ABX(1)

📦
version 0.2.1 · 6 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

👑 NAME 👑

okay so hi bestie, welcome to the manual page for abx, section 1 (User Commands) — it's audio ABX testing software and it's literally here to settle the "can you actually hear the difference tho" debate. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

abx [OPTIONS...] <SAMPLE-A> <SAMPLE-B>

like. give it two samples. it does the rest. periodt. 🎀

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so abx is a program for doing software-based audio ABX testing on GNU/Linux systems, and no cap, it's kind of iconic.

so what even is an ABX test? bestie, it's a statistical test for assessing whether you are able to tell for audible differences between two samples. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 🔥 (the cool kids on Wikipedia and Hydrogenaudio know the lore, iykyk.)

for example, one sample can be a compressed audio file such as an OGG Vorbis file and another one its uncompressed variant (WAV, AU, ...). then you can use abx to infer whether you are able to separate the two samples due to compression artifacts. so basically you find out if your ears are main character energy or if you've been lying to yourself this whole time. 💀

🌸 OPTIONS 🌸

💜 Application Options

  • -i N, --num-trials=N — do N trials. yes, N of them. the grind is real. 💪
  • -d ID, --audio-device=ID — use PortAudio audio device ID. pick your device, bestie 🎧
  • -D, --list-devices — list PortAudio devices and exit. window shopping, but for audio devices. 🛍️
  • -l L, --latency=L — set suggested output latency to L milliseconds. tune that vibe. ⏱️
  • --display==DISPLAY — X display to use. (yes, that's a double equals, do not come for me, i'm just the messenger 🫶)

🎀 Help Options

  • --help, -h — show help options. when in doubt, ask. 🙈
  • --help-all — show all help options. the deluxe edition. 👑
  • --help-gtk — show GTK+ options. gtk lore unlocked. 🧚

🌈 GTK+ Options

  • --class=CLASS — program class as used by the window manager
  • --name=NAME — program name as used by the window manager
  • --display=DISPLAY — X display to use
  • --gtk-module=MODULES — load additional GTK+ modules
  • --g-fatal-warnings — make all warnings fatal. as in, every single warning becomes fatal. extreme behaviour, honestly. proceed with the awareness that this is, in fact, a choice. 😭

💖 AUTHOR 💖

abx is written by Petteri Hintsanen <petterih@iki.fi> and is licensed under the GNU General Publication License, version 3 or above.

this manual page was written by Chow Loong Jin <hyperair@debian.org> for the Debian system (but may be used by others). permissions is granted to copy, distribute, and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

on Debian systems, the full text of the GNU General Public License, Version 3 can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-3.

okay that's the whole page bestie, go forth and ABX test responsibly 🫶✨

and that's a wrap, written by abx 0.2.1, dated 2026-08-17 — slay, bye 💅🎀

📦 where this page comes from