AudioForge

A cross-platform desktop application for merging multiple audio files into a single output with chapter markers, metadata, and cover art. Built for creating audiobooks, but works for any audio merging task.

Download

Platform	Download
macOS	AudioForge-macOS.zip
Windows	AudioForge-Windows.zip
Linux	AudioForge-Linux.zip

Requires FFmpeg installed on your system. See Installing FFmpeg below.

macOS: First Launch

macOS Gatekeeper may block the app since it's not notarized. To open it:

1. Right-click (or Control-click) on AudioForge.app and select Open
2. Click Open in the dialog that appears

Or remove the quarantine attribute via Terminal:

xattr -cr ~/Downloads/AudioForge.app

Features

• Multi-format input — MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC, WAV, OGG, Opus, WMA, AIFF
• Multiple output formats — M4B (audiobook with chapters), M4A, MP3
• Chapter markers — Automatically generated from input filenames (M4B output)
• Metadata editing — Title, author, narrator, year, genre, description
• Cover art — Embed JPG/PNG artwork with thumbnail preview
• Quality presets — Low (64 kbps) through Very High (256 kbps)
• Real-time progress — Live progress bar tracking FFmpeg conversion
• Drag and drop — Drop audio files directly into the app
• Cancel support — Stop a conversion at any time
• Cross-platform — Native look on macOS, Windows, and Linux

How to Use

1. Add Audio Files

• Drag and drop files onto the drop zone, or
• Click Add Files to browse and select audio files
• Use Move Up / Move Down to reorder files (this determines chapter order)
• Use Remove or Clear to manage your file list

2. Configure Output

• Name — Set the output filename (invalid characters are automatically sanitized)
• Save to — Choose the output directory (defaults to ~/Downloads)
• Format — Select the output format:
  • M4B — Audiobook format with chapter markers (recommended for audiobooks)
  • M4A — AAC audio without chapter markers
  • MP3 — Universal compatibility
• Quality — Choose a quality preset:
  • Low (64 kbps) — Smallest file size
  • Medium (96 kbps)
  • Standard (128 kbps) — Good balance of size and quality
  • High (192 kbps)
  • Very High (256 kbps) — Best quality

3. Add Metadata (Optional)

Click Metadata (optional) to expand the metadata panel:

• Title — Book or album title
• Author — Writer or artist
• Narrator — Reader or performer
• Year — Publication year
• Genre — Pre-filled with "Audiobook"
• Description — Additional notes
• Cover Art — Browse for a JPG or PNG image

4. Convert

Click Convert to start. The progress bar shows real-time conversion progress. Click the red Cancel button at any time to stop the conversion (partial output is automatically cleaned up).

Installing FFmpeg

AudioForge requires FFmpeg to be installed on your system.

macOS (Homebrew):

brew install ffmpeg

Windows (winget):

winget install ffmpeg

Or download from ffmpeg.org and add to your PATH.

Linux (apt):

sudo apt install ffmpeg

Linux (dnf):

sudo dnf install ffmpeg

Running from Source

git clone https://github.com/rosscaleca/audioforge.git
cd audioforge
pip install -e .
python -m audioforge

Running Tests

pip install -e ".[dev]"
python -m pytest tests/ -v

FAQ

Q: What audio formats can I use as input? MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC, WAV, OGG, Opus, WMA, AIFF, and AIF files are all supported.

Q: Which output format should I choose? For audiobooks, use M4B — it's the standard audiobook format and supports chapter markers. Use MP3 if you need maximum compatibility with older devices. Use M4A for general audio merging without chapter markers.

Q: How are chapters created? Each input file becomes one chapter. The chapter title is the filename (without the extension). Reorder files in the list to control chapter order. Chapters are only embedded in M4B output.

Q: What quality should I use? For spoken word (audiobooks, podcasts), Standard (128 kbps) or Medium (96 kbps) is plenty. For music, use High (192 kbps) or Very High (256 kbps).

Q: Can I embed cover art? Yes. Expand the Metadata section and click Browse next to Cover Art to select a JPG or PNG image. Cover art is supported for M4B and M4A output formats.

Q: Why is FFmpeg required? AudioForge uses FFmpeg under the hood for audio decoding, encoding, and container muxing. It's the industry-standard tool for audio/video processing.

Q: The conversion failed. What should I do? Check the error message in the dialog — it shows the FFmpeg error output. Common issues:

• FFmpeg is not installed or not in your PATH
• Input files are corrupted or not valid audio
• The output directory doesn't exist or isn't writable
• Disk space is full

Q: Can I mix different audio formats in one conversion? Yes. You can combine MP3, FLAC, WAV, and any other supported format in a single conversion. FFmpeg handles the transcoding automatically.

Q: Where are log files stored? Logs are stored in ~/.audioforge/logs/audioforge.log with automatic rotation (5 MB max, 3 backups).

Building Distributable Packages

pip install -e ".[dev]"

# macOS
bash build/build_macos.sh

# Windows
build\build_windows.bat

# Linux
bash build/build_linux.sh

Builds are output to dist/<platform>/. The GitHub Actions workflow automatically builds for all three platforms on push to main or when a version tag is created.

License

MIT