File Format
Location: Appears when opening certain types of files
The File Format window lets you open a file that GoldWave could not open automatically. If the file is not compressed or corrupted, GoldWave can interpret the audio data, provided the correct attributes are selected.
If you see this window for .mp3 files, you need to re-install Windows Media Player available from Microsoft. GoldWave cannot decode .mp3 files without the Windows Media Player modules.
The File Format window appears if any of the following occur:
- The file has no header information and has no file association.
- The file does have a header, but the structure is incorrect for the detected file type.
- The file has a new format that GoldWave does not recognize.
- The file type or format is not supported by GoldWave or any of the file format plug-ins.
File type
Specifies the file type for the audio data. GoldWave lists all the file format plug-ins that support reading raw audio data. If you are working with PCM or uncompressed binary data, select the Raw type. If you are working with Telephony files, select the Dialogic type. Other types may be listed depending on what plug-ins you have installed.
Attributes
Specifies the actual nature and organization of the audio amplitude data (samples). If you copied audio from a CD, for example, the attributes would be "PCM signed 16 bit, little-endian, stereo". Dialogic VOX files often use "ADPCM 4 bit, mono" attributes, but can also use ยต-Law or A-Law. Attributes are explained below.
Mono versus stereo
Specifies that the file is either mono or stereo. Stereo data must be interleaved (i.e. left channel, right channel, left, right...). If you don't know, choose Mono.
Signed versus unsigned
Specifies that 8 bit, 12 bit, or 16 bit samples are signed. Amiga and Apple systems use signed 8 bit (-128 to 127) or signed 16 bit (-32768 to 32767). Wave and Sound Blaster files for PCs are usually unsigned 8 bit (0 to 255) or signed 16 bit (-32768 to 32767). In general files with 12 bit samples and greater are signed.
Little-endian versus Big-endian
When more than one byte is required for each sample, the order in which the bytes are stored can vary from system to system. Little-endian files have the least significant byte first, while big-endian files have the most significant byte first. Systems with Intel processors (0x86 & Pentium PCs) store bytes in a little-endian order. Systems with Motorola processors (Macs) store the bytes in big-endian order.
Sampling rate
Specifies the rate at which the sound was recorded. This value does not affect how the data is translated. If you select the wrong rate, the sound will either play too slow or too fast. You can fix this with the Effect | Playback Rate command. A CD audio recording has a sampling rate of 44100Hz. A Dialogic VOX file usually have a rate of 6000Hz or 8000Hz.
Data
The Data button displays data at the beginning of the file in hexadecimal and ASCII form. This is useful only if you need to examine the raw contents of the file to identify its format.
If you have no idea how the data should be interpreted, experiment with trial-and-error. If the attributes are wrong, the sound will play distorted. You will have to close the sound window and re-open it using different attributes. If the file is compressed (sounds like static) or if you cannot guess the exact format of the audio data, it is unlikely you'll be able to use the file in GoldWave without a separate plug-in. Usually only raw PCM, VOX, telephony, or numerical text files can be opened with these settings.
If you save the file later, use a different filename and type using File | Save As.
If you want GoldWave to automatically assume a format for a particular file type, you can use Option | File Formats to associate a format with the filename extension.