---
name: "sonivoxrender"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "sonivox"
version: "4.0.2-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/sonivoxrender"
---

# sonivoxrender(1)

Render MIDI song files into raw PCM audio

## 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:

  - •

    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

- *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 \<https://github.com/EmbeddedSynth/sonivox/issues/\>

## LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0

Copyright (c) 2022-2026 Pedro López-Cabanillas and contributors

## AUTHORS

Pedro López-Cabanillas \<plcl@users.sf.net\>.