Free online USM to MP3 converter

What the USM format is

USM is a proprietary CRI Movie/Sofdec container used mainly for game cutscenes and other prerecorded video. It can contain encoded video, audio streams such as HCA, subtitles, and game-specific encryption or metadata. CRIWARE development tools create USM files, so they are usually encountered inside installed games or extracted game assets rather than produced by ordinary desktop video software.

The extension alone does not guarantee a directly playable video format: standard FFmpeg builds generally do not decode USM containers. A USM-to-MP3 conversion must usually identify and extract the audio stream before encoding it as MP3.

What the MP3 format is

MP3 is a lossy audio format supported by phones, web browsers, car stereos, music players, and most editing applications. It removes audio information that is less noticeable to human hearing, producing much smaller files than uncompressed WAV or lossless FLAC.

MP3 is suitable when you need only the audio from a USM cutscene, want simple playback outside the game, or need a smaller file for sharing and storage. It cannot preserve the original video, subtitles, surround layout, or audio quality removed by the source codec and MP3 encoding.

How to convert USM to MP3

Convert online without installing software

1. Open the USM-to-MP3 converter on 101convert.com.
2. Choose the USM file and select MP3 as the output format.
3. Start the conversion and download the resulting MP3 when processing finishes.

This method is practical for ordinary, unencrypted USM files supported by the service. Do not upload game files if their license or the service's terms prohibit redistribution, and avoid uploading confidential material.

Use desktop tools for unsupported or game-specific files

For a USM file that an online converter cannot process, use a USM extraction utility capable of separating the embedded audio. Tool names and required options vary by game and USM variant; utilities commonly export an HCA or WAV stream rather than an MP3 directly.

1. Back up the original USM file.
2. Open it in a USM/CRI Movie extractor and export the audio stream, commonly as audio.hca or audio.wav. If the utility reports encryption, it may require a game-specific key and cannot be replaced by a normal media converter.
3. If the extracted stream is HCA, decode it with a compatible vgmstream build:

vgmstream-cli -o audio.wav audio.hca

4. Encode the decoded WAV file with FFmpeg:

ffmpeg -i audio.wav -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 192k output.mp3

Use -b:a 128k for smaller speech-focused files, -b:a 256k or -q:a 2 for higher-quality music, and check the output with a player after encoding. If the extractor produces several audio streams, convert each stream separately; the first stream is not necessarily the desired language or mix.

Quality and compatibility limitations

USM audio may already be lossy HCA or another compressed codec. Decoding it and encoding it again as MP3 causes a second lossy-generation step, so use the extracted WAV or original HCA when archival quality matters. MP3 also commonly reduces multichannel audio to stereo depending on the encoder and source layout.

A USM containing only video, a damaged file, or encrypted game assets may produce no usable MP3. The output contains only an audio stream; background music, dialogue, and effects remain mixed exactly as stored in that stream and cannot be separated by ordinary conversion.