XMA File

What are XMA files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an XMA 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 XMA files.

What is an XMA file?

An .XMA file is an Xbox 360 Audio file.

The Xbox 360 Audio File format with extension .XMA is Microsoft's proprietary compressed audio format used primarily for storing sound effects, music tracks, and voice clips inside Xbox 360 games and applications. It is a game‐oriented codec optimized for playback on Xbox 360 hardware. Known tools like the Xbox 360 Development Kit are used to encode these files.

On Xbox 360, the audio data in .XMA files is decoded by dedicated audio hardware. The format supports up to 5.1 surround sound channel layouts, a 48 kHz sampling rate, and 16-bit resolution for output PCM data after decompression. The encoder allows developers to adjust a quality parameter in a range (higher numbers yield higher fidelity with less compression, lower numbers increase compression with more loss). A typical target compression ratio used in development for game audio assets is in the range of 8:1 to 15:1.

Internally, .XMA files use Microsoft's XMA codec which is derived from Windows Media Audio (WMA) Pro. Files sometimes include a RIFF-based wrapper. Within that wrapper, the audio format tag identifying XMA is 0x0165. If present, "fmt" chunks carry WAVEFORMATEX fields, including format tag, channel count, sample rate, and block alignment.

How to open XMA files

We have identified one XMA opener that is compatible with this specific type of XMA file.

Programs that open Xbox 360 Audio files

Last updated: August 14, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

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

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