support/4647216-asio-output-plugin
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discogs-cli ~ Discogs Terminal Access
discogs-cli bring the Discogs.com database to your terminal. Perform the following actions from your terminal:
- Search artists, releases, labels
- View artist information and their releases
- View label details and its associated releases
- View a release in detail
github.com/jesseward/discogs-cli
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Ear Tag ~ Edit Audio File Tags
Ear Tag is a simple audio file tag editor. It is primarily geared towards making quick edits or bulk-editing tracks in albums/EPs. Unlike other tagging programs, Ear Tag does not require the user to set up a music library folder. It can:
- Edit tags of MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG and WMA files
- Modify metadata of multiple files at once
- Rename files using information from present tags
- Identify files using AcoustID
Network access is only used for the “Identify selected files” option.
apps.gnome.org/EarTag
gitlab.gnome.org/World/eartag
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foo_timesleep ~ Foobar2000 Sleep Timer
foo_timesleep is a sleep timer component for foobar2000. It provides both:
- Sleep timer commands under
Playback > Sleep Timer - An always-visible
Sleep Timertoolbar item for Columns UI (Toolbars)
Features:
- Start a sleep timer in minutes (preset values)
- Stop playback when the timer reaches zero
- Show remaining time
- Cancel an active timer
github.com/shirafukayayoi/foo_timesleep
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Audio File Formats ~ A Clear & Practical Guide
Audio file formats are digital containers used to store sound. They differ in how they handle compression, how widely they are supported, and what they are best used for. At a high level, audio formats fall into three primary categories: uncompressed, lossless compressed, and lossy compressed. In addition, there are physical audio formats that remain relevant for distribution and archival purposes.
Uncompressed Formats
Uncompressed formats such as WAV, AIFF, and BWF store audio data without any reduction or loss. This means they preserve the full fidelity of the original recording, but at the cost of large file sizes.
Because no data is discarded, these formats are the standard in professional environments. They are widely used in recording, editing, mastering, and archival workflows where accuracy and compatibility with studio software are critical. Broadcast Wave Format (BWF), for example, extends WAV with metadata support for professional and broadcast use.
Lossless Compressed Formats
Lossless formats such as FLAC, ALAC, and WavPack reduce file size, often by up to 60%, without sacrificing any audio quality. They achieve this by compressing the data in a way that can be perfectly reconstructed during playback.
These formats are ideal for personal music libraries and long-term storage. They retain the original sound while using significantly less disk space than uncompressed formats.
FLAC, Free Lossless Audio Codec, is open-source and widely supported across platforms and devices. ALAC, Apple Lossless Audio Codec, is Apple’s royalty-free alternative, used within Apple Music and iTunes ecosystems. WavPack offers additional flexibility, including hybrid modes that combine lossy and correction data.
Lossy Compressed Formats
Lossy formats such as MP3, AAC, Opus, and Vorbis achieve much smaller file sizes by removing audio data that is considered inaudible or less perceptually important. This results in some loss of quality, though often minimal at higher bitrates. These formats are ideal for portable devices where file size matters and audio quality is still adequate for ordinary enviroments.
MP3 remains the most widely recognized and used format for audio file compression, music sharing and general compatibility. AAC typically delivers better sound quality than MP3 at the same bitrate and is used by platforms such as Apple Music and YouTube. Opus is designed for efficiency and low latency, making it well suited for real-time applications like VoIP and live streaming. Vorbis, commonly used in Ogg containers, is an open alternative with solid quality and flexibility.
Physical Audio Formats
Physical formats, including vinyl records, cassette tapes, compact discs, CDs, DVD-Audio, and SACD, store audio on tangible media, either in analog or digital form.
Compact discs, CDs, based on the Red Book standard, 16-bit, 44.1 kHz PCM, remain one of the most common physical formats. Higher resolution formats such as SACD, DSD-based, and Blu-ray Audio support higher bit depths and multichannel audio.
For long-term preservation, redundency, archival-grade M-DISC and lossless digital files are all recommended.
Recommended Usage
For modern workflows, choosing the right format depends on the balance between quality, storage, and compatibility:
- Use FLAC or ALAC for high-quality personal libraries and archiving
- Use MP3 or AAC for portable devices and online sharing
- Use WAV or AIFF for professional audio production and editing
- Use Opus for web-based audio, streaming, and real-time communication
Each format has a clear role. Understanding these roles allows you to build a workflow that preserves quality where it matters and saves space where it doesn’t.
References:
An audio codec is a device or computer program capable of coding or decoding a digital data stream of audio. ~ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_codec
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_codecs
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codec_listening_test
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_codecs_and_containers
digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/audio
The Audio File 