AWB File

What are AWB files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an AWB file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your AWB files.

What is an AWB file?

AWB files have multiple uses, and Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband audio is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband audio

AWB stands for Adaptive Multi-Rate Wide Band. It is an improvement of the .amr file format and was developed by Nokia. Files with the .awb extension are compressed audio files that have been optimized to record speech and for voice transmission on mobile networks.

How to open AWB files

Important: Different programs may use files with the AWB file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your AWB file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested ten different AWB openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 22, 2026

All known file formats using extension .AWB

While Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband audio is a popular type of AWB-file, we know of 2 different uses of the .AWB file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

ADX2 HCA Audio

ADX2 HCA Audio is a proprietary, high-compression codec developed by CRI Middleware and used with their ADX2 audio middleware. It encodes audio for use in interactive applications like video games, where attention to compression, streaming, and real-time playback is required. Its design balances file size, CPU load, and features like loop points and seeking during playback.

This codec is produced by the CRI Atom Encoder tool, which takes uncompressed audio files (such as WAV or AIFF) and encodes them with HCA (or ADX/HCA-MX) before packaging into AWB files. The AWB file (Atom Wave Bank) holds the encoded audio data intended for streamed playback, while an associated ACB file (Atom CueSheet Binary) stores parameters for playback such as cues, loop settings, and which audio is streamed versus loaded into memory.

Encoding options in the ADX2 system allow trade-offs: HCA offers high compression ratios (approximately 1/6 to 1/12 of the original size) with support for features like looping, pitch changes, and real-time effects. HCA-MX is a variant optimized for lower CPU load when many sounds play simultaneously, but omits certain real-time effects and strict or seamless looping.

Files begin with a 4-byte magic number "AFS2" at offset zero which identifies the AFS2/AWB container format used to store one or more encoded streams. This header also includes the version number, counts and sizes of entries (audio tracks), and file offsets for each track.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of AWB files. Remember, different programs may use AWB files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about AWB file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.