# Install faad2 with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper ISO AAC audio decoder. Version 2.11.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:faad2 ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install faad2 ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install faad2 ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: audio/faad2/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add faad2 ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: faad2 from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install faad ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: faad from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install faad2 ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: faad2 from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#faad2 ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fa/faad2/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S faad2 ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: faad2 from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install faad2 ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: faad2 from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:faad2 - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.11.2 - **Source summary:** ISO AAC audio decoder - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - faad (cli) - faad (alias) ## Build dependencies - cmake ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 2.11.2 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - Upstream latest detected: 2.11.2 (current) - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. ## Project history and usage FAAD2 is the Freeware Advanced Audio Decoder, a GPL-licensed AAC decoder with both a library and a small command-line frontend. ### Project history The project comes from the early-2000s AAC tooling around FAAC/FAAD. Its README identifies FAAD2 as an HE, LC, MAIN, and LTP profile MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AAC decoder with SBR support, and the copyright block credits M. Bakker and Nero AG for 2003-2005 code. Later maintenance has focused less on new user-facing features and more on keeping a mature codec implementation buildable and safe. The changelog records DAB+ support in 2.7, renewed build-system work in the 2.9 and 2.10 series, and a large 2.11.0 cleanup with CMake, Bazel, CI, fuzzers, OSS-Fuzz integration, and many crash or CVE-related decoder fixes. ### Adoption history FAAD2 became a familiar low-level dependency for Unix audio stacks because it provides a standalone AAC decoder library plus the `faad` frontend. Its adoption story is typical of codec packages: quiet, long-lived, and maintained because many media workflows need reliable decoding of older and current AAC files. ### How it is used Users normally encounter FAAD2 as the `faad` command or as libfaad linked by other media software. The source tree explicitly separates the command-line frontend, public include files, API docs, and decoder library, which is why distributions can package both executable and library use cases. ### Why package nerds care FAAD2 matters to package maintainers because it sits at the uncomfortable intersection of old multimedia standards, GPL licensing, patent warnings, and security hardening. The recent changelog entries around fuzzing and CVE fixes are exactly the sort of maintenance that keeps legacy codec packages viable. ### Timeline - 2003-2005: Core FAAD2 copyright period credited to M. Bakker and Nero AG. - 2009: FAAD2 2.7 adds DAB+ support. - 2019: FAAD2 2.9.0 includes build cleanup and multiple CVE fixes. - 2023: FAAD2 2.11.0 adds CMake, Bazel, CI, fuzzers, and broad decoder hardening. - 2025: FAAD2 2.11.2 adds a BUILD_FAAD_CLI option and additional frontend fixes. ### Related projects - FAAC is the companion AAC encoder project historically distributed from the same SourceForge project area. - FAAD2 is commonly compared with other media codec components that provide small command-line frontends over reusable C libraries. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. - **Geiger risk:** blue / medium - broad file, network, media, or database tool signal ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** faad2 - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - faad - 2.11.2-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: faad from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | freeware Advanced Audio Decoder player | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - Debian apt - libfaad-dev - 2.11.2-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libfaad-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | freeware Advanced Audio Decoder - development files | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - Debian apt - libfaad2 - 2.11.2-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libfaad2 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | freeware Advanced Audio Decoder - runtime files | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - Nix - faad2: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fa/faad2/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - faad - 2.11.1-1build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: faad from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | freeware Advanced Audio Decoder player | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - Ubuntu apt - libfaad-dev - 2.11.1-1build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libfaad-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | freeware Advanced Audio Decoder - development files | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - Ubuntu apt - libfaad2 - 2.11.1-1build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libfaad2 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | freeware Advanced Audio Decoder - runtime files | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - apk - faad2 - 2.11.2-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: faad2 from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | ISO AAC audio decoder | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - apk - faad2-dev - 2.11.2-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: faad2-dev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | ISO AAC audio decoder (development files) | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - apk - faad2-doc - 2.11.2-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: faad2-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | ISO AAC audio decoder (documentation) | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - apk - faad2-libs - 2.11.2-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: faad2-libs from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | ISO AAC audio decoder (libraries) | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - apk - faad2-static - 2.11.2-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: faad2-static from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | ISO AAC audio decoder (static library) | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 - dnf - faad2 - 2.11.2-6.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: faad2 from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Library and frontend for decoding MPEG2/4 AAC | https://github.com/knik0/faad2/ - dnf - faad2-devel - 2.11.2-6.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: faad2-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Development libraries of the FAAD 2 AAC decoder | https://github.com/knik0/faad2/ - dnf - faad2-libs - 2.11.2-6.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: faad2-libs from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Shared libraries of the FAAD 2 AAC decoder | https://github.com/knik0/faad2/ - pacman - faad2 - 2.11.2-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: faad2 from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Freeware Advanced Audio (AAC) Decoder | https://github.com/knik0/faad2 ## Related links - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Media and graphics packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/media-graphics-tools/) - Matched media, image, audio, video, or graphics metadata. - [cmake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [audacious](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/audacious/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [cmus](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmus/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [gstreamer](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gstreamer/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [kew](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/kew/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [mpd](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mpd/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [qmmp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/qmmp/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [scummvm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/scummvm/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [faac](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/faac/) - Shares the same upstream homepage. - [libdca](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libdca/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, audio-decoder, cli, codec, media. - [flac](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/flac/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, codec, media. - [flake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/flake/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, codec, media. - [lame](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/lame/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, media, mpeg. - [madplay](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/madplay/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, media, mpeg. - [tta](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/tta/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, codec, media. - [two-lame](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/two-lame/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, codec, media. - [vimpc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/vimpc/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: audio, cli, media. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/faad2.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/faad2.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph