Shorten
Readableaudio
Shorten is a file format used for compressing audio data.It is used to compress audio files losslessly. One of the first open source lossless compressors, it was created in 1993 by Tony Robinson.
Identify it
| Extensions | .shn |
|---|---|
| MIME types | application/x-shorten |
| Signatures | 616a6b67 at byte 0 (Shorten (codec)) |
| PRONOM | fmt/1961 |
| Wikidata | Q597450 |
| Library of Congress | fdd000199 |
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Open it
Convert it
| To | With | Fidelity | Command and losses |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLAC 1.2.1 | FFmpeg | Lossless | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.flacLossless for decoded audio; a lossy source stays as degraded as it was. WAV may reduce bit depth or drop metadata. |
| WAV | FFmpeg | Lossless | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.wavLossless for decoded audio; a lossy source stays as degraded as it was. WAV may reduce bit depth or drop metadata. |
| Matroska | FFmpeg | Lossy | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.mkvRe-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container. |
| MP3 | FFmpeg | Lossy | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.mp3Lossy re-encoding. |
| MP4 | FFmpeg | Lossy | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.mp4Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container. |
| Ogg | FFmpeg | Lossy | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.oggLossy re-encoding. |
| WebM | FFmpeg | Lossy | ffmpeg -i in.shn out.webmRe-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container. |
Sources
From Converters (FFmpeg, ImageMagick, Pandoc, LibreOffice), Just Solve the File Format Problem (File Formats Wiki), PRONOM, Wikidata. Updated 2026-10-26.