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vllm.multimodal.audio

Classes:

  • AudioResampler

    Resample audio data to a target sample rate.

  • AudioSpec

    Specification for target audio format.

  • ChannelReduction

    Method to reduce multi-channel audio to target channels.

Functions:

AudioResampler

Resample audio data to a target sample rate.

Source code in vllm/multimodal/audio.py
class AudioResampler:
    """Resample audio data to a target sample rate."""

    _METHODS = ("pyav", "scipy", "soxr", "torchaudio")

    def __init__(
        self,
        target_sr: float | None = None,
        method: Literal["pyav", "scipy", "soxr", "torchaudio"] = "torchaudio",
    ):
        # Eager validation so a bad method fails at construction rather than
        # on the first audio request.
        if method not in self._METHODS:
            raise ValueError(
                f"Invalid resampling method: {method!r}. "
                f"Supported methods: {list(self._METHODS)}."
            )
        self.target_sr = target_sr
        self.method = method

    def resample(
        self,
        audio: npt.NDArray[np.floating],
        *,
        orig_sr: float,
    ) -> npt.NDArray[np.floating]:
        if self.target_sr is None:
            raise RuntimeError(
                "Audio resampling is not supported when `target_sr` is not provided"
            )
        if math.isclose(
            float(orig_sr),
            float(self.target_sr),
            rel_tol=0.0,
            abs_tol=1e-6,
        ):
            return audio
        if self.method == "pyav":
            return resample_audio_pyav(audio, orig_sr=orig_sr, target_sr=self.target_sr)
        elif self.method == "scipy":
            return resample_audio_scipy(
                audio, orig_sr=orig_sr, target_sr=self.target_sr
            )
        elif self.method == "soxr":
            return resample_audio_soxr(audio, orig_sr=orig_sr, target_sr=self.target_sr)
        elif self.method == "torchaudio":
            return resample_audio_torchaudio(
                audio, orig_sr=orig_sr, target_sr=self.target_sr
            )
        else:
            raise ValueError(
                f"Invalid resampling method: {self.method}. "
                f"Supported methods are {list(self._METHODS)}."
            )

AudioSpec dataclass

Specification for target audio format.

This dataclass defines the expected audio format for a model's feature extractor. It is used to normalize audio data before processing.

Attributes:

  • target_channels (int | None) –

    Number of output channels. None means passthrough (no normalization). 1 = mono, 2 = stereo, etc.

  • channel_reduction (ChannelReduction) –

    Method to reduce channels when input has more channels than target. Only used when reducing channels.

Source code in vllm/multimodal/audio.py
@dataclass
class AudioSpec:
    """Specification for target audio format.

    This dataclass defines the expected audio format for a model's feature
    extractor. It is used to normalize audio data before processing.

    Attributes:
        target_channels: Number of output channels. None means passthrough
            (no normalization). 1 = mono, 2 = stereo, etc.
        channel_reduction: Method to reduce channels when input has more
            channels than target. Only used when reducing channels.
    """

    target_channels: int | None = 1
    channel_reduction: ChannelReduction = ChannelReduction.MEAN

    @property
    def needs_normalization(self) -> bool:
        """Whether audio normalization is needed."""
        return self.target_channels is not None

    def __repr__(self) -> str:
        if self.target_channels is None:
            return "AudioSpec(passthrough)"
        return (
            f"AudioSpec(channels={self.target_channels}, "
            f"reduction={self.channel_reduction.value})"
        )

needs_normalization property

Whether audio normalization is needed.

ChannelReduction

Bases: str, Enum

Method to reduce multi-channel audio to target channels.

Source code in vllm/multimodal/audio.py
class ChannelReduction(str, Enum):
    """Method to reduce multi-channel audio to target channels."""

    MEAN = "mean"  # Average across channels (default, preserves energy balance)
    FIRST = "first"  # Take first channel only
    MAX = "max"  # Take max value across channels
    SUM = "sum"  # Sum across channels

find_split_point(wav, start_idx, end_idx, min_energy_window)

Find the best point to split audio by looking for silence or low amplitude.

Searches for the quietest region within a specified range by calculating RMS energy in sliding windows.

Parameters:

  • wav

    (ndarray) –

    1D mono audio array.

  • start_idx

    (int) –

    Start index of search region (inclusive).

  • end_idx

    (int) –

    End index of search region (exclusive).

  • min_energy_window

    (int) –

    Window size in samples for energy calculation.

Returns:

  • int

    Index of the quietest point within the search region. This is the

  • int

    recommended split point to minimize audio artifacts.

Example

audio = np.random.randn(32000)

Insert quiet region

audio[16000:17600] = 0.01 split_idx = find_split_point( ... wav=audio, ... start_idx=0, ... end_idx=32000, ... min_energy_window=1600, ... ) 16000 <= split_idx <= 17600 True

Source code in vllm/multimodal/audio.py
def find_split_point(
    wav: np.ndarray,
    start_idx: int,
    end_idx: int,
    min_energy_window: int,
) -> int:
    """Find the best point to split audio by looking for silence or low amplitude.

