Ownaudio is a cross-platform C# audio library that provides a high-level API for audio playback, recording, and processing. By default, it uses FFmpeg for audio decoding and PortAudio for audio I/O. If ffmpeg or portaudio is not installed, it automatically substitutes the missing one for Miniaudio. This way, it can work without any external dependencies using Miniaudio. The implementation of Miniaudio also allowed the API to be used on mobile platforms.
Audio playback with support for various formats via FFmpeg, or miniaudio (mp3, wav, flac) formats.
Audio recording capabilities through input devices
Time stretching and pitch shifting using SoundTouch
Mixing multiple audio sources
Volume control and custom audio processing
Seeking within audio files
Real-time audio processing with custom sample processors
Audio data visualize customizable waveform display
Supported Systems
The table below summarizes the supported operating systems, the APIs used, and their testing status.
System
APIs
Status
Windows
Portaudio 2, Miniaudio, Ffmpeg 6
Tested
Linux
Portaudio 2, Miniaudio, Ffmpeg 6
Not tested
MacOs
Portaudio 2, Miniaudio, Ffmpeg 6
Tested
Android
Miniaudio
Not tested
Ios
Miniaudio
Not tested
The library will attempt to find these dependencies in standard system locations but also supports specifying custom paths.
Installation
You can add this library to your project via NuGet (OwnAudioSharp) or by directly referencing the project.
Optional dependencies: Portaudio and FFmpeg
By default, our code includes Miniaudio, which is ready to use for all systems, so you can get started right away!
If you want to use Portaudio and FFmpeg on certain platforms for extended functionality, you can configure them as follows:
Windows
Grab the files and extract them to a folder.
FFmpeg 6
Copy the Portaudio 2 DLL file to the same folder.
When you initialize OwnAudio in your code, just point to the folder path.
Linux
Use Synaptic package manager (or your distribution's equivalent) to install portaudio19-dev (this usually provides Portaudio v2) and ffmpeg (version 6 or compatible).
(Note: Package names may vary slightly depending on your Linux distribution. Make sure you get libraries compatible with FFmpeg version 6.)
OwnAudio is smart and will automatically find and use them if they are installed systemwide.
macOS
Launch the terminal and use Homebrew:
brew install portaudio
brew install ffmpeg@6
After installation, the code will automatically detect and prioritize Portaudio and FFmpeg.
Android and iOS
Good news! Miniaudio works out of the box on Android and iOS. These platforms don't require any additional steps to handle audio.
Basic Usage
Here's a quick example of how to use Ownaudio to play an audio file:
using Ownaudio;
using Ownaudio.Sources;
using System;
using System.Threading;
// Initialize Ownaudio
OwnAudio.Initialize();
// Create a source manager
var sourceManager = SourceManager.Instance;
// Add an audio file
await sourceManager.AddOutputSource("path/to/audio.mp3");
// Play the audio
sourceManager.Play();
// Wait for the audio to finish
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to stop playback...");
Console.ReadKey();
// Stop playback and clean up
sourceManager.Stop();
OwnAudio.Free();
Advanced Features
Mixing Multiple Audio Sources
// Add multiple audio files
await sourceManager.AddOutputSource("path/to/audio1.mp3");
await sourceManager.AddOutputSource("path/to/audio2.mp3");
// Adjust volume for individual sources
sourceManager.SetVolume(0, 0.8f); // 80% volume for first source
sourceManager.SetVolume(1, 0.6f); // 60% volume for second source
// Play mixed audio
sourceManager.Play();
// Change tempo without affecting pitch (value range -20 to +20)
sourceManager.SetTempo(0, 10.0); // Speed up by 10%
// Change pitch without affecting tempo (value range -6 to +6 semitones)
sourceManager.SetPitch(0, 2.0); // Raise pitch by 2 semitones
Seeking Within Audio
// Seek to a specific position
sourceManager.Seek(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)); // Seek to 30 seconds
Audio Processing
You can implement custom audio processing by implementing the SampleProcessorBase class:
public class MyAudioProcessor : SampleProcessorBase
{
public override void Process(Span<float> samples)
{
// Process audio samples
for (int i = 0; i < samples.Length; i++)
{
// Example: Simple gain adjustment
samples[i] *= 0.5f; // 50% volume
}
}
}
// Apply the processor to a source or source manager
var processor = new MyAudioProcessor();
sourceManager.CustomSampleProcessor = processor;
Audio Data Read
// We load the source audio data into a byte array.
byte[] audioByte = sourceManager.Sources[0].GetByteAudioData(TimeSpan.Zero);
// We load the source audio data into a float array.
float[] audioFloat = sourceManager.Sources[0].GetFloatAudioData(TimeSpan.Zero);
WaveAvaloniaDisplay
A flexible, resource-efficient audio waveform visualization component for Avalonia applications.
