Get Audio Codec of File using FFmpeg

FFmpeg includes command-line utilities for analyzing multimedia files and retrieving details about their streams. Finding the audio codec used by a media file can help with compatibility checks, media analysis, or preparing a file for further processing. This tutorial explains how to get audio codec of file using FFmpeg.

The ffprobe utility makes it possible to inspect a media file and display the codec assigned to its audio stream without decoding or re-encoding the content.

Download a sample file for testing:

curl -sSo test.mp4 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mediaelement/mediaelement-files/master/big_buck_bunny.mp4

The audio codec can be obtained using the following command:

ffprobe -v error -select_streams a:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 test.mp4

The command returns:

aac

Command breakdown:

• ffprobe - inspects multimedia files and provides information about their streams.
• -v error - limits the log output to errors, hiding informational messages. This keeps the command output clean and ensures that only relevant error messages are shown.
• -select_streams a:0 - selects the first audio stream found in the input file.
• -show_entries stream=codec_name - tells to report the codec name associated with the selected stream.
• -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 - formats the output without wrappers or the field name, leaving only the codec value.
• test.mp4 - specifies the media file to analyze.