diff --git a/src/AudioIO.jl b/src/AudioIO.jl
index 77e3314..a786d12 100644
--- a/src/AudioIO.jl
+++ b/src/AudioIO.jl
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ end
 
 include("nodes.jl")
 include("portaudio.jl")
+include("sndfile.jl")
 
 ############ Exported Functions #############
 
diff --git a/src/sndfile.jl b/src/sndfile.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d81f8bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/sndfile.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+export openAudio, closeAudio, readFrames
+
+const sndfile = "libsndfile"
+
+
+const SFM_READ = int32(0x10)
+const SFM_WRITE = int32(0x20)
+
+type SF_INFO
+    frames::Int64
+    samplerate::Int32
+    channels::Int32
+    format::Int32
+    sections::Int32
+    seekable::Int32
+end
+
+type Sndfile
+    filePtr::Ptr{Void}
+    sfinfo::SF_INFO
+end
+
+function openAudio(path::String)
+    sfinfo = SF_INFO(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)
+    filePtr = ccall((:sf_open, sndfile), Ptr{Void},
+                    (Ptr{Uint8}, Int32, Ptr{SF_INFO}),
+                    path, SFM_READ, &sfinfo)
+    if filePtr == C_NULL
+        errmsg = ccall((:sf_strerror, sndfile), Ptr{Uint8}, (Ptr{Void},), filePtr)
+        error(bytestring(errmsg))
+    end
+
+    return Sndfile(filePtr, sfinfo)
+end
+
+function closeAudio(file::Sndfile)
+    err = ccall((:sf_close, sndfile), Int32, (Ptr{Void},), file.filePtr)
+    if err != 0
+        error("Failed to close file")
+    end
+end
+
+function openAudio(f::Function, path::String)
+    file = openAudio(path)
+    f(file)
+    closeAudio(file)
+end
+
+function readFrames(file::Sndfile, nframes::Integer, dtype::Type = Int16)
+    arr = []
+    if file.sfinfo.channels == 2
+        arr = Array(dtype, 2, nframes)
+    else
+        arr = Array(dtype, nframes)
+    end
+
+    if dtype == Int16
+        nread = ccall((:sf_readf_short, sndfile), Int64,
+                        (Ptr{Void}, Ptr{Int16}, Int64),
+                        file.filePtr, arr, nframes)
+    elseif dtype == Int32
+        nread = ccall((:sf_readf_int, sndfile), Int64,
+                        (Ptr{Void}, Ptr{Int32}, Int64),
+                        file.filePtr, arr, nframes)
+    elseif dtype == Float32
+        nread = ccall((:sf_readf_float, sndfile), Int64,
+                        (Ptr{Void}, Ptr{Float32}, Int64),
+                        file.filePtr, arr, nframes)
+    elseif dtype == Float64
+        nread = ccall((:sf_readf_double, sndfile), Int64,
+                        (Ptr{Void}, Ptr{Float64}, Int64),
+                        file.filePtr, arr, nframes)
+    end
+
+    if nread == 0
+        return []
+    end
+
+    if file.sfinfo.channels == 2
+        return arr[:, 1:nread]
+    end
+
+    return arr[1:nread]
+end
diff --git a/test/sinwave.flac b/test/sinwave.flac
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..739a247
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/sinwave.flac differ
diff --git a/test/test_AudioIO.jl b/test/test_AudioIO.jl
index 35e300b..6ced771 100644
--- a/test/test_AudioIO.jl
+++ b/test/test_AudioIO.jl
@@ -72,3 +72,16 @@ stop(node)
 # give the render task a chance to clean up
 process(test_stream)
 @test process(test_stream) == zeros(AudioIO.AudioSample, TEST_BUF_SIZE)
+
+info("Testing libsndfile read")
+samplerate = 44100
+freq = 440
+t = linspace(0, 2, 2 * samplerate)
+phase = 2 * pi * freq * t
+reference = int16((2 ^ 15 - 1) * sin(phase))
+
+f = openAudio("test/sinwave.flac")
+@test f.sfinfo.channels == 1
+@test f.sfinfo.frames == 2 * samplerate
+actual = readFrames(f, 2 * samplerate)
+@test_approx_eq(reference, actual)