What is a .MP2 file?
MP2 is MPEG-1 Audio Layer II, still used in digital radio and TV broadcasting.
- Did you know
- MP2 predates MP3 and remains common in broadcasting for its robustness.
- MP2 grew out of MUSICAM, a codec developed for the pan-European Eureka 147 project that became the basis of Digital Audio Broadcasting.
- Because its frames are independent, a dropout damages only a small slice of sound, which is why broadcasters still favour it.
- What Analyser reads
- Identify many more audio formats: lossless/hi-res codecs (Monkey’s Audio, WavPack, TAK, True Audio, DSD/SACD, Musepack), pro containers (Core Audio, RF64/BW64, Wave64, Sun AU, Broadcast Wave with timecode), speech/mobile (Speex, AMR-WB, QCP, 3GA, M4R, GSM), MPEG Layer I/II, instrument banks (SoundFont, SFZ, DLS, RIFF MIDI, GigaStudio), ringtones (RTTTL, iMelody, SAP), tracker modules (MOD, XM, IT, S3M, OctaMED, 669, Oktalyzer), chiptunes (NES NSF, SNES SPC, VGM, Game Boy GBS, AY, YM) and Audacity projects.
- Depth of analysis
- .MP2 is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .MP2 file
- Drag a .MP2 file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.