diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4311438..a496a14 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,4 +7,6 @@ build/
 .cache/
 .vscode/
 .DS_Store
-.venv/
\ No newline at end of file
+.venv/
+tests/
+_soundfile.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index df7834e..9feb70a 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -391,3 +391,14 @@ News
 
     - Fixed typo on library location detection if no packaged lib and
       no system lib was found
+
+2025-01-02 V0.13.0 Bastian Bechtold
+    Thank you, Zhong Jianxin, mcclure, jneuendorf-i4h, aoirint, endolith, Guy Illes, ytya, Sam Lapp, Benjamin Moody
+
+    - Linux arm64 builds added
+    - Numpy is now a dependency
+    - Fixed error in blocks, if file is very short
+    - Compression level and bitrate controls added for compressed files
+    - Various README improvements
+    - Various build system improvements
+    - Various improvements to error messages
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/_soundfile_data b/_soundfile_data
index dd1c4a5..a3e6f97 160000
--- a/_soundfile_data
+++ b/_soundfile_data
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit dd1c4a5b2f00185b2e387431296560dd691e0a08
+Subproject commit a3e6f9769d0c7e91d2d036cf0fdbe5b4bbf18b87
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 14fa60f..1e94f44 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 import os
 from platform import architecture, machine
 from setuptools import setup
-from setuptools.command.test import test as TestCommand
 import sys
 
 # environment variables for cross-platform package creation
@@ -34,27 +33,7 @@
     package_data = None
     zip_safe = True
 
-
-class PyTest(TestCommand):
-
-    user_options = [('pytest-args=', 'a', "Arguments to pass to py.test")]
-
-    def initialize_options(self):
-        TestCommand.initialize_options(self)
-        self.pytest_args = []
-
-    def finalize_options(self):
-        TestCommand.finalize_options(self)
-        self.test_args = []
-        self.test_suite = True
-
-    def run_tests(self):
-        # import here, cause outside the eggs aren't loaded
-        import pytest
-        errno = pytest.main(self.pytest_args)
-        sys.exit(errno)
-
-cmdclass = {'test': PyTest}
+cmdclass = {}
 
 try:
     from wheel.bdist_wheel import bdist_wheel
@@ -73,9 +52,11 @@ def get_tag(self):
                 else:
                     oses = 'macosx_11_0_arm64'
             elif platform == 'win32':
-                if architecture0 == '32bit':
+                if architecture0.lower() == 'arm64' or machine() == 'ARM64':
+                    oses = 'win_arm64'
+                elif architecture0 == 'x86' or architecture0 == '32bit':
                     oses = 'win32'
-                else:
+                elif architecture0 == 'x64' or architecture0 == '64bit':
                     oses = 'win_amd64'
             elif platform == 'linux':
                 # using the centos:7 runner with glibc2.17:
@@ -84,7 +65,7 @@ def get_tag(self):
                 else:
                     pep600_architecture = architecture0
 
-                oses = 'manylinux_2_17_{}'.format(pep600_architecture)
+                oses = 'manylinux_2_28_{}'.format(pep600_architecture)
             else:
                 pythons = 'py2.py3'
                 oses = 'any'
@@ -135,6 +116,5 @@ def get_tag(self):
     ],
     long_description=open('README.rst').read(),
     long_description_content_type="text/x-rst",
-    tests_require=['pytest'],
     cmdclass=cmdclass,
 )
diff --git a/soundfile.py b/soundfile.py
index 843d0ab..d04bdcf 100644
--- a/soundfile.py
+++ b/soundfile.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 For further information, see https://python-soundfile.readthedocs.io/.
 
 """
-__version__ = "0.12.1"
+__version__ = "0.13.0"
 
 import os as _os
 import sys as _sys
@@ -158,9 +158,11 @@
     elif _sys.platform == 'win32':
         from platform import architecture as _architecture
         from platform import machine as _machine
-        if _machine() == 'ARM64':
-            _packaged_libname = 'libsndfile_arm64.dll'    
-        elif _architecture()[0] == '64bit':
+        # this check can not be completed correctly: for x64 binaries running on
+        # arm64 Windows report the same values as arm64 binaries. For now, neither
+        # numpy nor cffi are available for arm64, so we can safely assume we're
+        # in x86 land:
+        if _architecture()[0] == '64bit':
             _packaged_libname = 'libsndfile_x64.dll'
         elif _architecture()[0] == '32bit':
             _packaged_libname = 'libsndfile_x86.dll'
diff --git a/tests/test_soundfile.py b/tests/test_soundfile.py
index fc0ea43..c11aa93 100644
--- a/tests/test_soundfile.py
+++ b/tests/test_soundfile.py
@@ -335,6 +335,9 @@ def test_write_mp3_compression():
                  compression_level=1, bitrate_mode='VARIABLE')
     assert "compression" in str(excinfo.value)
 
+    # just run one more time so we're left with a valid MP3 in the directory
+    sf.write(filename_mp3, data_stereo, sr, format='MP3', subtype='MPEG_LAYER_III')
+
 
 def test_write_flac_compression():
     sr = 44100
@@ -378,7 +381,7 @@ def test_blocks_partial_last_block(file_stereo_r):
 
 def test_blocks_fill_last_block(file_stereo_r):
     blocks = list(sf.blocks(file_stereo_r, blocksize=3, fill_value=0))
-    last_block = np.row_stack((data_stereo[3:4], np.zeros((2, 2))))
+    last_block = np.vstack((data_stereo[3:4], np.zeros((2, 2))))
     assert_equal_list_of_arrays(blocks, [data_stereo[0:3], last_block])
 
 
@@ -428,7 +431,7 @@ def test_blocks_with_frames(file_stereo_r):
 def test_blocks_with_frames_and_fill_value(file_stereo_r):
     blocks = list(
         sf.blocks(file_stereo_r, blocksize=2, frames=3, fill_value=0))
-    last_block = np.row_stack((data_stereo[2:3], np.zeros((1, 2))))
+    last_block = np.vstack((data_stereo[2:3], np.zeros((1, 2))))
     assert_equal_list_of_arrays(blocks, [data_stereo[0:2], last_block])