    Searches for the quietest region within a specified range by calculating
    RMS energy in sliding windows.

    Args:
        wav: 1D mono audio array.
        start_idx: Start index of search region (inclusive).
        end_idx: End index of search region (exclusive).
        min_energy_window: Window size in samples for energy calculation.

    Returns:
        Index of the quietest point within the search region. This is the
        recommended split point to minimize audio artifacts.

    Example:
        >>> audio = np.random.randn(32000)
        >>> # Insert quiet region
        >>> audio[16000:17600] = 0.01
        >>> split_idx = find_split_point(
        ...     wav=audio,
        ...     start_idx=0,
        ...     end_idx=32000,
        ...     min_energy_window=1600,
        ... )
        >>> 16000 <= split_idx <= 17600
        True
    """
    segment = wav[start_idx:end_idx]

    # Calculate RMS energy in small windows
    min_energy = math.inf
    quietest_idx = start_idx

    for i in range(0, len(segment) - min_energy_window, min_energy_window):
        window = segment[i : i + min_energy_window]
        energy = (window**2).mean() ** 0.5
        if not math.isnan(energy) and energy < min_energy:
            quietest_idx = i + start_idx
            min_energy = energy

    return quietest_idx

get_audio_duration(*, y, sr=22050)

Get the duration of an audio array in seconds.

Parameters:

  • y

    (NDArray[floating]) –

    Audio time series. Can be 1D (samples,) or 2D (channels, samples).

  • sr

    (float, default: 22050 ) –

    Sample rate of the audio in Hz.

Returns:

  • float

    Duration of the audio in seconds.

Source code in vllm/multimodal/audio.py
def get_audio_duration(*, y: npt.NDArray[np.floating], sr: float = 22050) -> float:
    """Get the duration of an audio array in seconds.

    Args:
        y: Audio time series. Can be 1D (samples,) or 2D (channels, samples).
        sr: Sample rate of the audio in Hz.

    Returns:
        Duration of the audio in seconds.
    """
    n_samples = y.shape[-1]
    return float(n_samples) / sr

normalize_audio(audio, spec)

Normalize audio to the specified format.

This function handles channel reduction for multi-channel audio, supporting both numpy arrays and torch tensors.

Parameters:

  • audio

    (NDArray[floating] | Tensor) –

    Input audio data. Can be: - 1D array/tensor: (time,) - already mono - 2D array/tensor: (channels, time) - standard format from torchaudio - 2D array/tensor: (time, channels) - format from soundfile (will be auto-detected and transposed if time > channels)

  • spec

    (AudioSpec) –

    AudioSpec defining the target format.

Returns:

Raises:

  • ValueError

    If audio has unsupported dimensions or channel expansion is requested (e.g., mono to stereo).

Source code in vllm/multimodal/audio.py
def normalize_audio(
    audio: npt.NDArray[np.floating] | torch.Tensor,
    spec: AudioSpec,
) -> npt.NDArray[np.floating] | torch.Tensor:
    """Normalize audio to the specified format.

    This function handles channel reduction for multi-channel audio,
    supporting both numpy arrays and torch tensors.

    Args:
        audio: Input audio data. Can be:
            - 1D array/tensor: (time,) - already mono
            - 2D array/tensor: (channels, time) - standard format from torchaudio
            - 2D array/tensor: (time, channels) - format from soundfile
              (will be auto-detected and transposed if time > channels)
        spec: AudioSpec defining the target format.

    Returns:
        Normalized audio in the same type as input (numpy or torch).
        For mono output (target_channels=1), returns 1D array/tensor.

    Raises:
        ValueError: If audio has unsupported dimensions or channel expansion
            is requested (e.g., mono to stereo).
    """
    if not spec.needs_normalization:
        return audio

    # Handle 1D audio (already mono)
    if audio.ndim == 1:
        if spec.target_channels == 1:
            return audio
        raise ValueError(f"Cannot expand mono audio to {spec.target_channels} channels")

    # Handle 2D audio
    if audio.ndim != 2:
        raise ValueError(f"Unsupported audio shape: {audio.shape}. Expected 1D or 2D.")

