Convert Nintendo audio streams (BFSTM) online for free
The converter easily converts your BFSTM audio streams to various formats - free and online. No vgmstream or or other Audio software needed.
To convert other file formats to the "Console Audio Stream" file type, you need software like vgmstream or a similar tool.
A .bfstm file is a proprietary Binary File Stream audio format developed by Nintendo for use on the Wii U and Nintendo Switch consoles. These files are typically found inside game archives (like .SZS or .CPK) and contain the background music and sound effects you hear during gameplay. The format is highly optimized for hardware streaming, supporting multi-channel audio and seamless infinite looping defined by specific header metadata.
Because .bfstm is a specialized game asset, it is completely incompatible with standard media players like Windows Media Player, VLC, or iTunes. Users generally encounter these files when extracting game data to create a soundtrack or for archival purposes. The biggest friction point is that opening them usually requires setting up an advanced audio player like foobar2000 with the specific vgmstream component installed. For most users simply wanting to listen to the track, this setup is overkill. The most practical solution is converting the file. For high-fidelity archiving, convert to WAV or FLAC to preserve the audio data without generation loss. For easy listening on phones or uploading to the web, convert to MP3 or AAC. Note that converting to linear formats like MP3 will flatten the loop points, meaning the track will play once through and fade out rather than loop indefinitely as it does in-game.
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your BFSTM file.
Users also converted BRSTM, BFSAR, BCSTM, MP3, WAV, BWAV, NUS3AUDIO, BARS, NRO and SUPX files.
If you want to convert BFSTM file to M4A, ALAC or APE, you can use vgmstream or similar software from the "Game Audio Streaming" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MIDI, AAC, TTA, AU, WV, DTS, MID, FLAC, RA, MP3, PCM or WAV files to BFSTM, try vgmstream or another comparable tool in the "Game Audio Streaming" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our BFSTM converter.