swa 

SWA File Extension

Have a problem opening a .SWA file? We collect information about file formats and can explain what SWA files are. Additionally we recommend software suitable for opening or converting such files.

What is the .SWA file type?

The .swa filename extension is universally associated with the Adobe (formerly, Macromedia) Shockwave Audio (SWA) file type and format. Adobe Shockwave is a very popular proprietary multimedia content delivery technology developed by Macromedia. Similar to Adobe Flash but different in several aspects, the Shockwave technology was designed specifically for the web. It allows streaming of audio, video and 3D graphical content playable in any web browser on any platform that can use a Shockwave (or Flash) plugin.

The Shockwave Audio format uses lossy audio compression very similar to MP3 (MPEG-1/2 Layer III) with additional headers used by Adobe Director (main Shockwave authoring software). An .swa file is a compressed digital audio file in the Shockwave Audio format intended to be served as a stream on the Internet to be played back through a Shockwave/Flash plugin. However, an SWA audio track can also be opened as a standalone audio file by many media players on several platforms.



A quick-and-dirty way to open a standalone .swa file is to change its extension to .mp3 and play it with any MP3-capable media player available.



Software to open or convert SWA files

You can open SWA files with the following programs: 

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