    # Auto-detect format: if shape[0] > shape[1], assume (time, channels)
    # This handles soundfile format where time dimension is typically much larger
    if audio.shape[0] > audio.shape[1]:
        # Transpose from (time, channels) to (channels, time)
        audio = audio.T if isinstance(audio, np.ndarray) else audio.T

    num_channels = audio.shape[0]

    # No reduction needed if already at target
    if num_channels == spec.target_channels:
        return audio

    # Cannot expand channels
    if num_channels < spec.target_channels:
        raise ValueError(
            f"Cannot expand {num_channels} channels to {spec.target_channels}"
        )

    # Reduce channels
    is_numpy = isinstance(audio, np.ndarray)

    if spec.target_channels == 1:
        # Reduce to mono
        if spec.channel_reduction == ChannelReduction.MEAN:
            result = np.mean(audio, axis=0) if is_numpy else audio.mean(dim=0)
        elif spec.channel_reduction == ChannelReduction.FIRST:
            result = audio[0]
        elif spec.channel_reduction == ChannelReduction.MAX:
            result = np.max(audio, axis=0) if is_numpy else audio.max(dim=0).values
        elif spec.channel_reduction == ChannelReduction.SUM:
            result = np.sum(audio, axis=0) if is_numpy else audio.sum(dim=0)
        else:
            raise ValueError(f"Unknown reduction method: {spec.channel_reduction}")
        return result
    else:
        # Reduce to N channels (take first N and apply reduction if needed)
        # For now, just take first N channels
        return audio[: spec.target_channels]

resample_audio_pyav(audio, *, orig_sr, target_sr)

Resample audio using PyAV (libswresample via FFmpeg).

Parameters:

  • audio

    (NDArray[floating]) –

    Input audio. Can be: - 1D array (samples,): mono audio - 2D array (channels, samples): stereo audio

  • orig_sr

    (float) –

    Original sample rate in Hz.

  • target_sr

    (float) –

    Target sample rate in Hz.

Returns:

  • NDArray[floating]

    Resampled audio with the same shape as the input (1D → 1D, 2D → 2D).

Source code in vllm/multimodal/audio.py
def resample_audio_pyav(
    audio: npt.NDArray[np.floating],
    *,
    orig_sr: float,
    target_sr: float,
) -> npt.NDArray[np.floating]:
    """Resample audio using PyAV (libswresample via FFmpeg).

    Args:
        audio: Input audio. Can be:
            - 1D array ``(samples,)``: mono audio
            - 2D array ``(channels, samples)``: stereo audio
        orig_sr: Original sample rate in Hz.
        target_sr: Target sample rate in Hz.

    Returns:
        Resampled audio with the same shape as the input (1D → 1D, 2D → 2D).
    """
    orig_sr_int = int(round(orig_sr))
    target_sr_int = int(round(target_sr))

    if orig_sr_int == target_sr_int:
        return audio

    if audio.ndim == 2:
        # Resample each channel independently and re-stack.
        return np.stack(
            [
                resample_audio_pyav(ch, orig_sr=orig_sr, target_sr=target_sr)
                for ch in audio
            ],
            axis=0,
        )

    expected_len = int(math.ceil(audio.shape[-1] * target_sr_int / orig_sr_int))

    # from_ndarray expects shape (channels, samples) for planar formats.
    # libswresample requires a minimum number of input samples to produce
    # output frames; pad short inputs with zeros so we always get output,
    # then trim to the expected output length.
    _MIN_SAMPLES = 1024
    audio_f32 = np.asarray(audio, dtype=np.float32)
    if len(audio_f32) < _MIN_SAMPLES:
        audio_f32 = np.pad(audio_f32, (0, _MIN_SAMPLES - len(audio_f32)))
    audio_f32 = audio_f32.reshape(1, -1)

    resampler = av.AudioResampler(format="fltp", layout="mono", rate=target_sr_int)

    frame = av.AudioFrame.from_ndarray(audio_f32, format="fltp", layout="mono")
    frame.sample_rate = orig_sr_int

    out_frames = resampler.resample(frame)
    out_frames.extend(resampler.resample(None))  # flush buffered samples

    result = np.concatenate([f.to_ndarray() for f in out_frames], axis=1).squeeze(0)
    return result[:expected_len]

resample_audio_torchaudio(audio, *, orig_sr, target_sr)

Resample audio using torchaudio's bandlimited sinc interpolation.

Unlike the PyAV resampler, this handles any input length without padding and applies the kernel over the trailing axis, so 2D (channels, samples) input needs no per-channel loop.

Parameters:

  • audio

    (NDArray[floating]) –

    Input audio. Can be: - 1D array (samples,): mono audio - 2D array (channels, samples): stereo audio

  • orig_sr

    (float) –

    Original sample rate in Hz.

  • target_sr

    (float) –

    Target sample rate in Hz.

Returns:

  • NDArray[floating]

    Resampled audio with the same shape as the input (1D → 1D, 2D → 2D).

Source code in vllm/multimodal/audio.py
def resample_audio_torchaudio(
    audio: npt.NDArray[np.floating],
    *,
    orig_sr: float,
    target_sr: float,
) -> npt.NDArray[np.floating]:
    """Resample audio using torchaudio's bandlimited sinc interpolation.

