Test vectors

January 16, 2026 · View on GitHub

Test vectors are grouped with a common prefix. For example test_000012 has several files associated with it.

Metadata describing the test vector:test_000012.textproto.
Standalone IAMF bitstream: test_000012.iamf.
Fragmented MP4 file: test_000012_f.mp4.
Standalone MP4 file: test_000012_s.mp4.
Rendered WAV file (per mix_presentation_id x, sub mix index y, layout index z): test_000012_rendered_id_x_sub_mix_y_layout_z.wav

Generate Test Suite

generate_test_suite is a script which runs the encoder to generate several test suite files.

Prerequisites:

The path to a built encoder_main, usually bazel-bin/iamf/cli/encoder_main.

Note that example commands below assume a working directory of iamf_tools.

Run the test suite.

Arguments:

encoder_bin, full path to the built encoder_main tool. test_data_dir, full path to folder containing .textproto and reference .wav files. output_dir, full path to write IAMF files produced by encoder_main.

For a simple configuration, this example will dump all files to the output_dir.

bazel run -c opt iamf/cli/testdata:generate_test_suite --  --encoder_bin=bazel-bin/iamf/cli/encoder_main  --test_data_dir=$PWD/iamf/cli/testdata/ --output_dir=/tmp/iamf_artifacts

Extra arguments:

regex_filter, optionally included, regex to filter output files. For example --regex_filter="000100" will run a single file, or --regex_filter="0001\d{2}" will process files in the range [test_000100, test_000199].

.textproto files

Theses file describe metadata about the test vector to encode an IA Sequence.

is_valid: True when the encoder can produce an IA Sequence where all mixes would be understood by a compliant decoder. False when one or more mixes exercise fields or features which would cause mixes to be ignored.
is_valid_to_decode: True when an IAMF-compliant decoder could decode at least one mix of the associated IA Sequence ("should-pass"). False when all mixes are non-conformant and may fail to be decoded ("should-fail"). The IAMF spec does not specify what happens when requirements are violated; a robust system may still attempt to process and create output for "should-fail" tests.
human_readable_descriptions: A short description of what is being tested and why.
mp4_fixed_timestamp: The timestamp within the MP4 file. Can be safely ignored.
primary_tested_spec_sections: A list of the main sections being tested. In the form X.Y.Z/class_or_field_name to represent the class_or_field_name in the IAMF specification Section X.Y.Z is being tested.
base_test: The recommended textproto to diff against.
Other fields refer to the OBUs and data within the test vector.

Input WAV files

Test vectors may have multiple substreams with several input .wav files. These .wav files may be shared with other test vectors. The .textproto file has a section which input wav file associated with each substream.

