APE Player

APE Player

Play Monkey's Audio (.ape) lossless files directly in your browser. Powered by FFmpeg WebAssembly. Open APE rips without installing Monkey's Audio or a desktop player.

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ape
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Drag and drop your Monkey's Audio audio file or click to browse

Drop your audio file here

or click to browse

Supports: Monkey's Audio

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What is APE Player?

The APE Player opens Monkey's Audio files using FFmpeg WebAssembly in your browser. Select a .ape recording and wait for the listening controls to appear. The tool prepares stereo PCM for playback, with play, pause, and seek controls, while leaving the source file untouched.

How does APE Player work?

Monkey's Audio is a lossless codec stored in files with the .ape extension. The codec can reconstruct its source samples without discarding information. This page uses FFmpeg's ape decoder rather than relying on the browser's native format support.

For listening, FFmpeg converts the source to a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo WAV. Web Audio then decodes that WAV at the browser audio-context rate, which can differ from 44.1 kHz. This listening path is not a bit-perfect archival conversion.

Key Features

  • Decodes Monkey's Audio with the FFmpeg ape decoder
  • Opens lossless files with the .ape extension
  • Plays the whole file as one track
  • Prepares stereo PCM through an intermediate WAV
  • Play, pause, and seek controls
  • Decoding runs in WebAssembly on your device

Common Use Cases

When and why you might need this tool
  • Check a CD rip before archiving

    Play a .ape rip from start to finish to confirm the track is complete and free of skips.

  • Open APE files on a Mac or Chromebook

    Listen to Monkey's Audio files on a machine where the installed players do not recognize the format.

  • Audition a track from an old music library

    Confirm that APE files copied from an older collection still decode before you move them to a new player.

  • Listen before converting to FLAC or MP3

    Play the source first so you know the audio is intact before you spend time converting it.

  • Preview a shared lossless album image

    Open a single-file album .ape that someone sent you and hear it without installing anything.

How to Use This Tool

Step-by-step guide to get the best results
1

Choose an APE file

Click the upload area or drop a .ape file onto it.

2

Wait for the decoder

The first file loads the FFmpeg WebAssembly binary from a CDN. It stays loaded for the rest of the session.

3

Press play

Start playback to hear the decoded Monkey's Audio stream.

4

Seek through the track

Drag the progress control to jump to a position, or pause to stop where you are.

Pro Tips

  • 1

    APE files are often full-album images, so they can be hundreds of megabytes. The whole file is read into memory, which makes very large files slow to start on a phone or an older laptop.

  • 2

    A .cue sheet next to the file is ignored. The player treats the .ape file as one continuous track and does not jump between CD tracks.

  • 3

    Renaming a file to .ape does not convert it to Monkey's Audio; keep its actual extension when choosing the appropriate player.

  • 4

    Keep the original for archival use. The listening path reduces high-resolution sources to 16-bit PCM and can resample them.

  • 5

    Use the FLAC Player for .flac files, which the browser decodes without FFmpeg.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I open an APE file?

Open the APE Player in a browser, choose the .ape file, and press play. FFmpeg decodes the file in WebAssembly, so you do not need Monkey's Audio or a codec pack.

What is an APE audio file?

An APE file holds audio compressed with Monkey's Audio, a lossless codec. The codec reconstructs the source samples, although this player's listening conversion can change the sample rate, bit depth, and channel count.

Is Monkey's Audio lossless?

Yes. Decoding an APE file returns every sample of the source audio. This player then converts the result to 16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo for playback, which can reduce a higher-resolution source.

APE vs FLAC: which should I use?

Both codecs can preserve the source samples. Choose based on support in the devices and players you use. This page uses FFmpeg for APE, while the separate FLAC Player uses browser decoding.

Can I play an APE file with a CUE sheet?

The player opens the .ape file and plays it as one track. It does not read the .cue sheet, so it will not split the file into the original CD tracks.

Why will my APE file not play in Chrome?

Chrome's native decoder rejected the APE sample tested for this player. This page decodes APE with FFmpeg WebAssembly and supplies PCM audio to the playback controls.