IMF files exist as 2 different types. Please find information about each of them below.
Type 1: Id Music File
The IMF file extension is related to the MF audio format. Id Software created it for the AdLib sound card to use in their video games. The default filename extension is also "imf". It stands for "id m...
The IMF file extension is related to the MF audio format. Id Software created it for the AdLib sound card to use in their video games. The default filename extension is also “imf”. It stands for “id music file” or “id’s music format”. The format is similar to MIDI. It defines musical notes and does not support sampled digital audio for sound effects. IMF files store the actual bytes sent to the AdLib’s OPL2 chip. The chip uses FM synthesis to produce audio output. The format bases on the AdLib command syntax with a few modifications. Modern games no longer use IMF music due to the limited features and relatively low sound quality.
An IMF file may also be an audio module created by Imago Orpheus. It is a music tracker for MS-DOS containing note patterns and instrument samples to play a song. IMF files typically contain music created for video games or demos. Lutz Roeder created and released Imago Orpheus in the 1990s to primarily create video game soundtracks. He released it alongside Imago Wave to edit audio samples. Imago Orpheus saved the audio modules users created with it as IMF files. While Imago Orpheus itself has been discontinued, several modern music trackers can open IMF files.
The id Software Music Format (IMF) stores the actual bytes sent to the Adlib’s OPL2 chip. For this reason it is a very simple format to process. No game ever actually used Type-1 IMFs that were not stored inside an AudioT file. The two initial bytes contain the size of the Adlib data. Only this much data plays. This means arbitrary data stores in a Type-1 IMF file after the song data. As a matter of luck, the first two data bytes in a Type-0 files are almost always 0x00 0x00. So this detects the file format version. If the first two bytes match the length it is likely Type-1. But be aware trailing data means this is not always true.
Imago Orpheus saved audio modules (songs) users created as IMF files. Modern trackers can open IMF files: OpenMPT (Windows), Vitamin/CAIG ZXTune (multiplatform), or Xmp Mod Player (Android). You can a...
Imago Orpheus saved audio modules (songs) users created as IMF files. Modern trackers can open IMF files: OpenMPT (Windows), Vitamin/CAIG ZXTune (multiplatform), or Xmp Mod Player (Android). You can also open IMF files with Imago Orpheus using a DOS emulator like DosBox, but it is not easy. You can use OpenMPT to convert IMF files to other formats: .S3M, .XM, .IT. .imf files are Imago Orpheus tracker modules for MS-DOS, developed by Lutz Roeder in the 90s for videogame and media soundtracks. The Imago Wave sample editor supported IIF, DP3, RAW and WAV. Software: Imago Orpheus (Lutz Roeder, Modland FTP), zxtune, XMP. The IMF file extension has 2 known uses: Imago Orpheus Module and IncrediMail Letter/ecard Flavor. Programs that open IMF files include IncrediMail, AdPlug, and ImageForge Pro. IMF files may be graphics data from ImageForge Pro or audio data from AdPlug.
DOSBox