aplay

Play audio files via ALSA

TLDR

Play a specific file

$ aplay [path/to/file]

Play the first 10 seconds at 2500 Hz

$ aplay -d 10 -r 2500 [path/to/file]

Play a raw file with specific format

$ aplay -c 1 -t raw -r 22050 -f mu_law [path/to/file]

List available audio devices

$ aplay -l

SYNOPSIS

aplay [-d duration] [-r rate] [-c channels] [-t type] [-f format] [file]

aplay is a command-line sound player for ALSA soundcard drivers. It supports various audio formats and can automatically determine sampling rate, bit depth, and other parameters from the file format.

PARAMETERS

-d, --duration seconds

Stop playback after the specified number of seconds

-r, --rate rate

Sampling rate in Hz

-c, --channels count

Number of channels (1 for mono, 2 for stereo)

-t, --file-type type

File type (voc, wav, raw, au)

-f, --format format

Sample format (S16LE, U8, mulaw, etc.)

-l, --list-devices

List all available audio devices

-L, --list-pcms

List all PCM devices

-D, --device name

Select PCM device by name

-q, --quiet

Quiet mode; suppress messages

-v, --verbose

Verbose mode; show PCM structure and setup

-i, --interactive

Allow interactive operation via stdin (pause/resume with space or enter key)

CONFIGURATION

/etc/asound.conf

System-wide ALSA configuration file for device defaults and plugin definitions.

~/.asoundrc

Per-user ALSA configuration overriding system defaults.

INSTALL

sudo apt install alsa-utils

sudo dnf install alsa-utils

sudo pacman -S alsa-utils

sudo apk add alsa-utils

sudo zypper install alsa-utils

nix profile install nixpkgs#alsa-utils

CAVEATS

Requires ALSA drivers to be installed and configured. Raw files require explicit format specification.

HISTORY

Part of ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) utilities package, which replaced OSS as the standard Linux sound system.