Extract text from Sega 3D audio files (STQ)
To convert STQ audio files to another format, you need vgmstream or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Audio Stream" file type, you need software like vgmstream or a similar tool.
The .STQ file extension represents a proprietary Sega 3D Sound file, often utilized in Nintendo Wii and arcade titles developed by Sega. These files are essentially audio stream containers powered by CRI Middleware ADX2 technology, designed to handle dynamic background music and voiceovers with minimal CPU overhead during gameplay.
Because .STQ files are specialized game assets, they cannot be opened by standard media players like Windows Media Player, QuickTime, or even VLC without specific plugins. Users typically encounter these files when extracting audio from game ISOs or ROMs (ripping game music). The format often contains looped audio data or multi-channel streams that standard converters interpret as static or corrupted data.
To listen to or edit these soundtracks, the best workflow is to convert them to WAV (for lossless editing in Audacity) or MP3 (for casual listening). The most reliable tool for this is vgmstream, a library specifically designed to decode obscure game audio formats.
Convert.Guru analyzes your STQ file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted SDM, STW and JIS files.
If you want to convert STQ file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use vgmstream or similar software from the "Game Audio Stream" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to STQ, try vgmstream or another comparable tool in the "Game Audio Stream" 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 STQ converter.