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Audio Extraction Basics

yt-dlp provides comprehensive audio extraction capabilities, allowing you to extract audio from videos, convert between formats, and apply various audio processing options.

Basic Audio Extraction​

Extract Audio Only​

Extract audio in best available quality

yt-dlp -x "VIDEO_URL"

Extract audio with specific format

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "VIDEO_URL"

Extract audio with quality setting

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 "VIDEO_URL"

Audio Quality Settings​

Best quality (0)

yt-dlp -x --audio-quality 0 "VIDEO_URL"

Worst quality (9)

yt-dlp -x --audio-quality 9 "VIDEO_URL"

Specific bitrate

yt-dlp -x --audio-quality 192K "VIDEO_URL"

Variable bitrate

yt-dlp -x --audio-quality 5 "VIDEO_URL"

Audio Format Selection​

Supported Audio Formats​

MP3 (most compatible)

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "VIDEO_URL"

AAC (high quality, good compression)

yt-dlp -x --audio-format aac "VIDEO_URL"

FLAC (lossless compression)

yt-dlp -x --audio-format flac "VIDEO_URL"

M4A (Apple's AAC format)

yt-dlp -x --audio-format m4a "VIDEO_URL"

OGG (open source, good quality)

yt-dlp -x --audio-format vorbis "VIDEO_URL"

WAV (uncompressed)

yt-dlp -x --audio-format wav "VIDEO_URL"

OPUS (modern, efficient)

yt-dlp -x --audio-format opus "VIDEO_URL"

Best Audio Selection​

Best audio regardless of container

yt-dlp -f 'bestaudio' "VIDEO_URL"

Best audio with specific format preference

yt-dlp -f 'bestaudio[ext=m4a]/bestaudio[ext=mp3]/bestaudio' "VIDEO_URL"

Best audio with quality constraint

yt-dlp -f 'bestaudio[abr>=128]/bestaudio' "VIDEO_URL"

Advanced Audio Processing​

Post-Processing Options​

Extract audio and keep video

yt-dlp --extract-audio --keep-video "VIDEO_URL"

Extract audio and embed thumbnail

yt-dlp -x --embed-thumbnail "VIDEO_URL"

Extract audio with metadata

yt-dlp -x --add-metadata "VIDEO_URL"

Extract audio with all post-processing

yt-dlp -x --embed-thumbnail --add-metadata "VIDEO_URL"

Audio Modification​

Normalize audio levels

yt-dlp -x --postprocessor-args "ffmpeg:-af loudnorm" "VIDEO_URL"

Apply fade in/out

yt-dlp -x --postprocessor-args "ffmpeg:-af afade=t=in:d=2,afade=t=out:st=28:d=2" "VIDEO_URL"

Boost audio volume

yt-dlp -x --postprocessor-args "ffmpeg:-af volume=1.5" "VIDEO_URL"

Cut audio to specific duration

yt-dlp -x --postprocessor-args "ffmpeg:-ss 00:00:10 -t 00:03:00" "VIDEO_URL"

Audio-Specific Format Selection​

Format Filtering​

Only audio formats

yt-dlp -F "VIDEO_URL" | grep "audio only"

Best audio under 128kbps

yt-dlp -f 'bestaudio[abr<=128]' "VIDEO_URL"

Specific codec preference

yt-dlp -f 'bestaudio[acodec=aac]/bestaudio[acodec=mp3]/bestaudio' "VIDEO_URL"

Avoid specific codecs

yt-dlp -f 'bestaudio[acodec!=opus]' "VIDEO_URL"

Conditional Audio Extraction​

Extract audio only if video is longer than 5 minutes

yt-dlp -x --match-filters "duration > 300" "VIDEO_URL"

Extract audio from music videos only

yt-dlp -x --match-filters "title ~= '(?i)music|song|audio'" "VIDEO_URL"

Audio Metadata​

Embedding Metadata​

Add all available metadata

yt-dlp -x --add-metadata "VIDEO_URL"

Add metadata with thumbnail

yt-dlp -x --add-metadata --embed-thumbnail "VIDEO_URL"

Write metadata to file

yt-dlp -x --write-info-json "VIDEO_URL"

Custom Metadata​

Parse additional metadata

yt-dlp -x --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s" "VIDEO_URL"

