Vorbis

Open-source, royalty-free audio codec for WebM and OGG containers.

Overview

What It Is

Vorbis is an open-source, royalty-free audio codec developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation as a free alternative to proprietary audio formats. Released in 2000, Vorbis delivers audio quality comparable to AAC at similar bitrates and is the original audio codec for the OGG and WebM containers. While Opus (also from Xiph.Org) has largely superseded Vorbis for new projects — offering better compression and lower latency — Vorbis remains the default audio codec in many existing WebM deployments and is still used when Opus support is unavailable.

Decision Guide

When to Choose Vorbis

Choose Vorbis when:

You maintain existing WebM content that uses Vorbis audio — no need to re-encode if the quality is acceptable.
You need a royalty-free audio codec for OGG container delivery — Vorbis is the native OGG audio codec.
Your target platform does not support Opus — some older systems only decode Vorbis.

Consider alternatives when:

You are starting a new project — Opus is strictly better in compression, latency, and quality from the same Xiph.Org team.
You need HLS audio — AAC is required for HLS delivery.
You want the best quality at low bitrates — Opus achieves transparent quality at 128 kbps vs. Vorbis at 192 kbps.

Reference

Key Characteristics

Standard	Xiph.Org Foundation, 2000
Bitrate range	32 kbps – 500 kbps
Sweet spot bitrate	128 kbps (high quality stereo)
Channels	Up to 255 channels (typically stereo)
Latency	~20ms (comparable to AAC)
Sample rates	8–192 kHz (typically 44.1 or 48 kHz)
Royalty status	Royalty-free, open-source (BSD license)
Container support	WebM, OGG
Browser support	Chrome, Firefox, Edge; Safari 14.1+ (limited)
Typical use case	Legacy WebM audio, OGG containers, open-source projects

Compatibility

Browser & Device Support

Platform	Vorbis	Opus	AAC	MP3
Chrome (desktop)		33+
Firefox (desktop)		15+
Safari (macOS)		14.1+
Edge		79+
iOS Safari		14.5+
Android Chrome

Implementation

How Qencode Handles Vorbis

Qencode encodes Vorbis audio using libvorbis for WebM output. Specify libvorbis as the audio codec.

Request Example

Vorbis audio in WebM output

{
  "query": {
    "source": "https://your-storage.com/video.mp4",
    "format": [
      {
        "output": "webm",
        "video_codec": "libvpx-vp9",
        "resolution": 2160,
        "quality": 20,
        "audio_codec": "libvorbis"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Copy this payload and use it with your API key to encode Vorbis audio from any source.

Learn how to configure Vorbis audio encoding

Comparison

Vorbis vs. Opus

	Vorbis	Opus
Compression	Good for its era	~20–30% better at same quality
Quality at 128 kbps	Transparent for most content	Transparent for all content
Low-bitrate performance	Degrades below 96 kbps	Excellent down to 6 kbps
Latency	Standard	Low-latency mode (5 ms)
Royalty status	Royalty-free (Xiph.Org)	Royalty-free (IETF RFC 6716)
Container support	Ogg, WebM	Ogg, WebM, DASH
Browser support	Chrome, Firefox, Edge (not Safari)	All modern browsers incl. Safari 14.1+
Best for	Legacy Ogg/WebM content	VoIP, streaming, modern web audio

For a detailed Opus breakdown, see Opus

Explore More

Related Technologies

Opus

The modern successor to Vorbis with better compression and lower latency.

WebM

The open container format that supports both Vorbis and Opus audio.

Audio Normalization

Standardize loudness levels across audio outputs.

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