What is a .ape file? (Monkey's Audio)

A .ape file is Monkey's Audio, a lossless audio format that compresses music with no quality loss. It squeezes files smaller than FLAC in some cases, at the cost of slower encoding and narrower support.

What is a .ape file used for?

Monkey's Audio files start with the marker MAC and store bit-perfect audio. Lossless means decompressing gives back exactly the original, so it suits archiving CDs.

The trade-off versus FLAC is compatibility and speed: fewer players support APE, and it is more CPU-intensive. Many people convert APE to FLAC for wider playback.

How to open a .ape file

The .ape format opens in the following apps, grouped by operating system. If one app does not work, try another from the same list. For a step-by-step walkthrough, see how to open a .ape file.

Windows

foobar2000
VLC
Monkey's Audio

macOS

Linux

VLC
ffmpeg
Deadbeef

How to convert a .ape file

You can convert a .ape file to flac, wav, mp3 using a conversion tool or the export menu of an app that opens it.

.ape file signature (magic bytes)

Programs recognise a .ape file by the bytes at the start of the file, not by its name. These are the signatures for Monkey's Audio. For a full breakdown, see the Monkey's Audio file signature page.

Hex signature	Offset	Note
4D 41 43 20	0	'MAC '

See the full magic-numbers reference for every format.

Frequently asked questions

What is a .ape file?

How do I open an APE file?

Play it in VLC or foobar2000. To use it more widely, convert it to FLAC or MP3 with a tool like XLD or ffmpeg.

Is APE better than FLAC?

Both are lossless. APE can compress slightly smaller but is slower and less widely supported. FLAC is the more practical choice for most people.

How do I convert APE to FLAC?

Use foobar2000, XLD or ffmpeg (ffmpeg -i song.ape song.flac). Since both are lossless, no quality is lost.

Related formats

Sources

Details on this page were checked against authoritative references:

Wikipedia: Monkey's Audio