    Unlike the PyAV resampler, this handles any input length without padding
    and applies the kernel over the trailing axis, so 2D ``(channels,
    samples)`` input needs no per-channel loop.

    Args:
        audio: Input audio. Can be:
            - 1D array ``(samples,)``: mono audio
            - 2D array ``(channels, samples)``: stereo audio
        orig_sr: Original sample rate in Hz.
        target_sr: Target sample rate in Hz.

    Returns:
        Resampled audio with the same shape as the input (1D → 1D, 2D → 2D).
    """
    orig_sr_int = int(round(orig_sr))
    target_sr_int = int(round(target_sr))

    if orig_sr_int == target_sr_int:
        return audio

    # The kernel is float32; cast the input to match (same coercion as the
    # PyAV path).
    tensor = torch.as_tensor(audio, dtype=torch.float32)
    # Resampling runs in the API/server parent process. Keep it from
    # touching OpenMP or oneDNN thread state: both poison subsequently
    # forked engine-core processes, which then segfault on their first
    # parallel CPU op.
    with set_default_torch_num_threads(1), torch.backends.mkldnn.flags(enabled=False):
        resampler = _get_torchaudio_resampler(orig_sr_int, target_sr_int)
        return resampler(tensor).numpy()

split_audio(audio_data, sample_rate, max_clip_duration_s, overlap_duration_s, min_energy_window_size)

Split audio into chunks with intelligent split points.

Splits long audio into smaller chunks at low-energy regions to minimize cutting through speech. Uses overlapping windows to find quiet moments for splitting.

Parameters:

  • audio_data

    (ndarray) –

    1D mono audio array to split. ASR models consume mono, so callers must downmix before chunking.

  • sample_rate

    (int) –

    Sample rate of the audio in Hz.

  • max_clip_duration_s

    (float) –

    Maximum duration of each chunk in seconds.

  • overlap_duration_s

    (float) –

    Overlap duration in seconds between consecutive chunks. Used to search for optimal split points.

  • min_energy_window_size

    (int) –

    Window size in samples for finding low-energy regions.

Returns:

Raises:

Example

audio = np.random.randn(1040000) # 65 seconds at 16kHz chunks = split_audio( ... audio_data=audio, ... sample_rate=16000, ... max_clip_duration_s=30.0, ... overlap_duration_s=1.0, ... min_energy_window_size=1600, ... ) len(chunks) 3

Source code in vllm/multimodal/audio.py
def split_audio(
    audio_data: np.ndarray,
    sample_rate: int,
    max_clip_duration_s: float,
    overlap_duration_s: float,
    min_energy_window_size: int,
) -> list[np.ndarray]:
    """Split audio into chunks with intelligent split points.

    Splits long audio into smaller chunks at low-energy regions to minimize
    cutting through speech. Uses overlapping windows to find quiet moments
    for splitting.

    Args:
        audio_data: 1D mono audio array to split. ASR models consume mono, so
                   callers must downmix before chunking.
        sample_rate: Sample rate of the audio in Hz.
        max_clip_duration_s: Maximum duration of each chunk in seconds.
        overlap_duration_s: Overlap duration in seconds between consecutive chunks.
                           Used to search for optimal split points.
        min_energy_window_size: Window size in samples for finding low-energy regions.

    Returns:
        List of 1D audio chunks.

    Raises:
        AssertionError: If ``audio_data`` is not 1D.

    Example:
        >>> audio = np.random.randn(1040000)  # 65 seconds at 16kHz
        >>> chunks = split_audio(
        ...     audio_data=audio,
        ...     sample_rate=16000,
        ...     max_clip_duration_s=30.0,
        ...     overlap_duration_s=1.0,
        ...     min_energy_window_size=1600,
        ... )
        >>> len(chunks)
        3
    """
    if audio_data.ndim > 1:
        raise ValueError(
            f"split_audio expects mono audio, got shape {audio_data.shape}"
        )

    chunk_size = int(sample_rate * max_clip_duration_s)
    overlap_size = int(sample_rate * overlap_duration_s)
    chunks = []
    i = 0

    while i < audio_data.shape[-1]:
        if i + chunk_size >= audio_data.shape[-1]:
            # Handle last chunk - take everything remaining
            chunks.append(audio_data[..., i:])
            break

        # Find the best split point in the overlap region
        search_start = i + chunk_size - overlap_size
        search_end = min(i + chunk_size, audio_data.shape[-1])
        split_point = find_split_point(
            audio_data, search_start, search_end, min_energy_window_size
        )

        # Guarantee forward progress: if split_point didn't advance,
        # fall back to the hard chunk boundary.
        if split_point <= i:
            split_point = min(i + chunk_size, audio_data.shape[-1])

        # Extract chunk up to the split point
        chunks.append(audio_data[..., i:split_point])
        i = split_point

    return chunks