A Windows utility for verifying the integrity of audio files.
Drop a folder or individual files, click Start scan, and get a clear report of every corrupt or structurally broken file. A built-in help panel explains each diagnostic in plain language and suggests how to fix it.
Audio Integrity Checker loads each file into memory and runs it through its format-specific decoder from start to finish. There is no playback, just a full read of every byte. Any anomaly in the audio data is caught and reported.
Files are processed in parallel across multiple threads (up to 8). On an SSD this makes a noticeable difference, since the bottleneck is pure decoding speed. On a HDD, mechanical seek time between files limits throughput, so a large collection will take longer than on flash storage.
Decoding is done via the official libFLAC library. Every frame carries a CRC checksum that covers its audio content. The decoder verifies each one against the actual data.
If libFLAC.dll is not found next to the exe, the tool automatically falls back to flac.exe (searched in the application folder first, then in PATH).
MP3 analysis runs in two sequential passes on the same in-memory buffer.
Pass 1: Structural parser (pure C#, no external library)
Every frame header is parsed and validated: sync word, MPEG version, Layer III marker, bitrate, and sample rate. The parser then walks the stream frame by frame, computing each frame's expected size and verifying that the next frame starts exactly where it should.
Additional checks:
- Frames that carry a CRC have their checksum verified against the frame's side information.
- The Xing header (VBR files) or Info header (CBR files), if present, is validated: the declared frame count is compared against the actual count found during the scan.
- If a LAME tag is present, its own CRC is verified.
Pass 2: Full audio decode via mpg123
The entire buffer is fed to mpg123 and fully decoded to PCM. This catches corruption that survives the structural scan: bit reservoir errors, Huffman decoding failures, and similar low-level issues. Pass 2 is skipped if Pass 1 already found an error.
Each scanned file is assigned a Result (OK or ISSUE) and, when an issue is found, a Severity that indicates how serious it is.
| Severity | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Low | Minor anomaly with no impact on audio playback (metadata or index inconsistency) |
| Medium | Stream structure anomaly: audio data is likely intact and the file is playable |
| High | Analysis could not complete: file state is uncertain |
| Critical | Audio data is corrupted |
The Message column gives a plain-language description of the issue along with its position in the file (timecode and frame number when available). The Error column contains the raw diagnostic code for reference.
Keyboard shortcut: select one or more rows and press Ctrl+C to copy them to the clipboard as a JSON array (path, name, duration, format, result, message, error code).
TRAILING_GARBAGE: Non-audio bytes found immediately after the last valid audio frameLOST_SYNC: Stream synchronisation was lost in the middle of the fileBAD_HEADER: Frame header that libFLAC could not parseFRAME_CRC_MISMATCH: A frame's CRC does not match its audio contentUNPARSEABLE_STREAM: The bitstream is too broken for the decoder to interpret.
BAD_HEADER: Frame header with an invalid bitrate or sample rate indexJUNK_DATA: 1–3 unexpected bytes found between two valid framesLOST_SYNC: Sync word missing at the expected position after a frameXING_FRAME_COUNT_MISMATCHandINFO_FRAME_COUNT_MISMATCH: The Xing VBR or Info CBR header declares a frame count that does not match the actual frame countLAME_TAG_CRC_MISMATCH: The LAME tag CRC does not match the first frame contentTRUNCATED_STREAM: End of file reached in the middle of a frameFRAME_CRC_MISMATCH: A frame's CRC does not match its side informationDECODE_ERROR: mpg123 reported a decode error (bit reservoir underrun, Huffman decoding failure, etc.), the audio is corrupted.
A help panel tells you what went wrong and how to fix it, when a fix is available.
| Format | Status | Backend |
|---|---|---|
| FLAC | Supported | libFLAC.dll (falls back to flac.exe) |
| MP3 | Supported | Pure C# structural parser + mpg123.dll |
| Ogg Vorbis | Planned | |
| AAC / M4A | Planned | |
| WAV / AIFF | Planned | |
| Opus | Planned |
- Windows 10 or later (x64)
- .NET 8 Desktop Runtime
libFLAC.dllplaced next to the exe (or in PATH)mpg123.dllplaced next to the exe (optional, enables MP3 audio decode in Pass 2)
Drag and drop is blocked, cursor shows a "no entry" symbol
This happens when the application is running with elevated privileges (administrator) while Windows Explorer is not. Windows silently blocks drag and drop from a lower-privilege process to a higher-privilege one.
Fix: launch the exe directly by double-clicking it from Explorer, or ensure your terminal is not running as administrator.
MP3 files are only partially checked, status bar shows mpg123: not found
Pass 2 (full audio decode) requires mpg123.dll to be loadable by Windows. Without it, only the structural Pass 1 runs. Download the x64 build from mpg123.de and place mpg123.dll next to the exe.
If the DLL is present but the warning still appears, it may be built for the wrong architecture (32-bit vs 64-bit). This application requires the x64 build.
FLAC files fail or show an unexpected error, status bar shows libFLAC: not found
If libFLAC.dll is missing, the tool falls back to flac.exe (searched first next to the exe, then in PATH). If neither is found, FLAC analysis will fail at runtime. Ensure at least one of the two is available.
Suggestions and bug reports are welcome, open an issue or start a discussion.
This project was made with Claude.