| SONIVOXRENDER(1) | Sonivox MIDI File Renderer | SONIVOXRENDER(1) |
NAME
sonivoxrender — Render standard MIDI files into raw PCM audio
SYNOPSIS
sonivoxrender [-h|--help] [-v|--version] [-d|--dls soundfont] [-r|--reverb 0..4] [-w|--wet 0..32767] [-n|--dry 0..32767] [-c|--chorus 0..4] [-l|--level 0..32767] [-g|--gain 0..196] [-V|--Verbosity 0..5] [-R|--reverb-post-mix] [-C|--chorus-post-mix] [-s|--sndlib 1..3] midi_file
DESCRIPTION
This program is a MIDI file renderer based on the sonivox synthesizer library. It reads .MID (Standard MIDI Files) file format, and writes an audio stream to the standard output as raw 16 bit stereo PCM samples.
Options
- -h, --help
- Prints brief usage information.
- -v, --version
- Prints the version numbers.
- -d, --dls soundfont
- Optional DLS or SF2 soundfont file name. If not provided, it uses an internal embedded soundfont.
- -r, --reverb reverb_preset
- Reverb preset between 0 and 4: 0=no, 1=large hall, 2=hall, 3=chamber, 4=room.
- -w, --wet reverb_wet
- Reverb wet level between 0 and 32767.
- -n, --dry reverb_dry
- Reverb dry level between 0 and 32767.
- -c, --chorus chorus_preset
- Chorus preset between 0 and 4: 0=no, 1..4=presets.
- -l, --level chorus_level
- Chorus level between 0 and 32767.
- -g, --gain master_gain
- Master gain between 0 and 196, default is 100 (+0dB). The number is relative to 100, in 1dB increments, e.g. 120 = +20dB, 80 = -20dB.
- -V, --Verbosity verbosity
- Verbosity level between 0 and 5, where 0=no, 1..5=severity levels.
- -R, --reverb-post-mix
- Ignore CC91 reverb send level. The reverb effect will apply to mixed output audio, which is the old behavior.
- -C, --chorus-post-mix
- Ignore CC93 chorus send level. See also --reverb-post-mix.
- -s, --sndlib index
- EAS sound library to use:
- •
- 1: wt_200k_G (default) - WT-only bank, used in Android devices. Also named “Common”. Support 22050 Hz and 44100 Hz sample rates, 8-bit and 16-bit samples.
- •
- 2: GMdblib-3 - FM-only bank. Support all sample rates. Sample bit depth does not matter here.
- •
- 3: hybrid_22khz_mcu - Hybrid bank. Use WT synth for drums and FM for melodic instruments. This bank is a combination of GMdblib-3 and Sonic_20Khz_Drums. Support 22050 Hz sample rate and 8-bit samples only.
Note: This option does not affect DLS/SF2. They will always use the DLS synth engine. If the selected sound library is not compatible with the build configuration, the program will fail with an error message.
Arguments
- midi_file
- Input MID file name.
EXAMPLES
The following examples assume the default option USE_44KHZ=ON, which means an output sample rate = 44100 Hz.
Example 1: Render a MIDI file and save the rendered audio as a raw audio file:
-
$ sonivoxrender ants.mid > ants.pcm
Example 2: pipe the rendered audio thru the Linux ALSA aplay utility:
-
$ sonivoxrender ants.mid | aplay -c 2 -f S16_LE -r 44100
is equivalent to:
-
$ sonivoxrender ants.mid | aplay -f cd
Example 3: pipe the rendered audio thru the lame utility creating a MP3 file:
-
$ sonivoxrender ants.mid | lame -r -s 44100 - ants.mp3
Example 4: pipe the rendered audio thru the sox utility creating a WAV file:
-
$ sonivoxrender ants.mid | sox -t s16 -c 2 -r 44100 - ants.wav
Example 5: pipe the rendered audio thru the PulseAudio’s pacat utility:
-
$ sonivoxrender ants.mid | pacat
Example 6: pipe the rendered audio thru the PipeWire’s pw-play utility:
-
$ sonivoxrender ants.mid | pw-play --rate 44100 -
BUGS
See Tickets at GitHub https://github.com/pedrolcl/sonivox/issues/
LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0
Copyright (c) 2022-2025 Pedro López-Cabanillas and contributors
AUTHORS
Pedro López-Cabanillas <plcl@users.sf.net>.
| December 30, 2025 | sonivox 4.0.0.0 |