Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with wav

I'm taking it back. I'm taking them all back.

orville sash — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:07:11 -0800

Help me recover a corrupt .wav file by modifying the header! I recorded something using a Marantz PMD 620, but when I copied it to my computer, it shows the length as 0:00. Apparently, this is a known issue (see the comment on the device). (See also)

So the file is perfectly good, but the header information on the length of the file is bad. I tried downloading goldwave to see if I could recover it using that, but GoldWave tells me "internal data size incorrect. The file may be corrupt."

I feel like I should be able to recover the file if I can rewrite the header. Unfortunately, I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to hex, or headers. I do have good files also recorded with the device on my computer that I can use as reference. Can you guys please hope me?

How can I swap large .wav files back and forth for a long distance music collaboration?

markjamesmurphy — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 18:37:47 -0800

My cousin in New Hampshire wants to collaborate on music with me. I'm in Seattle. I'd like to figure out a convenient way for us to pass large .wav files to each other. I can pull his completed rock songs into a multitracking program and create vocal tracks - then I need to pass the vocal tracks back to him in the form of .wav files so he can add them to the mix on his end. I know there are web based file storage sites, and I can randomly try some out, but I thought I'd start with the hive mind: Can anyone recommend a service like this? I'm thinking free, uncomplicated and capable of handling large file sizes. The files don't need to live there for a long time - just a reasonable window of time to pass them back and forth. Have any of you done this kind of thing?

Does anyone know of an mp3 player that records to .mp3 format (not .wav)?

D Wiz — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:08:52 -0800

I am looking for an mp3 player/recorder that records to .mp3 format. Most of the players out there that I can find record to .wav format. Other high priority features- Needs to have a rechargeable battery that lasts at least 12 hours. I also am not interested in a video player. I prefer it function well at being an mp3 player and look like an mp3 player rather than being one of those landscape PMP-type players.

Medium priority features- Line in recording, bookmarks, being able to record at as many quality levels as possible.

I could care less if it is an old model but I don't want refurbished. Price should be less then $120. I don't care for any fancy features. How big it is physically or memory-wise is not important. 1gb is enough for me.

Thanks in advance for your help!

PowerPoint cutting off sound files

rebel_rebel — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:00:48 -0800

Why does PowerPoint keep cutting off my very short (~1 second) WAV files during my slide show? (Using Office 2007, PC running Vista). I'm making a presentation in PowerPoint '07, and I have some short (~1 second) WAV files that I've included. They are all around 50 or 60 KB. When I am in Slide Show mode and I click on the sound icon to play the recording, the sound is cutting off (e.g., if it's a recording of someone saying "cat", I'm only hearing "ca"). What is causing this problem, and how can I fix it?

How can I convert DAT audio tapes to Mp3/CD/WAV easily?

bmilner — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:18:49 -0800

I have hundreds of Digital Audio Tapes (DATs) recorded at 44.1 and 32khz LP mode I'd like to encode to Mp3 format. I have a laptop w/o a digital input or SCSI port. I would ideally like to be able to just press PLAY and have the computer convert the entire tape to a WAV file, or broken up with start IDs from the DAT tapes I've tried to do this the digital way, at a friends house with his soundcard with digital in's but I found that the constantly switching sample rates (some songs are at 44.1khz, others at 48khz, others at 32khz Sony LP mode) caused recording software to basically get confused, and stop constantly. Plus, it's his rig, and I have 100+ tapes!

I could go analog (just play the tape on my Sony DAT deck) and record via analog line-in but that's a generation loss I'd like to avoid. Plus, I have all my start IDs written already.

Lastly my tapes are OLD. So I'd like to do this once, on the most robust machine possible. I would seriously pay up to $1000 to get these tapes (lots of rare live material etc.) converted. If it involves buying new hardware, so be it. What's the best way? A USB data drive? Software to convert the Raw data to WAV files?

Concatenating a bunch of WAV files

JParker — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:01:30 -0800

Is there an easy way to concatenate WAV files in batch mode? I record various speaking programs on a shared mixer board, and sometimes the settings get changed. I recently recorded one to CD-R and the recorder started a new track every time there was silence. The result is 99 WAV files, all sequentially titled "Unknown artist...01, Unknown artist...02" and so on. I've found several freeware programs that will allow me to concatenate WAV files, but I have to individually pick each one from the list and "add" it to the queue. That wouldn't be a huge problem, but this isn't the first time this has happened and I'm just wondering if there is an easier solution. I'd love to be able to Shift-select a bunch of files at once, or use Unknown*.* or some other method to quickly chain the files back together into one long WAV file.

Seems a fairly simple problem, but I haven't been able to find the solution...

We've Got A Brand New Dance: Punch GarageBand Right in the Dick...

chara — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:45:42 -0800

Egads-I-Want-To-Punch-GarageBand-In-The-Dick Filter: Why can't I import AIFF or mp3 files into GarageBand? I'm running Mac OS X 10.3 on an ibook G4 (a little old school, I know). I've recorded some audio using WireTap, which automatically saves everything as an AIFF. When I tried importing the audio into GarageBand using the drag-n-drop system (drag the audio file from Finder into a Real Instrument track), I got this error message:

"Filename.aiff" What kind of file is this?" "Abort?" was the only option.