Summary

Title	Summary	Channels	Sample Rate	Format	Duration
`audiolab-acoustic-guitar_2OA_470_ALLRAD_0.5s`	Short clip of a guitar playing using 7.1.4.	12	48kHz	pcm_s16le	500ms
`audiolab-acoustic-guitar_2OA_470_ALLRAD_5s.wav`	Short clip of a guitar playing using 7.1.4.	12	48kHz	pcm_s16le	5s
`audiolab-acoustic-guitar_2OA_470_ALLRAD_concat.wav`	Clip of a guitar playing which which is repeated once using 7.1.4.	12	48kHz	pcm_s16le	22.77s
`dialog_clip_stereo.wav`	English dialog.	2	48kHz	pcm_s16le	5s
`Mechanism_5s_32bit.wav`	Mechanical noises using 7.1.4.	12	48kHz	pcm_s32le	5s
`Mechanism_5s_24bit.wav`	Mechanical noises using 7.1.4.	12	48kHz	pcm_s24le	5s
`Mechanism_5s.wav`	Mechanical noises using 7.1.4.	12	48kHz	pcm_s16le	5s
`Mechanism_5s_44100hz_s16le.wav`	Mechanical noises using 7.1.4.	12	44.1k	pcm_s16le	5s
`sample1_48kHz_stereo.wav`	Sawtooth wave.	2	48kHz	pcm_s16le	5s
`sawtooth_10000_foa_48kHz.wav`	Sawtooth wave using first-order ambisonics.	4	48kHz	pcm_s16le	500ms
`sawtooth_10000_stereo_44100hz_s16le.wav`	Sawtooth wave.	2	44.1kHz	pcm_s16le	500ms
`sawtooth_10000_stereo_48kHz_s24le.wav`	Sawtooth wave.	2	48kHz	pcm_s24le	500ms
`sawtooth_10000_stereo_48kHz.wav`	Sawtooth wave.	2	48kHz	pcm_s16le	500ms
`sawtooth_100_stereo.wav`	Sawtooth wave.	2	16kHz	pcm_s16le	500ms
`sawtooth_8000_toa_48kHz.wav`	Sawtooth wave using third-order ambisonics.	16	48kHz	pcm_s16le	500ms
`sine_1000_16khz_512ms.wav`	Sine wave.	2	16kHz	pcm_s16le	512ms
`sine_1000_16khz_512ms_s32le.wav`	Sine wave.	1	16kHz	pcm_s32le	512ms
`sine_1000_48khz_512ms.wav`	Sine wave.	2	48kHz	pcm_s16le	512ms
`sine_1000_48kHz.wav`	Sine wave.	2	48kHz	pcm_s16le	500ms
`sine_1000_4oa_48khz.wav`	Sine wave using fourth-order ambisonics.	25	48kHz	pcm_s16le	5000ms
`sine_1500_stereo_48khz_-15dBFS.wav`	Sine wave using at -15dBFS.	2	48kHz	pcm_s16le	5000ms
`stereo_8_samples_48khz_s16le.wav`	Tiny test file. The first channel encodes 1, 2, ... 8. The second channel encodes 65535, 65534, ... 65528.	2	48kHz	pcm_s16le	8 samples
`stereo_8_samples_48khz_s24le.wav`	Tiny test file. The first channel encodes 1, 2, ... 8. The second channel encodes 16777216, 16777215, ... 16777209.	2	48kHz	pcm_s24le	8 samples
`Transport_TOA_5s.wav`	Short clip of vehicles driving by using third-order ambisonics.	16	48kHz	pcm_s16le	5s
`Transport_9.1.6_5s.wav`	Short clip of vehicles driving by using 9.1.6.	16	48kHz	pcm_s16le	5s

Output WAV files

Output wav files are based on the layout in the mix presentation. Typically the ordering of channels is based on the related ITU-2051-3 layout.

Mix Presentation Layout	Channel Order Convention	Channel Order
Sound System A (0+2+0)	ITU-2051-3	L, R
Sound System B (0+5+0)	ITU-2051-3	L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs
Sound System C (2+5+0)	ITU-2051-3	L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Ltf, Rtf
Sound System D (4+5+0)	ITU-2051-3	L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Ltf, Rtf, Ltr, Rtr
Sound System E (4+5+1)	ITU-2051-3	L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Ltf, Rtf, Ltr, Rtr, Cbf
Sound System F (3+7+0)	ITU-2051-3	C, L, R, LH, RH, LS, RS, LB, RB, CH, LFE1, LFE2
Sound System G (4+9+0)	ITU-2051-3	L, R, C, LFE, Lss, Rss, Lrs, Rrs, Ltf, Rtf, Ltb, Rtb, Lsc, Rsc
Sound System H (9+10+3)	ITU-2051-3	FL, FR, FC, LFE1, BL, BR, FLc, FRc, BC, LFE2, SiL, SiR, TpFL, TpFR, TpFC, TpC, TpBL, TpBR, TpSiL, TpSiR, TpBC, BtFC, BtFL, BtFR
Sound System I (0+7+0)	ITU_2051-3	L, R, C, LFE, Lss, Rss, Lrs, Rrs
Sound System J (4+7+0)	ITU_2051-3	L, R, C, LFE, Lss, Rss, Lrs, Rrs, Ltf, Rtf, Ltb, Rtb
Sound System 10	IAMF	L7, R7, C, LFE, Lss7, Rss7, Lrs7, Rrs7, Ltf2, Rtf2
Sound System 11	IAMF	L3, R3, C, LFE, Ltf3, Rtf3,
Sound System 12	IAMF	C
Sound System 13	IAMF	FL, FR, FC, LFE, BL, BR, FLc, FRc, SiL, SiR, TpFL, TpFR, TpBL, TpBR, TpSiL, TpSiR
Sound System 14	IAMF	L, R, C, LFE, Lss, Rss, Lrs, Rrs, Ltf, Rtf, Ltb, Rtb, TpC, BtFL, BtFR, BtBL, BtBR
Binaural Layout	IAMF	L2, R2