ferraus convert

Decode and re-encode between formats

Synopsis

ferraus convert <input> [options] [-o <output>]

Converts between WAV, AIFF, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, Opus, MP3, and (through the FFmpeg bridge) M4A/AAC/ALAC. The output format follows the -o extension or --format. Lossless WAV/FLAC round trips are bit-exact at the same bit depth. When no resampling is needed the conversion streams packet by packet, so multi-hour files convert in constant memory. Source tags are copied to the output.

Examples

Lossless WAV to FLAC (bit-exact)

ferraus convert song.wav -o song.flac

FLAC to MP3 at about 256 kbps VBR

ferraus convert take.flac -o take.mp3 --bitrate 256k

Downsample and dither a 24-bit master to CD format

ferraus convert master.wav -o master-16.wav --bit-depth 16 --sample-rate 44100

Mono Opus for speech

ferraus convert podcast.wav -o podcast.opus --bitrate 64k --channels 1

Options

Flag	Type	Default	Meaning
`--vbr`	on\|off	`on`	Variable bitrate for Opus, Vorbis, and MP3; off uses constant/average bitrate at --bitrate
`--dither`	triangular \| shaped \| none	`triangular`	Dither when reducing bit depth: triangular (TPDF), shaped (noise-shaped TPDF), or none; seeded by --seed. Never applied when samples are already exact at the target depth

Global options

Every command also accepts the global options (-o, --json, --dry-run, --overwrite, --progress, ...). See Global options.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Processing failed
2	Usage or parameter error
3	Input missing or unreadable
4	Unsupported format or codec
8	Cancelled
70	Internal error (bug)

Common mistakes

Forgetting that outputs are never overwritten: pass --overwrite or a new -o path when re-running.

For models

MCP tool: ferraus_convert
Schema: ferraus schema convert
Pipeline: { op: convert, args: { ... } } (flag names with _ instead of -)
fx stage: no

{"command": "convert", "defaults": {"vbr": "on", "dither": "triangular"}}