wav-files-convert

A simple, efficient Rust CLI tool for recursively converting audio files to standardized WAV format (Microsoft PCM, 16-bit, mono, 16kHz sample rate) using FFmpeg. Ideal for preparing audio datasets for machine learning, speech recognition, or archival purposes.

Features

• Recursive Processing: Scans input directories and all subdirectories for audio files.
• Supported Formats: Handles common audio extensions like MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, AAC, WMA, AIFF, AU, MP2, and WAV.
• Preserved Structure: Maintains the original folder hierarchy in the output directory.
• Custom FFmpeg Path: Specify the path to your FFmpeg binary for flexibility across environments.
• Error-Resilient: Continues processing on individual file failures, with detailed logging.
• Idiomatic Rust: Built with safety, concurrency awareness, and minimal dependencies.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Rust (stable channel, version 1.70+ recommended)
• FFmpeg (version 4.0+ for full codec support)

From Source

Clone the repository and build with Cargo:

git clone https://github.com/RustedBytes/wav-files-convert.git
cd wav-files-convert
cargo build --release

The binary will be available at target/release/wav-files-convert.

Usage

wav-files-convert [OPTIONS] <INPUT> <OUTPUT>

• <INPUT>: Path to the input directory containing audio files (required).
• <OUTPUT>: Path to the output directory for converted WAV files (required).
• -f, --ffmpeg-bin <FFMPEG_BIN>: Path to the FFmpeg executable (default: ffmpeg).

Run with --help for full options.

Examples

Basic Conversion

Convert all audio files in ./audio-input/ to ./audio-output/:

wav-files-convert ./audio-input ./audio-output

Custom FFmpeg Path

If FFmpeg is not in your PATH:

wav-files-convert ./audio-input ./audio-output --ffmpeg-bin /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg

Processing with Subfolders

The tool automatically handles nested directories, e.g.:

audio-input/
├── song.mp3
└── subfolder/
    └── track.flac

Results in:

audio-output/
├── song.wav
└── subfolder/
    └── track.wav

Each WAV file will be 16-bit PCM, mono, 16kHz.

Output Details

• Format: WAV (RIFF) with Microsoft PCM encoding.
• Channels: Mono (-ac 1).
• Sample Rate: 16kHz (-ar 16000).
• Bit Depth: 16-bit signed little-endian (-acodec pcm_s16le).

FFmpeg handles resampling, channel mixing, and format conversion transparently.

Troubleshooting

• FFmpeg Not Found: Ensure FFmpeg is installed and accessible. Use --ffmpeg-bin to specify the full path.
• Permission Errors: Run with appropriate read/write permissions on input/output directories.
• Unsupported Formats: Add extensions to the source code's AUDIO_EXTENSIONS constant if needed.
• Conversion Failures: Check console output for per-file errors (e.g., corrupted input).

Development

This project is maintained under the RustedBytes organization.

Building and Testing

cargo build
cargo test
cargo fmt  # Ensure code style
cargo clippy -- -D warnings  # Lint

Dependencies

• clap: Argument parsing.
• anyhow: Error handling.

See Cargo.toml for versions.

Contributing

1. Fork the repo and create a feature branch (git checkout -b feat/amazing-feature).
2. Commit changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature').
3. Push to the branch (git push origin feat/amazing-feature).
4. Open a Pull Request.

We welcome bug reports, features, and documentation improvements!

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Cite

@software{Smoliakov_Wav_Files_Toolkit,
  author = {Smoliakov, Yehor},
  month = oct,
  title = {{WAV Files Toolkit: A suite of command-line tools for common WAV audio processing tasks, including conversion from other formats, data augmentation, loudness normalization, spectrogram generation, and validation.}},
  url = {https://github.com/RustedBytes/wav-files-toolkit},
  version = {0.4.0},
  year = {2025}
}