Audio Content Recognition and Fingerprinting FAQ

About the software

Can it recognize ambient audio ?

Yes. It can recognize over-the-air (OTA) audio, even in noisy environments.

Can it recognize cover songs ?

Covers are treated like any other original recording, so it can recognize a cover if it has been previously fingerprinted. In general, it cannot recognize any cover from just one single fingerprinted recording, even though it may be able to do so if the covers are perceptually very similar to the original.

Can it recognize speech ?

It can recognize specific instances of speech. For example a specific radio program or TV show. It cannot categorize sounds as "speech". Audioneex is not a sound classifier.

Can it detect where different types of audio such as music, speech, etc. occur within an audio stream ?

Audioneex is based on audio fingerprinting technology, meaning it can recognize specific "content" not generic audio categories. It does not perform classification/segmentation of sounds.

Can it recognize generic sounds like cityscape sounds, domestic sounds, nature sounds, etc. ?

It can recognize generic sounds provided that there is very little variation each time they occur. For example, if you are designing a wearable device for deaf people that must recognize alarm sounds then that's fine since these sounds are always the same. But if you want to recognize broad classes of sounds such as "dog barks" or "door slams" then you're probably after a sound classifier, which is a different technology than audio fingerprinting.

Can it be used to synchronize specific events within the recognized content with external triggers ?

The engine provides an estimate of the point in time where the recognition occurs, so it can be used to trigger external routines based on these time points.

Does it need the whole audio recording in order to recognize it ?

No, audio content can be identified from short snippets of just a few seconds. However, the whole recording must be fingerprinted and stored in order for it to be fully recognized.

How quickly can it recognize audio ?

This depends on how much the audio has been distorted compared to the fingerprinted recording, so there is no standard recognition time. Typically, for audio with low or no distortion recognitions happen in 2-4 seconds, but it can take longer if the audio is noisy, such as in over-the-air applications.

What platforms/architectures does it support ?

It has been extensively tested on the following platforms/architectures

Linux (x32/x64)
Windows (x86/x64)
Android/Linux Embedded (ARMv7-A, ARMv8-A, x86/x86_64, MIPS 32/64)
iOS (ARMv7, ARMv8)

However it may also run on others. We have not tested on all possible combinations available on the market.

About the service

Do you provide a database of songs, movies, etc. with a web API ?

No, we don't provide any kind of audio database, nor there is a public web API.

Do you provide integration services ?

Yes, we do. Contact us for more information.

We need support for platform X. Can you help ?

Audioneex is open source, so you should first try porting it yourself. If you are not successful we can help making the port, provided that:

1) X does not lack any hardware and/or software functionality needed by the engine to work; and

2) we have access to hardware and all required development tools for X.

You must provide us with all the needed resources if we don't have access to them and it will be considered as an integration service, thus involving development fees.

We are having issues with the free SDK. Can you help ?

No, sorry. The Free SDK is no longer being developed and is provided "as is" with no support whatsoever.