PeppyMeter ~ Linux Analog VU Meter


PeppyMeter is a software VU Meter written in Python. It was originally developed as the new ‘VU Meter’ screensaver for Peppy Player. With minor modifications it became a stand-alone application. PeppyMeter gets audio data from media players (e.g. mpd) via fifo and displays current volume levels in a Graphical User Interface in the form of a traditional VU Meter.

  • Written in Python.
  • Pygame library leveraged for UI purposes.
  • UI is available in three resolutions 800×480, 480×320 and 320×240 pixels.
  • The input for the program is the data from the named pipe. That signal should be provided by peppyalsa plugin.
  • Supplies 9 default meters out of the box.
  • Allows you to add your own meters.
  • Open-source. All source files are available on Github.
  • Several data sources are available for testing and tuning.
  • Provides four types of output: Display, Serial, I2C and PWM.

meters

github.com/project-owner/PeppyMeter.doc/wiki
github.com/project-owner/PeppyMeter
diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/291010-peppymeter

AcousticBrainz ~ Analyze Your Music


The AcousticBrainz project aims to crowd source acoustic information for all music in the world and to make it available to the public. This acoustic information describes the acoustic characteristics of music and includes low-level spectral information and information for genres, moods, keys, scales and much more. The goal of AcousticBrainz is to provide music technology researchers and open source hackers with a massive database of information about music. ~ AcousticBrainz

Blog
Downloads
FAQ
Github
Wiki

Ex Falso / Quod Libet ~ Tag Editor / Player


Quod Libet is a GTK+-based audio player written in Python, using the Mutagen tagging library. It’s designed around the idea that you know how to organize your music better than we do. It lets you make playlists based on regular expressions (don’t worry, regular searches work too). It lets you display and edit any tags you want in the file, for all the file formats it supports.

Unlike some, Quod Libet will scale to libraries with tens of thousands of songs. It also supports most of the features you’d expect from a modern media player: Unicode support, advanced tag editing, ReplayGain, podcasts & Internet radio, album art support and all major audio formats – see the screenshots.

Ex Falso is a program that uses the same tag editing backend as Quod Libet, but isn’t connected to an audio player. If you’re perfectly happy with your favorite player and just want something that can handle tagging, Ex Falso is for you.

Quod Libet

Website
Download
Features
Guide
Screenshots
Quod Libet Companion Plugins

Audio RightMark ~ Independent Audio Benchmarking


Need help deciding which PC audio hardware to purchase? Want to test some gear? Open source, freeware hardware analysis software and posted RMAA test results for common hardware.

Website
Download
Test Results

RareWares ~ Freeware Audio Archive


Providing hard-to-find pieces of software since 2001

Repository of open audio CODECs, compiled LAME binaries and freeware utilities.

http://rarewares.org

Convolver ~ A Convolution Plugin


Convolver is an open source, high performance Windows application for applying finite impulse response (FIR) filters to multi-channel digital audio in the form of

Convolver will take a set of FIR filter files (sound files) and convolve them with sound paths mixed from the input channels, mixing the results into a set of specified output channels.

convolver

convolver.sourceforge.net
Download
Documentation

DRC ~ Digital Room Correction Filter Generator


DRC is a program used to generate correction filters for acoustic compensation of HiFi and audio systems in general, including listening room compensation. DRC generates just the FIR correction filters, which can be used with a real time or offline convolver to provide real time or offline correction. DRC doesn’t provide convolution features, and provides only some simplified, although really accurate, measuring tools.

drc-fir.sourceforge.net
sourceforge.net/projects/drc-fir/files/
Documentation
Wikipedia

LAME ~ Free & Open mp3 Encoder


LAME is used to encode / compress audio data into the lossy MP3 file format. It’s a high quality MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) encoder, licensed under the LGPL.

LAME Downloads ~ Rarewares
LAME Recommended Settings – HA Wiki
LAME Libraries – RareWares
LAME Source Code ~ Sourceforge
lame3995o ~ A fork of LAME (alternative version)
LameVST ~ LAME compression as a VST effect
Wikipedia ~ LAME info
WinLAME ~ Windows front-end (GUI)
wxlame ~ Windows front-end (GUI)
lame-ios ~ LAME For IOS

www.esm.rochester.edu/ears/docs/lame/switchs
svn.code.sf.net/p/lame/svn/trunk/lame/USAGE

FLAC ~ Free Lossless Audio CODEC


FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, an audio format similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo) just like you would a MP3 file.

FLAC stands out as the fastest and most widely supported lossless audio codec, and the only one that at once is non-proprietary, is unencumbered by patents, has an open-source reference implementation, has a well documented format and API and has several other independent implementations.

xiph.org/flac
xiph.org/flac/comparison
xiph.org/flac/documentation
xiph.org/flac/download
xiph.org/flac/faq
sourceforge.net/projects/flac
github.com/xiph/flac
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLAC

Additional resources:

sourceforge.net/projects/flacfrontend
FLAC Development Forum @ Hydrogen Audio

FLAC Test Bench:

wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=FLAC_decoder_testbench

Encoders:

FLACCL ~ cue.tools/wiki/FLACCL

References:

www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9639.html#table13

MilkDrop ~ Audio Visualization Plugin


MilkDrop is a music visualizer – a “plug-in” or extension to Winamp or Foobar2000 music players. As you listen your music in Winamp, MilkDrop takes you flying through the actual sound waves you’re hearing, and uses beat detection to trigger myriad psychedelic effects, creating a rich visual journey through sound. MilkDrop can also be driven by a live audio feed (microphone or line-in).

www.geisswerks.com/milkdrop
sourceforge.net/projects/milkdrop2
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MilkDrop

MusicBrainz Picard ~ Tag Audio Files With MusicBrainz Metadata


MusicBrainz Picard is a cross-platform (Linux, macOS, Windows) audio tagging application. It is the official MusicBrainz tagger.

Picard supports the majority of audio file formats, is capable of using audio fingerprints (AcoustIDs), performing CD lookups and disc ID submissions, and it has excellent Unicode support. Additionally, there are several plugins available that extend Picard’s features.

Features:

  • Multiple formats: Picard supports all popular music formats, including MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, WMA, WAV, and more.
  • AcoustID: Picard uses AcoustID audio fingerprints, allowing files to be identified by the actual music, even if they have no metadata.
  • Comprehensive database: Picard uses the open and community-maintained MusicBrainz database to provide accurate information about millions of music releases.
  • CD lookups: Picard can lookup entire music CDs with a click.
  • Plugin support: If you need a particular feature, you can choose from a selection of available plugins or write your own.
  • Scripting: A flexible and powerful, yet easy to learn, scripting language allows you to exactly specify how your music files will be named and how the tags will look like.
  • Cover Art: Picard can find and download the correct cover art for your albums.
  • Open Source: Picard is licensed under the GNU General Public License 2.0 or later, and is hosted on GitHub where it is actively developed.
Picard GUI

picard.musicbrainz.org
picard.musicbrainz.org/downloads
picard.musicbrainz.org/plugins
picard.musicbrainz.org/docs/faq
picard.musicbrainz.org/quick-start
github.com/metabrainz/picard
Youtube: What is MusicBrainz Picard?

Max ~ Mac Audio CD Ripper


A Mac application for ripping high quality audio files from CDs. Integrated with MusicBrainz.

github.com/sbooth/Max

macOS 10.7 or greater.

Main site is 404, source code needs to be compiled. Any takers? Let me know.