Topic: Splitting Wav's with Sound Studio

[rasta_cruz]

hi there, once again, sorry if this should be in the software section, but i figured tapers would check this forum more often.  i posted earlier about helping a newbie taper out on her Mac (which i know very little about) and greenone and brian gave me some advice on software.  well, we downloaded the trial of sound studio and installed it, but are unable to open a .wav file that is on her desktop.  when we try to open a .wav file it shows it in the window but it's grayed out so we can't select it.  we were able to record and save with sound studio and open an .mp3 but not a .wav.  am i missing something here?  i thought it supports .wav files.  i'm sorry but i'm a PC guy and don't know enough about Macs to get her all set up.  she just wants to be able to properly seed the shows she's taped.  thanks for any advice.

rasta

[RRobar]

Sounds like a similar problem that Luveen is having with Spark XL Look in the thread down a few and see if it may help with what your experiencing. Also you may post in the Team Mac Geeks thread in the team boards. although most will look both places and reply.

[Mic D]

we just wanna split some .wav's, check and fix SBE's, and convert to flac or shn. too bad there isn't just a cdwave for mac...

It is *very* easy to split .wav's with Sound Studio and after they are split, you  can check for sbe's, convert to flac/shn, etc. with xACT (which can be downloaded for free).

I had a problem opening/playing back a wav file once and I was told to make sure that my input/output settings were correct. From the file menu, under 'Audio', select Input/Output Setup and make sure the right devices are selected. That's all I can remember.

Also, make sure that you have enough HD space before opening the file, but if it's opening up all the way, space might not be the issue.

[rasta_cruz]

thought i would give a little more info.  the .wav files we are trying to open are recorded on a neuros II at 44.1 and simply transferred to the mac via usb.  no alteration has been done to them.  i also found the following at the felttip FAQ page:

-------------------------------------
Q: WAV files can't be opened in Sound Studio, or WAV files saved by Sound Studio aren't openable on a Windows program.

A: The Windows WAV file format is a complex file format with many programs expecting certain non-standard pieces of data in the file. Sound Studio only supports the standard WAV file format with uncompressed audio sample data. It does not support the various compressed WAV file formats, such as MP3 or IMA inside the WAV file. (You can import compressed files with the "Import with QuickTime" command.)

To open a WAV file in Sound Studio, first make sure it is not compressed. You can check this by using QuickTime Player. Also, make sure that the file's type is "WAVE" or the file name ends with ".wav". If it still doesn't open, try using the "Import with QuickTime" command to open it. If that doesn't work, then your file was probably corrupted in the transfer.

If the WAV file you save in Sound Studio can't be opened on a Windows program, try opening the file with Windows Media Player. If it works in WMP, they your program may have some special requirements for opening WAV files.
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i'll have to wait until the next time i see my friend to try their suggestions.  but, it doesn't make sense that i shouldn't be able to open these .wav files.   anyone got any more ideas???

thanks in advance,
rasta

[greenone]

Maybe there's something about the way the Neuros records that is making SS balk at opening it. This may sound nuts, but try opening it with another program, saving it, and then re-opening with Sound Studio.

What happens when you just double-click on the file? Does it open/play in QuickTime ok?

[scb]

I know that Peak is a standard audio editor used on MACs and can deal with .wav files as well as whatever else you throw at it.
I'm sure someone MAC savvy will jump in here and clear this up.

i hate peak!

but any mac audio program should be able to handle wav files, unless the wav file is somehow non-standard

if you have xACT, run the shntool "info" command on one of these wavs and post the output here

[greenone]

That's a good point, Scott...I wonder if it's just a bogus header that's the problem. Might be able to strip the headers with shntool and fix it up...

[rasta_cruz]

scott and dave, thanks for the info.  well, i got the wav to open using the import with quicktime feature.  i'm not able to post the shntool output right now as it's a laptop and isn't configured for my dsl modem here.  i can have her maybe email me the output once she gets home and hooks it up to her network. 

so, is there anything wrong with just importing as quicktime?

and, for track splitting, do i just find my split points, click Insert>Marker, and then Edit>Split by Markers and select an output directory?  i played with it just for a little bit and will try again when my firend stops by again later.  during my test, i believe it output as .aiff files, is that right?  or is it capable of outputing as .wav?  also, after setting the markers, i didn't see a place to view/double-check the markers i placed previously.  i know cdwave has that nice feature where you can easily see all the splits and timings and double-check them before saving the individual tracks.  hmm, what else... i dunno right now, any other tips/suggestions you have are much appreciated.

thank you,
rasta

[scb]

so, is there anything wrong with just importing as quicktime?

if you had something that was 24 bit that would lose 8 bits, as quicktime currently only supports 16 bit

i'm curious to see the headers of the wav...

[greenone]

and, for track splitting, do i just find my split points, click Insert>Marker, and then Edit>Split by Markers and select an output directory? i played with it just for a little bit and will try again when my firend stops by again later. during my test, i believe it output as .aiff files, is that right? or is it capable of outputing as .wav?

