Why convert XSB to OGG?
OGG Vorbis is a patent-free open audio format widely used in games and media players, making it a common target when archiving or modding game audio. Reaching the .ogg output requires the companion .xwb wave bank as the actual source of audio data, since the .xsb holds only metadata.
How to convert XSB to OGG
unxwb + ffmpeg FREE
Extract WAV files from the .xwb with unxwb (use -x file.xsb to name files by cue name), then encode each WAV to OGG Vorbis with ffmpeg. Both tools are free.
unxwb + Audacity FREE
Extract WAVs from the .xwb with unxwb, then open each in Audacity and export as OGG Vorbis via File > Export Audio.
About these formats
.XSB
XACT Sound Bank
An XSB file is an XACT Sound Bank created by Microsoft's game-audio tool. It holds sound and cue definitions for games built with XACT or XNA, but contains no actual audio data. To get the…
Open .XSB details →
.OGG
Ogg Vorbis Audio File
An OGG file is compressed audio using the Vorbis codec inside an Ogg container, both made by the Xiph.Org Foundation as free, patent-unencumbered alternatives to MP3. VLC media player opens…
Open .OGG details →Quality & what to watch
- The
.xsbhas no audio; always extract from the.xwbwave bank - both files must come from the same game folder. - If the wave bank stores XMA-compressed audio (Xbox 360 games), encoding to OGG adds a second lossy pass; use a higher quality setting to reduce artifacts.
- Using the
.xsbwith the-xflag in unxwb names each output file by its cue name instead of a number, making the results easier to identify.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a single tool that converts `.xsb` directly to OGG?
.xwb, then encode to OGG.What happens if I only have the `.xsb` file?
.xwb wave bank there is no audio to extract or encode.What is a good quality setting for OGG encoding with ffmpeg?
-q:a 4 setting (on a 0-10 scale) is a reasonable default, producing smaller files than WAV with good perceptual quality.