So I tried to convert the aiff file to an mp3 in two different ways:
1) importing the file to ITunes
2) manually changing the extension from .aiff to .mp3

When I tried to drag-n-drop these new files into GarageBand, the message "Importing files" appeared and then disappeared, without the files being added.

(I looked on the GarageBand Forum for help, but the only advice they gave was changing the extension from MP3 to mp3, but the file extension was .mp3 in the first place)

No joy.

I tested other audio files. Some mp3s & wavs work, others don't. There didn't appear to be any noticeable difference between the two when I viewed their information.

What the balls is going on?!

What song was used in the .wav, wiglgirl.wav?

GlowWyrm — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:49:49 -0800

What song was used for the wav called wigglgirl.wav (or something similar to that)? Several years ago there was a .wav that was very popular on the internet, IRC especially, that sounded a lot like a Shaggy song. However, after listening to a lot of different Shaggy songs, I was never able to find any of his songs with the same music or lyrics. Anyone remember the .wav I'm referring to and do you know what song this was? I have been trying to figure out the name and artist of the song that was used in the .wav for over a decade now. If anyone knows, it'll probably be a mefite.

Best format for ripping CD's?

davidaugust111 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:47:51 -0800

Lots of CD's to rip. What format to save them as? Storage no issue, but like compatibility of 320k mp3 with everything/everyone else. Will I notice a loss? I've got a couple of gigs in mp3 format that have been purchased/borrowed/file shared, etc. all at 320k. Some of those have been ripped from CD and later burned back onto a CD and I can't hear the difference when played on a medium-high quality system.

But I have hundreds of CD's to rip (looking forward to a central location) and was reading an earlier thread here where they started getting into formats as well as the hardware the OP was asking about. Didn't wanna hijack that thread.

I know I wouldn't use a proprietary format; too worried about it becoming the next 8-track, but FLAC or wav seems like it would stay around, as well as mp3. I like the portability of mp3 for friends, and putting on a player, soon to be a smart phone.

Keep in mind I'm 50- my listening is fantastic but my hearing ain't getting any better. Even my YOUNG friends are turning 30, so they're not what they used to be either. Can I sleep comfortably with my collection in 320k mp3?

External sound card for laptop. Recommendations wanted!

watson415 — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:55:45 -0800

External sound card for laptop. Recommendations wanted! Application: Ripping vinyl records to .WAV and MP3. I have a good (old) turntable. A good (new) RIAA equalized preamp and plugs to go into a sound card. Works great on my desktop, but I want to use it with my Dell/XP laptop. I tried it in the audio in (laptop sound card) but it clipped or...? otherwise sounded like crap. No knobs to tune it either. I'm looking for a moderately priced audio in (from the preamp) to USB that and associated drivers. Two channels are all that are necessary. A mic would be nice, but not req'd.

The main thing that I want to know is how to capture the best signal. These are rare records (1950s jazz) and I'm going to sell them after I rip them. The PolderbiTs software that I use has good pop and crackle filters, but I need to rip at a DVD quality sampling rate for those features to work well. I'll compress later.

Does a USB bus provide the bandwidth to achieve such a throughput? I'd consider a USB turntable, but the one I have is probably better than what I could get for the $40-$80 that I expect to pay for the audio/USB converter (unless convinced otherwise :)

How do I convert a wma file to wav or mp3?

HarryS — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:27:25 -0800

How do I convert a wma file to wav or mp3? I'm running Windows XP. I have a tiny file (30 seconds) that needs to be converted, so I'd like to avoid purchasing software if possible.

Based on a prior metafilter conversation, I downloaded a trial version of something called DMC, but it won't convert the wma file, I get error messages.

Thank you metafilterites.

Need Vista Compatible .wav to .mp3 converter software

Ironmouth — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:08:21 -0800

I need a Vista-compatable, cheap or freeware audio interface that can convert a .wav file to .mp3. I just got a nice 8-track hard disk recorder which outputs to a computer in a .wav format. The guy at [gulp] guitar center said that there are no good audio programs that work with Vista. Since I automatically don't believe anything that anyone who works at guitar center says, I'm here asking about it.

I'm planning on doing all of my mixdowns on the platform, not on the computer, so I'm not concerned with a program that does much more than convert the .wav files to .mp3 so I can put them up on the band's webpage and/or send around to the rest of the band.

Looking for the quick and dirty solution here and I'm not going to be using the software to do any real work, so no need for recommendations for a complete recording set up.

Audio File

Yer-Ol-Pal — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:23:08 -0800

I'm looking for an audio file. Its the sound you here in for example a military program as "official" graphics appear to be typed onto the screen.

Watch the pope-hymn

Grither — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:04:00 -0800

Watchthepope.com audio sound-bite, can anyone find it for me? There is a commercial on tv for a website called watchthepope.com, and on the commercial they have a guy singing in the traditional Catholic Church Latin hymn-signing voice saying what sounds like "Watcha-tha-pope dot coo---om". And it is truly hilarious. I couldn't find any sound bites on the website itself, nor did googling or youtube searching turn up the actual commercial. Any help in finding either the commercial itself or just the sound clip for it would be much appreciated!

