Variant Types

A variant is a recipe for what to make from an upload—a transcode, preview, waveform, analysis, and more. ADN runs the variants you’ve configured against every upload and stores each result as a track file ready for delivery. You can also add a track-specific variant after the fact when a single track needs an extra output.

Transcoded Version Preview Clip Audio Analysis Waveform Video Waveform Image Original Upload

When to use variants

Variants let you transform a single upload into multiple deliverables without any extra work on your end. Here are some common patterns:

Use case	How variants help	Variant type
Consistent playback formats	Users upload WAV, FLAC, MP3, etc. — variants normalize everything to a single codec and bitrate so your player doesn’t have to care.	Transcoded Version
Low-bandwidth streaming	Serve a 64 kbps Opus variant for mobile listeners and a 320 kbps MP3 for desktop — the player switches automatically.	Transcoded Version
Try-before-you-buy previews	Auto-generate a 30-second clip so free users can sample tracks while full-length stays behind a paywall.	Preview Clip
Player waveforms	A default 320-sample waveform ships with every track for free. Need more detail? Create an Audio Analysis variant with higher sample counts.	Audio Analysis
Social media clips	Generate animated waveform videos with embedded audio — ready to share on Instagram, TikTok, or X without any video editing.	Waveform Video
Custom player artwork	Produce static waveform PNGs with transparent backgrounds for use as scrub-bar overlays or decorative artwork.	Waveform Image
Multiple download formats	Offer MP3, FLAC, and WAV downloads from a single upload — no server-side encoding needed at request time.	Transcoded Version
Voice-optimized encoding	Use Opus at low bitrates (24–48 kbps) for podcasts, audiobooks, or voice content — Opus delivers near-transparent speech quality at a fraction of the file size compared to MP3.	Transcoded Version
Cost-effective storage	Keep the original for re-processing later but serve compressed variants to save bandwidth and storage costs.	Original Upload

Transcoded Version

Convert your audio file into another format with customizable quality and settings.

Converts uploads into playback-ready formats. Create multiple variants for different quality tiers, codecs, or download options.

Setting	Description
`Codec Type`	Output format — MP3, AAC, Opus, FLAC, WAV, etc.
`Bitrate`	Target quality and file size (e.g. 128 kbps, 320 kbps)
`Stereo / Mono`	Downmix to mono for smaller files or keep stereo for full fidelity
`Strip Metadata`	Remove embedded tags (artist, album, etc.) if not needed

Preview Clip

Generate short, clipped previews automatically based on your rules — perfect for 'try before you buy' scenarios.

Automatically clips a portion of the track for previews. Control the duration, start position, and minimum/maximum percentages.

Setting	Description
`Preview Length Type`	Fixed duration in seconds or a percentage of the full track
`Preview Length`	Exact duration for the preview (e.g. 30 seconds)
`Minimum Percentage`	Ensure a minimum portion of the track is always included
`Maximum Percentage`	Cap how much of the track can be previewed
`Start Position`	Where the preview begins within the original track
`Transcode Options`	All settings from Transcoded Version (codec, bitrate, channels, metadata) apply to the preview clip too

Audio Analysis

Generates detailed track insights for powering waveforms, visualizations, and audio metrics.

A default 320-sample waveform is generated for every track at no extra cost. Create an Audio Analysis variant only if you need higher sample counts or different metrics.

Setting	Description
`Number of Samples`	Resolution of the waveform — more samples means more visual detail
`Analysis Metric`	What is measured per sample (e.g. RMS, peak, loudness)

Waveform Video

Creates an animated waveform video with customizable styling and optional embedded audio.

Produces an MP4 with an animated waveform — ready to share on social media platforms without any video editing.

Setting	Description
`Video Width`	Output width in pixels
`Video Height`	Output height in pixels
`Video Frame Rate`	Frames per second — controls smoothness of the animation
`Background Color`	Fill color behind the waveform
`Waveform Line Color`	Color of the animated waveform line
`Include Audio`	Whether to embed the track’s audio in the video file
`Transcode Options`	When audio is included, all Transcoded Version settings (codec, bitrate, etc.) apply to the embedded audio

Waveform Image

Creates a static waveform graphic — great for scrubbing bars or artwork overlays.

Produces a PNG with a transparent background. Use it as a scrub-bar overlay, decorative artwork, or embed in your own UI.

Setting	Description
`Image Width`	Pixel width of the output image
`Image Height`	Pixel height of the output image
`Waveform Line Color`	Color of the waveform trace

Original Upload

Preserves the exact file that was uploaded, before any processing.

Keeping the original is good practice while you’re still defining your variants. Once your variant configuration is finalized and all processed variants are in place, you can safely delete originals to reclaim storage if desired. Without the original, new variants cannot be generated from that track.

Cover Image

Extracts an embedded cover image from the audio file and generates image colors automatically.

All uploaded files are scanned for embedded cover art. When found (or uploaded separately), ADN extracts a color palette and auto-selects a player_color for theming, plus contrast-adjusted player_color_light and player_color_dark variants for light and dark backgrounds.

The theme array in the track response contains one or more extracted colors with hex values, area, lightness, and saturation data — use these for custom UI theming.

You can override cover images and image colors at the organization or collection level.