Editing Shorten (codec)

{{Short description|Lossless audio codec}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Shorten
| logo = 
| screenshot = 
| caption =
| developer = [[Tony Robinson (speech recognition)|Tony Robinson]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1993|03|30}}
| latest_release_version = 3.6.1
| latest_release_date = 2007-03-19 (final)
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = 
| operating_system = [[Cross-platform]]
| genre = [[Audio codec]] [[Data compression]]
| license = Shorten software license<ref>{{cite web|url=http://userpages.umbc.edu/~hamilton/shnlicense.txt|title=SHORTEN SOFTWARE LICENSE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816185144/http://userpages.umbc.edu/~hamilton/shnlicense.txt|archive-date=2017-08-16|access-date=2020-10-16}}</ref>
| website = {{URL|http://etree.org/shnutils/shorten/}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://etree.org/shnutils/shorten/|title=[shorten]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908214909/http://www.etree.org:80/shnutils/shorten/|archive-date=2018-09-08|access-date=2020-10-16}}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox file format
| name = Shorten
| icon = 
| logo = 
| screenshot = 
| caption = 
| extension = .shn
| mime = 
| type code = 
| uniform type = 
| magic = 
| owner = [[Tony Robinson (speech recognition)|Tony Robinson]]
| genre = Audio
| container for = 
| contained by = 
| extended from = 
| extended to = 
| standard = 
}}
'''Shorten''' ('''SHN''') is a [[file format]] used for compressing [[audio data]]. It is a form of [[lossless data compression|data compression]] of files and is used to [[Audio data compression|losslessly compress]] [[CD]]-quality audio files (44.1 [[kilohertz|kHz]] 16-[[binary digit|bit]] stereo [[Pulse-code modulation|PCM]]). Shorten is no longer developed and other lossless [[audio codec]]s such as [[Free Lossless Audio Codec|FLAC]], [[Monkey's Audio]] (APE), TTA, and [[WavPack]] (WV) have become more popular. It is still in use to trade [[Bootleg recording|concert recordings]] that are already encoded as Shorten files. Shorten files use the .shn file extension.

==Handling Shorten files==
All [[libavcodec]] based players and converters support the Shorten codec;  and since the LAVFilters are based on libavcodec, support can easily be added to Windows Media Player and other software that uses the standard filter / codec APIs. As far as less common programs, some [[Rockbox]] applications can play Shorten files without decompression, and third-party Shorten plug-ins exist for [[Nero Burning ROM]], [[Foobar2000]], and [[Winamp]]. [[VLC media player]] supports Shorten files natively, and ffplay from the ffmpeg package can be used if a command line utility is desired. 

==See also==
*[[FLAC]]
*[[MPEG-4 ALS]]
*[[Meridian Lossless Packing]]
*[[Monkey's Audio|Monkey's Audio (APE)]]
*[[WavPack]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
*[http://mi.eng.cam.ac.uk/reports/svr-ftp/auto-pdf/robinson_tr156.pdf Shorten Research Paper], written by the author of Shorten and detailing how it works.
*[http://tlh.easytree.org Trader's Little Helper Download page]. Trader's Little helper converts shn to wav among other things
*[http://wiki.etree.org/index.php?page=Shorten etree.org Wiki article].  [http://etree.org etree.org] is a  trading site for authorized recordings of live performances; etree formerly used Shorten exclusively but is increasingly using [[FLAC]].
*[http://research.umbc.edu/~hamilton/shnfaq.html Shorten FAQ] (note: If looking for software to play '''.shn''' files, you will probably be better served by the [http://wiki.etree.org/index.php?page=SoftwareYouNeed etree software page], as the Shorten FAQ has many broken and outdated links.)
*[http://www.bobulous.org.uk/misc/lossless_audio_2006.html Lossless audio formats], a performance comparison of lossless audio formats, including Shorten.
*[http://userpages.umbc.edu/~hamilton/shnfaq.html A Small SHN and MD5 FAQ] Includes a decent list of programs to handle Shorten files.
*[https://file-converters-online.com/category/shn SHN Format Conversion], an online tool for converting SHN files to other formats.

{{Compression formats}}

[[Category:Lossless audio codecs]]
[[Category:Cross-platform software]]