peasy-audio

Ruby client for the PeasyAudio API — analyze BPM, calculate bitrate, and convert audio formats. Zero dependencies beyond Ruby stdlib (Net::HTTP, JSON, URI).

Built from PeasyAudio, a comprehensive audio toolkit offering free online tools for analyzing tempo, calculating file sizes, comparing audio formats, and converting between MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, and AAC. The site includes in-depth guides on lossless vs. lossy audio encoding, format comparison charts, and a glossary covering concepts from bitrate and sample rate to audio codecs and clipping.

Try the interactive tools at peasyaudio.com — Audio BPM Analyzer, Audio Frequency Calculator, Audio File Size Calculator, and more.

• Install
• Quick Start
• What You Can Do
  • Audio Analysis Tools
  • Browse Reference Content
  • Search and Discovery
• API Client
  • Available Methods
• Learn More About Audio Tools
• Also Available
• Peasy Developer Tools
• License

gem install peasy-audio

Or add to your Gemfile:

gem "peasy-audio"

require "peasy_audio"

client = PeasyAudio::Client.new

# List available audio tools
tools = client.list_tools
tools["results"].each do |tool|
  puts "#{tool["name"]}: #{tool["description"]}"
end

Digital audio is represented as a series of samples captured at a fixed rate — CD-quality audio uses 44,100 samples per second (44.1 kHz) with 16-bit depth, producing 1,411 kbps of uncompressed data. Lossy codecs like MP3 and AAC reduce this dramatically (128-320 kbps) by discarding inaudible frequencies using psychoacoustic models, while lossless codecs like FLAC compress without any data loss. PeasyAudio provides calculators and analysis tools for understanding these encoding parameters.

The relationship between sample rate, bit depth, and channels determines the raw data rate of uncompressed audio. CD-quality stereo (44.1 kHz, 16-bit, 2 channels) produces 1,411.2 kbps, while studio-quality recordings at 96 kHz/24-bit stereo generate 4,608 kbps — over 34 MB per minute. Lossy codecs like AAC at 256 kbps achieve roughly 18:1 compression while maintaining transparency (indistinguishable from the original in controlled listening tests).

require "peasy_audio"

client = PeasyAudio::Client.new

# Get the BPM analyzer tool for tempo detection
tool = client.get_tool("audio-bpm")
puts "Tool: #{tool["name"]}"              # Audio BPM analyzer name
puts "Description: #{tool["description"]}" # How BPM detection works

# List all available audio tools with pagination
tools = client.list_tools(page: 1, limit: 20)
puts "Total audio tools available: #{tools["count"]}"

Learn more: Audio BPM Analyzer · Audio Format Comparison · Convert Between Audio Formats

PeasyAudio includes a comprehensive glossary of audio engineering terminology and practical guides for common workflows. The glossary covers foundational concepts like bitrate (the number of bits processed per second, determining audio quality and file size), sample rate (how many times per second the audio signal is measured), WAV (Microsoft's uncompressed audio container), and FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec, the open-source standard for archival-quality audio).

The choice between lossy and lossless encoding involves a fundamental trade-off between file size and audio fidelity. Lossy codecs like MP3 and AAC use psychoacoustic models to discard sounds that fall below the human hearing threshold — frequencies masked by louder nearby tones, or ultra-high frequencies above 16 kHz that most adults cannot perceive. Lossless codecs like FLAC and ALAC preserve every sample exactly, achieving typical compression ratios of 50-60% while guaranteeing bit-perfect reconstruction of the original recording.

require "peasy_audio"

client = PeasyAudio::Client.new

# Browse the audio glossary for encoding and format terminology
glossary = client.list_glossary(search: "bitrate")
glossary["results"].each do |term|
  puts "#{term["term"]}: #{term["definition"]}"
end

# Read a guide comparing lossless vs lossy audio formats
guide = client.get_guide("audio-format-comparison")
puts "Guide: #{guide["title"]} (Level: #{guide["audience_level"]})"

Learn more: Audio Glossary · Audio Format Comparison · Convert Between Audio Formats

The API supports full-text search across all content types — tools, glossary terms, guides, use cases, and format documentation. Search results are grouped by content type, making it easy to find the right tool or reference for any audio workflow. Format conversion data covers the full matrix of source-to-target transformations, including quality trade-offs — converting from a lossy format (MP3) to another lossy format (AAC) involves a generation loss as the second encoder cannot recover information discarded by the first.

require "peasy_audio"

client = PeasyAudio::Client.new

# Search across all audio content — tools, glossary, guides, and formats
results = client.search("convert flac")
puts "Found #{results["results"]["tools"].length} tools"
puts "Found #{results["results"]["glossary"].length} glossary terms"
puts "Found #{results["results"]["guides"].length} guides"

# Discover format conversion paths — what can WAV convert to?
conversions = client.list_conversions(source: "wav")
conversions["results"].each do |c|
  puts "#{c["source_format"]} -> #{c["target_format"]}"
end

# Get detailed information about a specific audio format
format = client.get_format("wav")
puts "#{format["name"]} (#{format["extension"]}): #{format["mime_type"]}"

Learn more: REST API Docs · All Audio Tools · All Formats

The client wraps the PeasyAudio REST API using only Ruby standard library — no external dependencies.

require "peasy_audio"

client = PeasyAudio::Client.new
# Or with a custom base URL:
# client = PeasyAudio::Client.new(base_url: "https://custom.example.com")

# List tools with pagination and filters
tools = client.list_tools(page: 1, limit: 10, search: "convert")

# Get a specific tool by slug
tool = client.get_tool("audio-convert")
puts "#{tool["name"]}: #{tool["description"]}"

# Search across all content
results = client.search("convert")
puts "Found #{results["results"]["tools"].length} tools"

# Browse the glossary
glossary = client.list_glossary(search: "mp3")
glossary["results"].each do |term|
  puts "#{term["term"]}: #{term["definition"]}"
end

# Discover guides
guides = client.list_guides(category: "audio")
guides["results"].each do |guide|
  puts "#{guide["title"]} (#{guide["audience_level"]})"
end

# List file format conversions
conversions = client.list_conversions(source: "wav")

# Get format details
format = client.get_format("wav")
puts "#{format["name"]} (#{format["extension"]}): #{format["mime_type"]}"

All list methods accept keyword arguments: page:, limit:, category:, search:.

Full API documentation at peasyaudio.com/developers/. OpenAPI 3.1.0 spec: peasyaudio.com/api/openapi.json.

• Tools: Audio BPM Analyzer · Audio Frequency Calculator · Audio File Size Calculator · All Tools
• Guides: Audio Format Comparison · Convert Between Audio Formats · All Guides
• Glossary: Bitrate · Sample Rate · WAV · FLAC · All Terms
• Formats: All Formats
• API: REST API Docs · OpenAPI Spec

Part of the Peasy Tools open-source developer ecosystem.

Embed PeasyAudio widgets on any website with peasy-audio-embed:

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/peasy-audio-embed@1/dist/embed.min.js"></script>
<div data-peasyaudio="entity" data-slug="example"></div>

Zero dependencies · Shadow DOM · 4 themes (light/dark/sepia/auto) · Widget docs

MIT