Make my PC text to me!

TheDukeofLancaster — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:36:22 -0800

Wave to Text? How can I convert .wav files to text free or cheap? Vonage charges $.25 (each) to convert voicemails to text then SMS them to me. I'd like to do it for free. I can handle automatically downloading attachments and automating sending SMS messages (I think), I just need software to convert the messages to text. Does anyone know of any good free software to convert them?

Delta 2 Rocket Mars rover mission

mitzyjalapeno — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 19:59:15 -0800

Where do I find the audio file of the radio communications from mission control of the Delta II rocket launch? Preferably in .wav format. Thanks in advance.

Recording continuous audio

chef_boyardee — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 08:15:03 -0800

Is there any sound recording program for Windows that is designed to record continuously, such as for archiving police radio? I live in a smallish city where we sometimes see police or fire truck activity going on (about the only excitement). The newspaper is kind of crappy and doesn't report on these things much, but the police scanner is a goldmine. I can't listen to it all the time, so I thought of just routing the audio to a sound file and accessing it when I need it.

I could just record with Audacity or Goldwave, but these programs just create one giant sound file, and you can't access it until the recording is finished. I figure there's got to be a program more suited to this purpose. Ideally it would create one new file every hour, and the currently-active file could be listened to anytime without disrupting the recording.

Nerdly ringtone?

furtive — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:03:52 -0800

I'm looking for Star Trek communicator sample in .wav or .mp3 Ideally I'd like one similar to the one found 35 seconds into this commercial... it's a bit longer than your normal more common communicator clip and I've heard it in other places recently (The Daily Show on 16 Jan).

How do I burn copies of an audio CD with a .cue file on OS 10.4.8 using either Burn or Firestarter?

jack_mo — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 14:26:46 -0800

How do I burn copies of an audio CD with a .cue file on OS 10.4.8 using either Burn or Firestarter? I've downloaded a losslessly compressed copy of a music CD, and decoded the .flac files to .wav.

Now I want to burn an audio CD using the supplied .cue file. I've got Burn and FireStarter, the only two free applications I could find that seem to support doing this, but neither have any documentation that I could find.

I've tried everything I can think of - my best guess seemed to be using Firestarter to turn my folder of .wav files into a .bin image, then trying to burn a CD using that .bin and the .cue supplied, but it doesn't work, it just says 'error: illegal'. Burn is more cryptic still - it just fails silently if I give it the .cue file.

Does anyone have any idea how to do this? Am I misunderstanding what a .cue file is for?

Keypress plays assigned sound effect

Moistener — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 13:49:20 -0800

I want to trigger sound effects by pressing keys on my computer. I want to assign sounds (44.1 khz wavs) to specific keys. I need polyphony so that when I cue rolling thunder, subsequent sounds do not kill the thunder.

What softwares will do this?

Does any mp3 player have this list of features?

lorimer — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 22:06:50 -0800

Is there any flash-based mp3 player that plays WAV files, has an FM tuner, records standard (44.1) WAV files from this FM tuner, has a 1GB or higher capacity, and is not much over $100? (I'm also grateful for any "almost" answers, since those might help me refine my Googling.)

How doi I export a playlist as a single WAV file

lukeomalley — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:03:58 -0800

I am looking to export an entire playlist to one .wav file. I am willing to download and install any software that is necessary to do so. I am a voiceover artist making a demo. It would be easier for me to rearrange and sequence my character voices in a playlist rather then moving the actual files around in an audio editing program.

I know that winamp used to let you do export you playlist as a single file. I downloaded it and searched through the available plugins but couldn't find a solution.

Anyone have any ideas?

Why can't I hear Jimmy Page?

premortem — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 14:04:33 -0800

I'm having issues playing back music. It all has to do with the left or right channel being washed out: Sometimes the lead vocals or lead guitar from a radio signal isn't heard, sometimes its the same for listening through an ipod with headphones and through a computer with headphones. There is a bit > I'm more concerned with the digital files I have on my pc and those that I've transferred to my ipod. Some of the recordings are albums that I've ripped with EAC some are downloads. I'm not sure how to tackle this; any help would be appreciated.

free mp3 to wav batch converter?

juv3nal — Fri, 05 May 2006 00:00:28 -0800

Is there a good, free, non-shareware limited batch converter for taking a bunch of mp3s and making them into wavs? In particular, I'd like to take the free samples available at the bottom of this page and be able to tool around with them using pspkick 3.0 without having to do the conversion one at a time since as far as I know, soundpacks for pspkick can only be in .wav format. (winXP pro if it matters)

How do I listen to an APE file?

erd0c — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 22:28:13 -0800

How do I listen to an APE file? I have a series of audiobook files in APE format.
I've searched the interenet and it seems like there are many ways.
I would prefer to convert it to a format that I can play on my iPOD.
Does anyone have an opinion? preference?
Thanks