Spek
Drops an audio file on the window and draws its spectrogram, so you can see where the quality really stops.
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5 more ways to get Spek
Other download sites
Run by third parties, not by Alexander Kojevnikov. Prefer the official page above when it works.
Package managers
- winget
winget install --id AlexanderKojevnikov.Spek - Chocolatey
choco install spek - Homebrew
brew install spek - Flathub
flatpak install flathub cc.spek.Spek
About Spek
Spek decodes an audio file with FFmpeg and draws the frequency content over time. A track that was re-encoded from a low bitrate MP3 shows a hard shelf where the high frequencies were thrown away, no matter what the file extension says, and that is what most people use Spek for.
It is a single-purpose tool: open a file, read the picture, move on. It supports changing the DFT window size and function, switching between audio streams and channels, and a few colour palettes. The last release was version 0.8.5 in January 2023.
Strengths
- Shows instantly whether a lossless-looking file was upconverted from a lossy source
- Uses FFmpeg for decoding, so it opens the formats FFmpeg opens
- Adjustable DFT window size and function, stream and channel switching, several palettes
- Packages for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus Homebrew, winget and Flatpak
Limitations
- Development is quiet: the last release, 0.8.5, is from January 2023
- It only views spectrograms; it cannot edit or convert anything
- Reading a spectrogram takes a little practice before the picture means much
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source under GPLv3.
- License
- GPL-3.0
- Developer
- Alexander Kojevnikov
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Checking whether an audio file is really as good as its format claims
- Categories
- Audio tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Selected from the TechWalrus downloads catalog (Audio); facts checked against the developer's own pages, 4 sources on file.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
Audacity
A multi-track audio editor and recorder that has been the free default for twenty-five years.
foobar2000
A light, deeply configurable audio player for people who care about their local music library.
