XLD: A Powerful Lossless Audio Decoder and Converter for macOS

Application Overview

XLD (X Lossless Decoder) is a dedicated tool for macOS designed for lossless audio decoding, conversion, and playback. It supports various lossless audio formats and enables splitting audio files into individual tracks using CUE files. The software is highly compatible, supporting macOS versions from Mac OS X 10.4 to the latest Apple Silicon Macs.

Core Features and Highlights

1. Extensive Format Support

XLD can decode the following lossless audio formats:

• (Ogg) FLAC (.flac/.oga)
• Monkey’s Audio (.ape)
• WavPack (.wv)
• TTA (.tta)
• Apple Lossless (.m4a)
• TAK (.tak) [requires Wine, CrossOver Mac, or WineBottler]
• Shorten (.shn) [limited to SHN v3]
• AIFF, WAV, etc.
• Other formats supported by Libsndfile library: XLD directly utilizes codec libraries rather than front-end decoders, avoiding intermediate file creation. All supported formats can be split using CUE files, including so-called “embedded” or “internal” CUE files.

2. Flexible Format Conversion

XLD supports conversion to multiple audio formats with robust capabilities:

• Lossless formats: WAVE, AIFF, Raw PCM, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Wave64, WavPack
• Lossy compression formats: Ogg Vorbis (aoTuV), MPEG-4 AAC (QuickTime/CoreAudio), MP3 (LAME), HE-AAC (aacPlus v1/v2), IETF Opus

3. Professional CD Ripping Functionality

Starting from version 20080812, XLD can be used as a CD ripping tool:

• Converts audio tracks from CDs into desired formats
• Supports outputting CD images with CUE files (e.g., wav+cue, flac+cue, etc.)

4. Plugin-Based Architecture

• Frontend-backend separation: XLD’s frontend and backend are fully decoupled, allowing the frontend to access various encoders/decoders via a unified interface.
• Extensibility: Future plugin interfaces may be provided to enable developers to add support for new formats (refer to XLDDecoder.h in the source code for development details).

5. Multiple Usage Modes

• Graphical User Interface (GUI): Offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface. Detailed usage instructions are available in the Readme file included in the package.
• Command-line version: Suitable for advanced users and automation scripts. Basic syntax:

  xld [-c cuesheet] [-e] [-f format] [-o outpath] [-t track] file
  

6. Command-line Option Descriptions

• -c cuesheet: Use a CUE file to split the audio file into tracks. If the CUE file contains TITLE or ARTIST information, it will affect the output file naming.
• -e: Exclude pre-gaps from output files. By default, pre-gaps are appended to the end of tracks. This option is invalid if -c is not specified.
• -f format: Specify output file format, supporting wav (Microsoft WAVE format, default), aiff, aifc, etc.
• -o outpath: Specify output directory path.
• -t track: Specify the track to process.

Usage Notes

⚠️ Important Note: To split formats such as ape, flac, wav with a CUE file, always open the .cue file via the “Open…” option in the File menu. The “Open Raw PCM (bin/cue)” feature is intended only for raw PCM (headerless wav) files.

Key Advantages

1. Cross-platform Compatibility: Universal Binary design, natively supporting Intel Mac, PPC Mac, and Apple Silicon Mac.
2. Comprehensive Format Coverage: Supports encoding and decoding for nearly all mainstream lossless audio formats.
3. Professional Precision: Robust CUE file support ensures accurate track splitting.
4. Efficiency and Stability: Direct use of codec libraries eliminates intermediate files, resulting in high conversion efficiency.
5. Dual Interface: Provides both GUI and command-line interfaces to meet diverse user needs.
6. Ongoing Updates: Actively maintained, with the latest update in March 2025.

XLD is a professional choice for handling lossless audio files on macOS. Whether for general users converting audio formats or audio enthusiasts ripping CDs and splitting tracks, it delivers stable and reliable functionality.