That's a good question...ever since shorten could compress AIFFs I've always recorded to AIFF. But I would think that if you split a WAV, it'll save as WAVs, otherwise the process would take *way* too long.

also, after setting the markers, i didn't see a place to view/double-check the markers i placed previously. i know cdwave has that nice feature where you can easily see all the splits and timings and double-check them before saving the individual tracks.

You mean like a cue sheet? I don't think SS has anything like that, but then I've never really hunted around for one. If you hit Apple-0 (that's a zero), it'll zoom out to show the entire file so you can at least see where all the markers are...

[RRobar]

rasta_cruz, you should just be able to connect it your network with a cat5 cable. I switch between networks all the time. There is no Config for the mac. plug it in give it a second and go online. Thats all I've ever had to do.  Just thought I'd throw that out there. Good luck

[rasta_cruz]

rasta_cruz, you should just be able to connect it your network with a cat5 cable. I switch between networks all the time. There is no Config for the mac. plug it in give it a second and go online. Thats all I've ever had to do.  Just thought I'd throw that out there. Good luck

well, i'm not on a network on this comp.  it is an older dsl modem that requires Enternet software installed to connect.  i think that's where the issue is with plugging the cat5 right into the mac. 

[rasta_cruz]

That's a good question...ever since shorten could compress AIFFs I've always recorded to AIFF. But I would think that if you split a WAV, it'll save as WAVs, otherwise the process would take *way* too long.

You mean like a cue sheet? I don't think SS has anything like that, but then I've never really hunted around for one. If you hit Apple-0 (that's a zero), it'll zoom out to show the entire file so you can at least see where all the markers are...

well, i'm not recording with SS, the source files are .wav's recorded on a neuros II and transferred to the mac via usb... but, if i find that SS only outputs as .aiff and i convert them to flac, will people who download them know what to do with the .aiff's once decompressed?  such as PC users like myself who have never dealt with .aiff's.  i'm always used to getting .wavs when i decompress shn's and flac's.  sorry to seem so ignorant about all this, but the MAC world is all new to me.

and, yeah i guess a cue sheet is what i'm referring to.  i inserted a few markers and just didn't see where those markers were after i got deeper into the sound file.   when i'm done setting the markers, i'd like to be able to click each marker, hit play and make sure they are where i want them before splitting.  will the apple-o allow me to do that? 

i guess i should wait and post when i'm actually in front of the mac.  it's hard to explain, but basically my friend drops by my work with her laptop when she and i have a little free time to play around with this stuff.  then, she or i will usually have to leave for some reason and that is when i'll do my research here to find out what i should try the next time she stops by.  so, thanks so much for all your help.  we'll be really stoked when we get this stuff resolved and seed some of the shows she's recorded.  if any of you like reggae, you may have already heard some of my recordings as i post a lot of them at easytree.  or, if interested i could hook anyone up with some stuff.

thanks again.  rasta

[greenone]

but, if i find that SS only outputs as .aiff and i convert them to flac, will people who download them know what to do with the .aiff's once decompressed?  such as PC users like myself who have never dealt with .aiff's.  i'm always used to getting .wavs when i decompress shn's and flac's.  sorry to seem so ignorant about all this, but the MAC world is all new to me.

Ok, I just tested it - apparently "Split by markers" will only save as AIFF, even if the file you're splitting is a WAV. Kind of odd, but not a problem, since you can go AIFF>FLAC>WAV without a problem. AIFF and WAV are the same data, just stored in a different order. Once you go AIFF>FLAC, you can decompress to either AIFF or WAV and you'll have the same data, so if you have FLACs made from AIFFs, it'll be completely transparent whoever you give them to - they should decompress just fine.

and, yeah i guess a cue sheet is what i'm referring to.  i inserted a few markers and just didn't see where those markers were after i got deeper into the sound file.   when i'm done setting the markers, i'd like to be able to click each marker, hit play and make sure they are where i want them before splitting.  will the apple-o allow me to do that? 

Apple-0 will zoom back out so you can see the entire waveform in the window, from start to finish. The markers will show up as little vertical lines, so you should be able to see where they are. As far as playing back from a certain marker, you should be able to do that, although clicking on a marker won't do it because the markers can be moved with the mouse. Clicking on a marker will just select it. If you want to play from a marker, click anywhere between two markers and drag back to the first one (it'll automatically snap to the marker once you get close). I don't see any way of creating a cue sheet with Sound Studio, but xACT can create one from the shntool tab once the files are split - just click the "len" radio button and then do "show len for fileset". For some odd reason, it takes a LONG time to get timings for AIFFs through shntool, but WAVs, FLACs and SHNs are quick as can be...

Ok, enough from me...hope this helps!

--Dave

[rasta_cruz]

dave, thanks so much for taking the time to explain all this to me.  you have been incredibly helpful.  i think i should be all set now.  will pass this info on to my friend and hopefully she'll get it wired.

thanks again,
rasta

[rerem]

A Mac may be "user" friendly...but they are not so music friendly. A friend got an old Pentium 600 dirt cheap to use for audio,bit torrent,etc as his powerbook was such a hassle and Mac audio software is either super high $,or second rate. The old pentium machine ran him $100,he spent $80 on a nice HD and all is well. He still uses the Mac for mobile stuff,some graphics.