SONIVOXRENDER(1) Sonivox MIDI File Renderer SONIVOXRENDER(1) NAME sonivoxrender -- Render MIDI song 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] song_file DESCRIPTION This program is a MIDI file renderer based on the sonivox synthesizer library. It reads .MID (Standard MIDI Files), .RMI (RIFF-RMID), and .XMF (Extensible Music Files) file formats, 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: o 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. o 2: GMdblib-3 - FM-only bank. Support all sample rates. Sample bit depth does not matter here. o 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 song_file Input [MID|RMI|XMF] 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 - Example 7: pipe the rendered audio thru the FFmpeg's ffplay utility: $ sonivoxrender ants.mid | ffplay -i - -f s16le -ar 44.1k -ac 2 -nodisp -autoexit -loglevel quiet Example 8: pipe the rendered audio thru the mpv media player: $ sonivoxrender ants.mid | mpv --demuxer=rawaudio -demuxer-rawaudio-format=s16le --demuxer-rawaudio-rate=44100 --demuxer-rawaudio-channels=2 --no-video - BUGS See Tickets at GitHub LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 Copyright (c) 2022-2026 Pedro Lopez-Cabanillas and contributors AUTHORS Pedro Lopez-Cabanillas . sonivox 4.0.1.0 February 14, 2026 SONIVOXRENDER(1)