Monkey's Audio file signature
Magic number at the start of the file · MAC
A Monkey's Audio lossless file starts with the four-byte marker MAC (with a trailing space), followed by the header describing the compressed audio.
What this magic number means
A magic number is a short, fixed run of bytes at a known position that tells a program what a file really is, no matter what the filename says. If a file starts with the bytes 4D 41 43 20 (the text MAC ), it is a Monkey's Audio file.
Formats that use the 4D 41 43 20 signature
These file types in our database carry this signature:
How to check a file's signature
You can read the first bytes of any file yourself. The magic bytes are shown in hex, the same way this page lists them.
Linux & macOS
- xxd -l 16 example.ape
- hexdump -C -n 16 example.ape
- file example.ape
Windows (PowerShell)
- Format-Hex -Path example.ape -Count 16
Python
- open("example.ape","rb").read(4).hex()
In your browser
- Drop the file into the WhatFileType identifier, which reads the signature without uploading it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Monkey's Audio file signature?
Monkey's Audio files start with the hex bytes 4D 41 43 20 (MAC in ASCII). This magic number identifies the format regardless of the file's name or extension.
How do I check a file's magic number?
Open the file in a hex editor, or run a command such as xxd -l 16 example.ape on Linux or macOS, or Format-Hex -Path example.ape -Count 16 in Windows PowerShell, and read the first bytes.
Can a file fake the Monkey's Audio signature?
Renaming a file does not change its bytes, so the extension can lie but the signature usually cannot. A genuine Monkey's Audio file has these exact bytes; a file with the wrong bytes is not really Monkey's Audio, whatever its name says.