Set album information

yt-dlp -x --parse-metadata "uploader:%(album_artist)s" "VIDEO_URL"

Custom field extraction

yt-dlp -x --parse-metadata "description:Album: (?P<album>.+)" "VIDEO_URL"

Audio Output Templates​

Organizing Audio Files​

Basic audio organization

yt-dlp -x -o "%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

Music-specific organization

yt-dlp -x -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

Date-based organization

yt-dlp -x -o "%(upload_date)s/%(uploader)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

Genre-based organization (with metadata parsing)

yt-dlp -x -o "%(genre)s/%(uploader)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" "VIDEO_URL"

ID3 Tag-based Organization​

Organize by parsed artist and album

yt-dlp -x -o "%(artist)s/%(album)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  --parse-metadata "title:(?P<artist>.+?) - (?P<title>.+)" \
  --parse-metadata "uploader:(?P<album>.+)" \
  "VIDEO_URL"

Audio Quality Optimization​

Bitrate Control​

Constant bitrate

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 192K "VIDEO_URL"

Variable bitrate (quality-based)

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 2 "VIDEO_URL"

Maximum quality

yt-dlp -x --audio-format flac --audio-quality 0 "VIDEO_URL"

Codec-Specific Options​

AAC with specific profile

yt-dlp -x --audio-format aac --postprocessor-args "ffmpeg:-profile:a aac_low" "VIDEO_URL"

MP3 with joint stereo

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --postprocessor-args "ffmpeg:-joint_stereo 1" "VIDEO_URL"

OPUS with specific bitrate

yt-dlp -x --audio-format opus --postprocessor-args "ffmpeg:-b:a 128k" "VIDEO_URL"

Batch Audio Processing​

Playlist Audio Extraction​

Extract audio from entire playlist

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "PLAYLIST_URL"

Extract with playlist organization

yt-dlp -x -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)02d - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "PLAYLIST_URL"

Extract only specific items

yt-dlp -x -I 1:10 "PLAYLIST_URL"

Batch Configuration​

Create batch file for multiple URLs

echo "https://example.com/video1" > audio_batch.txt
echo "https://example.com/video2" >> audio_batch.txt
yt-dlp -x --batch-file audio_batch.txt

Platform-Specific Audio Extraction​

YouTube Music​

Extract from YouTube Music

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxxx"

Extract YouTube Music playlist

yt-dlp -x -o "%(playlist)s/%(track_number)02d - %(artist)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  "https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=xxxxx"

SoundCloud​

Extract from SoundCloud

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "https://soundcloud.com/artist/track"

SoundCloud playlist

yt-dlp -x -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  "https://soundcloud.com/artist/sets/playlist"

Bandcamp​

Extract from Bandcamp

yt-dlp -x --audio-format flac "https://artist.bandcamp.com/track/song"

Bandcamp album

yt-dlp -x -o "%(uploader)s/%(album)s/%(track_number)02d - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  "https://artist.bandcamp.com/album/album-name"

Audio Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

Force audio extraction when video download fails

yt-dlp -x --ignore-errors "VIDEO_URL"

Skip unavailable audio streams

yt-dlp -x --no-abort-on-error "VIDEO_URL"

Retry with different format

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-format aac "VIDEO_URL"

FFmpeg Audio Issues​

Specify FFmpeg location

yt-dlp -x --ffmpeg-location /path/to/ffmpeg "VIDEO_URL"

Verbose FFmpeg output

yt-dlp -x --verbose "VIDEO_URL"

Test FFmpeg installation

ffmpeg -version

Best Practices​

  1. Choose Appropriate Formats: Use MP3 for compatibility, FLAC for archival, AAC for efficiency
  2. Set Quality Properly: Use quality level 0 for best results, higher numbers for smaller files
  3. Organize Output: Use meaningful output templates for better file organization
  4. Preserve Metadata: Always use --add-metadata for music files
  5. Handle Errors: Use error handling options for batch operations
  6. Test First: Use -F to check available formats before extracting
  7. Consider Bandwidth: Use appropriate quality settings for your use case

Audio extraction with yt-dlp provides professional-grade capabilities for creating high-quality audio files from video content across numerous platforms.