sfArk SoundFont Compression

  


What is sfArk?  It's a lossless audio compression format optimized for SoundFont files.  sfArk free for non-commercial use.  Programs to decompress sfArk files currently exist for Windows, MacOS X and Linux platforms.  See below for more information. sfArk almost invariably outperforms typical compression programs such as WinZip and WinRAR - See our comparison.    

How do I decompress a sfArk file?  You will need to install sfArk or one of the sfArkXT decompression utilities below.  Alternatively (Windows only) you could use one of the third-party programs which support sfArk decompression.  You will need full sfArk package (currently Windows only) in order to handle files in the old Version 1 sfArk format (Why?) or to compress SoundFonts to create sfArk files.

How do I decompress a sfPack file?  sfPack by Megota Software is a program functionally similar to sfArk - it is not associated with sfArk nor melodymachine.com  Unfortunately the sfPack author's website disappeared several years ago and the program is no longer supported.  An unofficial download of sfPack is currently offered by personalcopy.com among others.  sfArk and sfArkXT utilities cannot uncompress sfPack files.

How do I create a sfArk file? You will need full sfArk package (currently available only for Windows).

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Windows MacOS X  Linux 
  • sfArk v2.15 Download (509kb).  This is the current release of sfArk version 2. sfArk v2 can uncompress files which were created with created with sfArk v1.
  • sfArkXTc download (90kb). This small utility will decompress and can convert sfArk files in to self-extracting versions. This is all you need to uncompress a v2 sfArk file, but it will not handle sfArk v1 files. (Why?)  NB: sfArkXTc is included with the sfArk v2 distribution above.  More information.
  • sfArkXT OSX Download (70kb)  More information.  A simple sfArk decompressor for OSX.  It will handle sfArk V2 files (including "self-extracting" sfArk files).  If you find files compressed with sfArk V1, please contact the originator and ask for the file to be converted to sfArk V2 format. (Why?) Please also read the sfArkXT OSX page.
  • sfArk OSX doesn't exist!  If you need compression of SoundFonts, DLS, GigaSampler, WAV, AIFF (and other major formats) read this.
  • sfArkXTc Download (35kb)  This is a simple terminal/command-line based decompressor and should run on most if not all x86 based Linux platforms.  It will decompress sfArk V2 files (including "self-extracting" sfArk files).  If you find files on the net compressed with sfArk V1, please contact the originator and ask for the file to be converted to sfArk V2 format. (Why?)  Please read the sfArkXT OSX page - most of it is also relevant to the Linux sfArkXTc utility.

Other programs 
sfArk files are supported by:-

Support:

And in case you're wondering...

The "XT" in sfArkXT stands for "extractor" as the program is for decompression only, and the "c" in sfArkXTc means console - it is a console-mode utility (text-only interface). 

A note to WebMasters  If you have files on your site in the original sfArk V1 format, please take the time to convert them to sfArk V2.  Apart from the fact that they will almost certainly end up smaller (so saving you disk space and bandwidth) they will then be accessible to users of the Mac and Linux versions of the sfArk decompressor.  If you have files on your site in sfPack format we would suggest that you convert them to sfArk or some other suitable format to make them available to non-Windows users, especially since sfPack is no longer officially available or supported. 

Also available    We have a fully functional put not yet publicly released version of sfArk that provides higher compression by using lossy compression (standard sfArk is lossless compression).  It provides typically 25-35% extra compression (in other words, files are around half the size of current sfArk V2 files) with no noticeable loss in sound quality, and yet higher compression with loss in quality.  The high-compression low-quality modes are especially suitable for offering "demo" versions of SoundFonts products.

Commercial use    We now have quite a few commercial users.  If you're a company selling SoundFonts or other audio-sample based products please contact us to find out more about using sfArk to reduce download times, traffic and disk space overheads.  There are library versions of the sfArk decompressor available to commercial users.

SoundFont Distribution Features   sfArk has specific features to make it easier to distribute SoundFonts for use by others, namely SoundFont Notes, License Files and Password Protection. Please note however, that commercial use of sfArk is subject to license fees - see the enclosed Software License for more information.

Can I use sfArk to compress files other than SoundFonts?  Not right now, but support for other formats including DLS and GigaSampler is under development.

 

More about sfArk, the de facto standard for SoundFont compression...

sfArk features:
  • VERY fast compression with good compression ratio in "fast" and "turbo" compression modes.
  • State-of-the-art compression ratio with high compression speed using "standard" mode.
  • Extra high compression (albeit slowly!) in "maximum" compression mode.
  • Able to create "self-extracting" files.
  • DLL available for development applications

Several companies have incorporated sfArk technology into their commercial applications.  sfArk support is included in the Alive SoundFont Editor and AWave SoundFile editor/convertor.  Versions of the sfArk decompressor are available for Linux and Mac platforms, and support for other file formats (e.g. DLS and GigaSampler) is around the corner.

Download (509kb).  If you have already installed sfArk V1, you can install V2 without first removing V1.  Read the included readme file for more information.If you have already installed sfArk V1, you can install V2 without first removing V1.  Read the included readme file for more information.

sfArk for Linux and Mac

sfArk2 screen-shot

Comparison of sfArk to other compression programs

SoundFont files contain digital audio data which is relatively difficult to compress to any great extent. Nonetheless, sfArk achieves significantly better compression than other popular compression utilities such as WinZip and WinRAR.  MP3 (and similar) format of course yields much high compression but at the cost of sound quality - unlike MP3, sfArk uses lossless compression because loss of sound quality is not usually acceptable in SoundFont applications.

As a general rule, compression will be better on SoundFonts containing relatively simple sounds with less high-frequency content. Typical compression ratio (output/input) is around 50%, i.e. half the original size, though with more complex sounds the compression ratio may be only 60-70% or even 80% in some cases. Conversely, we've seen ratios of between 30% and 40% in the case of some simple synth and guitar sounds.

Examples (using free SoundFonts that you can find on the net) ...

Name Uncompressed kb (%) Zip kb (%) RAR kb (%) sfArk kb (%)
RolandNicePiano.sf2 6387 (100%) 4614 (72%) 3261 (51%) 2558 (40%)
evandro DRM 2.sf2 (drums) 10737 (100%) 7192 (67%) 5411 (50%) 4723 (44%)
HS Pads and Textures II.sf2 3225 (100%) 3065 (95%) 2155 (67%) 2015 (62%)
jeux d'orgues 2.sf2 (organ) 22083 (100%) 19046 (86%) 11374 (52%) 8929 (40%)
FluidR3 GM.SF2 144882 (100%) 128706 (89%) 88728 (61%) 73388 (51%)
TOTAL 187314 (100%) 162623 (87%) 110929 (59%) 91613 (49%)
Total download time (at 56k) 56 minutes 48 minutes 33 minutes 27 minutes

Notes: All programs using current release (May 2004) and "standard" or "normal" compression settings.  Clearly, RAR outperforms Zip considerably, but sfArk still wins overall.  Compression and decompression times for all three programs are broadly comparable.  Unlike sfArk, WinZip and WinRar are not free!

Download sfArk (500kb approx.)

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Last updated: 01 July 2004