Converting Audio Formats
Getting the swing
The command line swings. In this
issue of “Command Line”we investigate
how you can grab tracks from
audio CDs and convert sound files to
other formats. No matter whether
you choose wav,MP3 or Ogg Vorbis,
you can rely on the shell to convert
your files.
You do not need a GUI-based tool to
convert sound files to different formats
– the command line gives
you everything you need. To get started,
we will be looking at two programs that
grab tracks from audio CDs and store
them in wav format. Following that, we
will be looking at tips and tricks for
converting various audio formats and
learning how clever use of bash features
can speed up the process.
Grabbing with cdda2wav cdda2wav [1] (“compact disc digital
audio to wav”) is a program that most
distributors include. Debian users can
install the tool by running
apt-get install cdda2wav
Before you launch cdda2wav, check to
see if you can access your CD-ROM drive
with a non-privileged user account (see
Box 1). To grab a track, you need to use
the -t option and the track number. The
program also expects the device name of
your CD-ROM drive, which you can supply
by adding a -D option:
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.