WAV Format

Waveform Audio File Format (WAV/WAVE) demuxer

The WAV demuxer provides support for the Waveform Audio File Format, one of the most common uncompressed audio formats based on the RIFF container.

Feature Flag

[dependencies]
symphonia = { version = "0.5", features = ["wav"] }

Note: WAV is enabled by default in Symphonia.

Status

Excellent - All media streams play. No audible or inaudible glitches. All required features are supported.

Supported Codecs

The WAV container supports various audio codecs:

• PCM (8, 16, 24, 32-bit integer)
• IEEE Float (32, 64-bit)
• ADPCM (Microsoft, IMA)
• A-law / μ-law
• Extensible format (multi-channel PCM)

Gapless Playback

✅ Fully supported - WAV files support gapless playback with sample-accurate seeking.

Metadata Support

WAV files support RIFF INFO metadata chunks:

• IART (Artist)
• INAM (Title)
• IPRD (Album)
• ICRD (Creation date)
• IGNR (Genre)
• ICMT (Comment)
• ICOP (Copyright)
• And many more INFO tags

Additionally, WAV files can contain embedded ID3v2 tags.

Usage Example

use symphonia::core::formats::FormatOptions;
use symphonia::core::io::MediaSourceStream;
use symphonia::core::meta::MetadataOptions;
use symphonia::core::probe::Hint;
use std::fs::File;

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    // Open the WAV file
    let file = Box::new(File::open("audio.wav")?);
    let mss = MediaSourceStream::new(file, Default::default());

    // Create a hint
    let mut hint = Hint::new();
    hint.with_extension("wav");

    // Probe the media source
    let format_opts = FormatOptions::default();
    let metadata_opts = MetadataOptions::default();
    
    let probed = symphonia::default::get_probe()
        .format(&hint, mss, &format_opts, &metadata_opts)?;

    let mut format = probed.format;

    // Get the default track
    let track = format.default_track().unwrap();
    
    println!("Codec: {:?}", track.codec_params.codec);
    println!("Sample Rate: {:?}", track.codec_params.sample_rate);
    println!("Channels: {:?}", track.codec_params.channels);
    println!("Bits per Sample: {:?}", track.codec_params.bits_per_sample);

    // Get total duration
    if let Some(n_frames) = track.codec_params.n_frames {
        if let Some(sample_rate) = track.codec_params.sample_rate {
            let duration_secs = n_frames as f64 / sample_rate as f64;
            println!("Duration: {:.2} seconds", duration_secs);
        }
    }

    // Read RIFF INFO metadata
    if let Some(metadata) = probed.metadata.get() {
        for tag in metadata.tags() {
            println!("{}: {}", tag.key, tag.value);
        }
    }

    Ok(())
}

Advanced Features

Seeking in WAV Files

WAV files support sample-accurate seeking:

use symphonia::core::formats::SeekMode;
use symphonia::core::formats::SeekTo;

// Seek to 5 seconds
let target_sample = 5 * track.codec_params.sample_rate.unwrap();
format.seek(
    SeekMode::Accurate,
    SeekTo::TimeStamp { ts: target_sample as u64, track_id: track.id }
)?;

Working with Multi-Channel Audio

WAV extensible format supports multi-channel configurations:

if let Some(channels) = &track.codec_params.channels {
    println!("Channel count: {}", channels.count());
    println!("Channel layout: {:?}", channels);
}

Cue Points

WAV files can contain cue points for markers and regions:

for cue in format.cues() {
    println!("Cue point at sample {}", cue.index);
}

Known Limitations

• Some proprietary or rare WAV codec variants may not be supported
• RF64 format (for files >4GB) has limited support
• Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) metadata is partially supported

File Extensions

• .wav - Standard extension
• .wave - Alternative extension

MIME Types

• audio/vnd.wave
• audio/x-wav
• audio/wav
• audio/wave

Crate Information

Crate: symphonia-format-riff

Version: 0.5.5

License: MPL-2.0

Safety: 100% safe Rust (forbids unsafe code)