Format guide · CourtSmart & courtroom systems
Convert BWF & CourtSmart recordings
Broadcast WAV plays in most editors — but the files are enormous and the courtroom metadata is invisible. Convert to MP3 for sharing or FLAC for archive, locally and lossless-aware.
What is a BWF file?
BWF (Broadcast Wave Format) is a WAV file with an extra bext chunk carrying
timecode, originator, and recording metadata. Digital courtroom systems — CourtSmart among
them — record in BWF so every file is traceable to a courtroom, date, and time.
Because it's still WAV underneath, most editors will open a BWF. The pain points are practical: hours of uncompressed PCM make for multi-gigabyte files you can't email, and generic converters silently drop the broadcast metadata.
Convert BWF without losing anything
- Download DepoAudio — free, open source, Windows and macOS.
- Drop your BWF files in. Channel layouts vary by courtroom; DepoAudio detects them and lets you split per channel or mix to stereo.
- Pick your output — MP3 for sharing with scopists or attorneys, FLAC for a lossless archive at roughly half the size, M4A for Apple devices.
- Click Convert. Everything is filed by case in the library, ready to play or re-export.
Conversion runs entirely on your machine — zero network calls — so confidential courtroom audio stays exactly where it should.
Is your file BWF or plain WAV?
Drop it below — the identifier looks for the bext chunk in your browser, tells you which it found, and plays the audio while you’re here.
What's this file?
Drop any court recording — identified and played right here in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, ever.
✓ Identified & played locally in your browser — 0 bytes uploaded.
Common questions
How do I batch convert court recordings?
Drag all your files into DepoAudio at once — SGMCA, FTR .trm, BWF, or standard audio files. Select your output format and settings, then click Convert. DepoAudio processes files sequentially so memory stays flat. There's no file count or size limit.
Is there a file size or batch limit?
No. DepoAudio processes files sequentially so memory use stays flat regardless of batch size. FFmpeg streams audio data rather than loading it into RAM, so 8+ hour recordings convert without issues.
What is a BWF file?
BWF (Broadcast Wave Format) is a WAV file with an added "bext" metadata chunk carrying timecode and originator information. Courtroom systems like CourtSmart record in BWF. DepoAudio converts BWF to MP3, FLAC, Opus, or M4A — or re-exports plain WAV — without touching the audio quality.
Free · Open source · Local
Convert it in the app — 30 seconds, no upload.
Windows 10/11 & macOS 12+ · install steps