Compare two or more audio files by ear on GNOME.
Load some files, see their waveforms stacked, and A/B them at the same playback position — switch which one you hear without losing your place.
- Open
mp3,wav,oggfiles (mono or stereo) via the Open button or drag-and-drop. - One waveform pane per file, following the light/dark scheme and system accent colour.
- Switching keeps the playback position, so you always compare the same moment.
- Playback loops from the start on end.
- Each pane shows integrated loudness (LUFS) and max true peak (dBTP).
- Group tracks into busses: hover a track and press
0–9to assign it. All tracks on the active bus play together, mixed and in sample-accurate sync, so you can A/B two busses. Busses are shown by a coloured border and a numbered badge; ungrouped tracks play on their own. - Invert a track's polarity (×−1) to line it up against another for null tests; the waveform flips to show it.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Space |
Play / pause |
Alt+↑ / Alt+↓ |
Switch to the file above / below (keeps position) |
← / → |
Seek ∓5 s (Shift ∓1 s, Ctrl ∓100 ms) |
0–9 (over a pane) |
Assign the track to that bus (same key again unassigns) |
- / i (over a pane) |
Invert the track's polarity (×−1) |
m (over a pane) |
Mute / unmute the track |
s (over a pane) |
Solo the track within its bus |
| Click a pane | Switch to it, keeping the position |
| Click + drag | Scrub the active pane |
Nix
nix run github:mmxgn/audio-compareAppImage — grab the latest from the releases page.
chmod +x audio-compare-*.AppImage && ./audio-compare-*.AppImagenix develop
meson setup build && ninja -C build && ./build/audio-compareGTK 4 · libadwaita · GStreamer · libebur128