Audio Extraction

Extract audio from videos and convert to various formats

Overview

yt-dlp can extract audio from videos and convert it to your preferred format. This requires ffmpeg and ffprobe to be installed on your system.

Basic Audio Extraction

The simplest way to extract audio is using the -x flag:

yt-dlp -x "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc"

By default, audio is extracted in the best available format. yt-dlp will choose the optimal format automatically.

Specify Audio Format

1. Choose your format

   Select from supported formats: mp3, aac, flac, m4a, opus, vorbis, wav, alac, or best.

2. Extract with format conversion

   yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 URL
   
3. Set quality level

   # Quality 0 (best) to 10 (worst) for VBR
   yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 URL
   
   # Or specify bitrate directly
   yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 320K URL
   

Audio Format Examples

MP3 (Most Compatible)

# High quality MP3
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 URL

# Standard quality MP3 (192K)
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 192K URL

# Using preset alias
yt-dlp -t mp3 URL

# High quality AAC
yt-dlp -x --audio-format aac --audio-quality 256K URL

# Using format preference
yt-dlp -f 'ba[acodec^=aac]' -x --audio-format aac URL

# Using preset alias
yt-dlp -t aac URL

# Lossless audio extraction
yt-dlp -x --audio-format flac URL

# Best lossless format available
yt-dlp -f 'ba[acodec^=flac]/ba' -x --audio-format flac URL

# High quality Opus (modern codec)
yt-dlp -x --audio-format opus --audio-quality 128K URL

# Best opus format without conversion
yt-dlp -f 'ba[acodec^=opus]/ba' -x --audio-format opus URL

Advanced Audio Extraction

Extract without re-encoding

If the source already has the desired audio codec, avoid re-encoding to maintain quality:

# Download best audio-only format without conversion
yt-dlp -f 'ba' URL

# Prefer specific codec
yt-dlp -f 'ba[acodec^=opus]/ba[acodec^=mp4a]/ba' URL

Multiple audio quality rules

Convert based on source format:

# Similar to --remux-video syntax
yt-dlp -x --audio-format "opus>mp3/best" URL

This will:

• Convert opus to mp3
• Keep other formats in their best available quality

Audio-Only Downloads

Best audio quality

YouTube Music

# Best quality from YouTube Music
yt-dlp -f 'ba' "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=..."

# Original quality download
yt-dlp -f 'ba' --embed-thumbnail --add-metadata URL

# FLAC if available, otherwise best
yt-dlp -f 'ba[acodec^=flac]/ba' URL

Extract Audio from Playlists

Download and extract audio from entire playlists:

# Extract MP3 from all videos in playlist
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
  -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  PLAYLIST_URL

# Skip already downloaded
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
  --download-archive downloaded.txt \
  PLAYLIST_URL

Embed Metadata and Artwork

Metadata embedding requires either mutagen (Python package) or ffmpeg to be installed.

1. Basic metadata embedding

   yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
     --embed-metadata \
     --embed-thumbnail \
     URL
   
2. Custom metadata

   # Parse artist from title
   yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
     --parse-metadata "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s" \
     --embed-metadata \
     URL
   
3. Complete music file

   yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 \
     --embed-metadata \
     --embed-thumbnail \
     --parse-metadata "%(uploader|)s:%(meta_artist)s" \
     -o "%(artist,uploader)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
     URL
   

Audio Processing Options

Normalize audio

Use ffmpeg postprocessor arguments:

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
  --ppa "ffmpeg:-af loudnorm" \
  URL

Split by chapters

Extract each chapter as separate audio file:

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
  --split-chapters \
  -o "chapter:%(title)s - %(section_number)s %(section_title)s.%(ext)s" \
  URL

Remove sponsor segments

Combine with SponsorBlock to remove ads/sponsors:

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
  --sponsorblock-remove sponsor,selfpromo \
  URL

Preset Aliases for Audio

yt-dlp includes convenient presets:

MP3 Preset

# Equivalent to: -f 'ba[acodec^=mp3]/ba/b' -x --audio-format mp3
yt-dlp -t mp3 URL

# Equivalent to: -f 'ba[acodec^=aac]/ba[acodec^=mp4a.40.]/ba/b' -x --audio-format aac
yt-dlp -t aac URL

Organizing Audio Downloads

Music library structure

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
  -o "%(uploader)s/%(album,playlist)s/%(track_number)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  --embed-metadata \
  --embed-thumbnail \
  PLAYLIST_URL

By date

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
  -o "%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(upload_date>%m)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  URL

Python API Example

Extract audio programmatically:

import yt_dlp

URLs = ['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc']

ydl_opts = {
    'format': 'm4a/bestaudio/best',
    'postprocessors': [{
        'key': 'FFmpegExtractAudio',
        'preferredcodec': 'm4a',
    }]
}

with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
    ydl.download(URLs)

Troubleshooting

ffmpeg not found

Audio extraction requires ffmpeg. Install it from ffmpeg.org or use your package manager.

# Check if ffmpeg is installed
ffmpeg -version

# Specify ffmpeg location if needed
yt-dlp -x --ffmpeg-location /path/to/ffmpeg URL

Quality loss during conversion

# Download best audio without re-encoding
yt-dlp -f 'ba' URL

# If conversion needed, use highest quality
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 URL

Thumbnail not embedding

# Install mutagen for better thumbnail support
pip install mutagen

# Or use AtomicParsley for MP4/M4A
yt-dlp -x --audio-format m4a --embed-thumbnail URL

Next Steps

Post-Processing

Advanced post-processing options

Metadata Modification

Customize metadata in audio files

Playlists

Extract audio from entire playlists

Format Selection

Advanced audio format selection