Topic: Can any DAW's handle 4 channel wave files?

[dbindc]

I screwed up and mistakenly recorded a 4 channel wav file with my Edirol R44 rather than mono X 4 .   Short of playing it analog out into another A/D that can record 4 channels simultaneously, I'm looking for any ideas on how to transfer it to my computer while keeping it digital and the tracks in sync.

I've got a mac and neither of the programs I use - Peak6 or Digital Performer6 seem to be able to deal with it.  DP has "Quad" choice in it's surround formats, but I can't get it to load into the soundbites window.  Also tried loading it into Audacity on a friends pc.  Seemed like it would work, but then always quit after the first 3-6 mins and the file won't play. 

I seem to recall the R44 came with some kind of free software I pitched because it was for pc's.  Was wondering if it had the ability to handle these files?

[easy jim]

Huh?  DP6 should be able to handle .BWF files.  In fact, DP6 now allows you to switch it from operating in only SDII native format to your choice of .SDII, .AIFF, .WAV, and .BWF files. 

If you cannot import a .BWF file with DP6, I would first check the manual and make sure you do not have an incorrect project setting for working with .BWF files.  I use DP5, and it will just auto-convert .BWF files to SDII if I remember correctly from the one time I did so.  That may be different with the newer version, however, and you may now need to make some sort of set-up change to tell DP you want .BWF as your native format for that project.  If that does not work, check the MOTU discussion forum on their webpage.  There is probably already an info. thread somewhere in their forum, or it should be easy to get someone who uses DP6 to answer.

[dbindc]

I don't think they are broadcast wave files, but I will check out that option.  The file extension the R44 writes is simply .wav, but the size indicates it is 4 channels of 24/44.1. 

I just upgraded from DP4, and haven't really wrapped my head around DP6 yet.  Can't find any mention of 4 channel interleaved files in the manual. 

[live2496]

I think they have an OSX version of Reaper and I heard that they added interleaved file support in a new version. Hopefully it is in the OSX version and not just windows.

This is something that I saw in a presentation on Dr. Bruce Wiggins web site. He works with ambisonics which requires multichannel file support.

edit: You need Reaper version 3. It is mentioned in the manual here: (still don't know if OSX has it).
http://www.reaper.fm/userguide/Reaper3UserGuideB35.pdf

[ghellquist]

Idea: On Sound Devices home page there is a free utility program called Wave Agent. That can split multichannel files for you. I believe it is available for mac.

// gunnar

[hummat]

I made the same mistake when I first got my R4.  And yes, they are 4-channel broadcast wave files. 

I think this is what I used to split it into 4 separate files, but I am not at home so I am not 100% sure this is it.

http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/pro_support/pro_bwf_manager.shtml

-jay

[dbindc]

Thanks for the help guys.  The freeware BWF Fostex utility did the trick, quick too. 

[dmonkey]

I did this exact same thing last week. Totally freaked out when I popped the card in and I saw individual files instead of directories as expected. Adobe Audition 3 opened the 4ch WAV files just fine.

[just realized that what I wrote was pretty confusing: there is a way to record 4ch into a single WAV file on the R-44 ... that's what I meant]

[Gordon]

are y'all talking about 2 2 channel recordings?  ie running stereo x 2 instead of mono?  that's what I do every time.    why run mono??

[dmonkey]

are y'all talking about 2 2 channel recordings?  ie running stereo x 2 instead of mono?  that's what I do every time.    why run mono??

Nope. I normally run the same way (stereo x 2), but last week I wanted to pull 4 x mono because I was running a stereo pair, individual omni mic plus mono PA. I accidentally selected the 4xmono option in the menu -- it gives you a single WAV file that holds 4 channels of info. Kind of strange.

[Gordon]

are y'all talking about 2 2 channel recordings?  ie running stereo x 2 instead of mono?  that's what I do every time.    why run mono??

Nope. I normally run the same way (stereo x 2), but last week I wanted to pull 4 x mono because I was running a stereo pair, individual omni mic plus mono PA. I accidentally selected the 4xmono option in the menu -- it gives you a single WAV file that holds 4 channels of info. Kind of strange.

hmm.  good to know.  I've assumed that like a 7xx series  it creates four wave files not a single.

ok just looked at the menu.  there is mono x 1,2,4 etc then there is 4ch x 1.  is that what you did?  4ch x 1?  sounds like it.  so it's essentially a "matrix on the fly".

[dmonkey]

are y'all talking about 2 2 channel recordings?  ie running stereo x 2 instead of mono?  that's what I do every time.    why run mono??

Nope. I normally run the same way (stereo x 2), but last week I wanted to pull 4 x mono because I was running a stereo pair, individual omni mic plus mono PA. I accidentally selected the 4xmono option in the menu -- it gives you a single WAV file that holds 4 channels of info. Kind of strange.

hmm.  good to know.  I've assumed that like a 7xx series  it creates four wave files not a single.

ok just looked at the menu.  there is mono x 1,2,4 etc then there is 4ch x 1.  is that what you did?  4ch x 1?  sounds like it.  so it's essentially a "matrix on the fly".

Yeah, sorry. It was 4ch x 1. You can still pull it into a DAW and get at each of the 4 channels, but it's all in one WAV file. Odd. I don't plan on doing it again. 

[dbindc]

4ch X 1 was what I selected.  Hard to see the lcd screen in bright sunlight or maybe I'm just getting old.  I'll be sure to NOT do that again.  It looked right as I was getting signal on all 4 meters but it should have been a tip off for me when the counter reset to zero after an hour as it wrote a new file passing the 2gb limit.

Even though I was running two stereo pairs - cards & spread omnis, I generally choose mono X 4 because it is much more flexible to do so in DP if you are planning to combine them.  DP won't even generate stereo files.  It exports dual mono.