Snd

Snd is a term used in computing to refer to several different software projects and file formats related to audio and sound. It is not a single standard, but rather a name that has appeared in multiple independent contexts across different platforms.

One prominent use is Snd, a cross-platform sound editor and processing toolkit used by musicians, researchers, and educators. Snd provides interactive editing, real-time audio processing, and support for batch processing. It is designed to be extensible and to work with a range of audio formats, making it suitable for creative and academic work.

Another widely encountered referent is the SND file format (often with the .snd extension), an early binary audio format associated with NeXTSTEP and related systems. These files typically store raw or minimally encoded PCM data along with basic metadata such as sample rate, channels, and data size. The SND format influenced later audio file formats and can sometimes be encountered when preserving legacy projects or running older software.

In general usage, snd is also shorthand for sound and appears in various programming examples, command-line utilities, and libraries as a variable or identifier related to audio data. The term’s versatility means it may appear in different domains, sometimes causing ambiguity without additional context.

See also: audio file formats, digital audio editors, NeXTSTEP sound format.