8SVX vs GSM
A detailed comparison of Amiga 8SVX Audio and GSM Audio — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.
Amiga 8SVX Audio
Audio FilesThe 8SVX format is an Amiga IFF audio format that stores 8-bit sampled sound with optional delta compression. It was the standard audio format on Commodore Amiga computers and is still encountered in retro computing and demoscene communities.
About 8SVX filesGSM Audio
Audio FilesGSM 06.10 is a speech compression standard designed for the Global System for Mobile Communications. It encodes speech at 13 kbps using Regular Pulse Excitation with Long Term Prediction, optimized for voice intelligibility over cellular networks.
About GSM filesStrengths Comparison
8SVX Strengths
- Amiga-native archival format.
- Simple structure.
- IFF chunk-based.
GSM Strengths
- Tiny bitrate (13 kbps) — hours of speech in a few MB.
- Speech-optimized — clear voice reproduction.
- Universal cellphone decoder adoption 1991-2015.
- Stable since 1987.
Limitations
8SVX Limitations
- Legacy — no new content.
- 8-bit mono only.
- Tiny ecosystem in 2026.
GSM Limitations
- Speech-only — music sounds distorted.
- 8 kHz sampling — narrowband, muffled by modern standards.
- Legacy — LTE VoLTE moved to AMR-WB, Opus, or EVS.
- Tooling outside telecom is sparse.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | 8SVX | GSM |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | audio/8svx | audio/gsm |
| Extension | .8svx, .iff | .gsm |
| Container | EA IFF | — |
| Bit depth | 8-bit | — |
| Max rate | 28 kHz | — |
| Codec | — | GSM 06.10 (RPE-LTP) |
| Sample rate | — | 8 kHz |
| Bitrate | — | 13 kbps |
Typical File Sizes
8SVX
- Amiga game sample 2-100 KB
GSM
- 1 min of voice ~100 KB
- 1 hour voicemail archive ~6 MB
Ready to convert?
Convert between 8SVX and GSM online, free, and without installing anything. Encrypted upload, automatic deletion after 2 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
8SVX (Amiga 8SVX Audio) is an audio file format used to store sound recordings — music, voice, podcasts, sound effects. The format defines how the audio samples are compressed (or stored raw), what bitrates are supported, and how metadata such as title, artist, album, and cover art is embedded. It is part of the audio files family.
GSM (GSM Audio) is an audio file format used to store sound recordings — music, voice, podcasts, sound effects. The format defines how the audio samples are compressed (or stored raw), what bitrates are supported, and how metadata such as title, artist, album, and cover art is embedded. It is part of the audio files family.
VLC, foobar2000, and the default media players on Windows and macOS handle 8SVX natively. On mobile, iOS Music and Android media apps vary in their support — popular formats work everywhere; niche ones may need a dedicated app. If playback fails on a device, converting to MP3 or AAC usually solves it.
VLC, foobar2000, and the default media players on Windows and macOS handle GSM natively. On mobile, iOS Music and Android media apps vary in their support — popular formats work everywhere; niche ones may need a dedicated app. If playback fails on a device, converting to MP3 or AAC usually solves it.
Upload the 8SVX to KaijuConverter and pick MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, OGG, or any other target. Our FFmpeg pipeline decodes the audio and re-encodes to the target format at sensible default bitrates (VBR ~190 kbps for music, 96 kbps for speech). Metadata and cover art travel with the audio where both formats support them.
8SVX can be lossy or lossless depending on the specific variant. Lossy variants (smaller files) discard some audio detail during compression in ways tuned to be inaudible; lossless variants preserve every sample exactly but produce larger files. For distribution, lossy at high bitrate is standard; for archival, lossless wins.