brew

Install sox with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, winget, zypper

SOund eXchange: universal sound sample translator. Version 14.4.2 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install sox

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install sox

MacPorts ports tree · audio/sox/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add sox

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · sox · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install libsox-dev

Debian stable package indexes · libsox-dev · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install sox

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · sox · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#sox

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/so/sox/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S sox

Arch Linux sync databases · sox · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install libsox3

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libsox3 · source: download.opensuse.org

Windows

Scoopverified · 92%

scoop install main/sox

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/sox.json · source: api.github.com

Windows Package Managerverified · 92%

winget install --id ChrisBagwell.SoX -e

Windows Package Manager source index · ChrisBagwell.SoX · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com

overview

Package summary

SOund eXchange: universal sound sample translator

Project links

Commands and aliases

play
rec
sox
soxi

history

Project history and usage

SoX, short for Sound eXchange, is a long-running command-line audio conversion and processing suite. It is a classic Unix-style media tool: scriptable, format-oriented, useful in pipelines, and packaged broadly across Unix, Linux, macOS, and Windows package managers.

Project history

The official ChangeLog traces SoX back to July 1991 and records release history before and after the 11gamma series. The maintained SourceForge tree includes manuals, release notes, and library documentation for the `sox`, `play`, `rec`, and `soxi` commands.

SoX's manual describes the program as a command-line audio processing tool especially suited to quick edits and batch processing. Its model is intentionally non-graphical: input files, format options, output files, and effects are combined into a shell-friendly processing chain.

Adoption history

SoX persisted because it solved a package-manager-shaped problem: one small CLI could convert, inspect, record, play, synthesize, and batch-process audio without a desktop editor. The input package facts show it packaged by Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Nix, MacPorts, Scoop, winget, and other systems.

The 14.x release history shows active maintenance through the 2000s and 2010s, including format support, effects, libSoX changes, and portability fixes. Its SourceForge project page describes it as the Swiss Army Knife of sound processing utilities.

How it is used

Common usage includes converting file formats, applying effects while converting, mixing or concatenating inputs, recording through `rec`, playing through `play`, and inspecting headers with `soxi`. The man page gives examples such as AU to WAV conversion, rate changes, fades, normalization, synthesis, and multitrack recording.

For package users, SoX is often installed because another script, build, podcast workflow, test fixture, or audio data pipeline needs a dependable `sox` binary rather than an interactive editor.

Why package nerds care

SoX is package-nerd infrastructure: tiny enough to script, old enough to be everywhere, and broad enough to replace many one-off audio converters. Its many optional codec and device backends make distro packaging choices visible to users, which is why formula variants and build dependencies matter.

The companion `play`, `rec`, and `soxi` entry points are also packaging-relevant because one installed program exposes several command names. This makes SoX a good example of a CLI package whose symlinks, optional libraries, and man pages are part of the user-facing contract.

Timeline

1991: Official ChangeLog traces project creation to July 1991.
1995: ChangeLog covers history through the sox-11gamma era.
2007: SoX 14.0.0 released.
2012: SoX 14.4.0 released with deprecations, format updates, and effect changes.
2015: SoX 14.4.2 released with Ogg Opus and RF64 WAV read support among other fixes.
2021: Source tree includes maintained manual page updates.

Related projects

libSoX is the library at the heart of SoX, according to the manual.
Audacity is mentioned by the SoX manual as the interactive graphical editor to use when the command-line model is not appropriate.
sox_ng is a later hard fork of SoX 14.4.2.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 8 runtime dependencies.
Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure
`play`	cli	global executable
`rec`	cli	global executable
`sox`	cli	global executable
`soxi`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version14.4.2

manager updated2026-06-19

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://sox.sourceforge.net/

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://sox.sourceforge.net/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:sox
Version	14.4.2
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/sox
Homepage	https://sox.sourceforge.net/
Repository	https://sourceforge.net/p/sox/code
Upstream docs	https://sourceforge.net/p/sox/code/ci/master/tree/sox.1
License	GPL-2.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later
Source archive	https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/sox/sox/14.4.2/sox-14.4.2.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-06-19T12:32:44-07:00
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	flac, lame, libogg, libpng, libsndfile, libvorbis, mad, opusfile
Build dependencies	pkgconf
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	sox
Version Scheme	0
Revision	6
Conflicts With	sox_ng
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

libsox-dev 14.4.2+git20190427-5+b3

Development files for the SoX library