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WavPack Support?

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2021 11:38 pm
by Coolgamer
I have a few files that are compressed with WavPack since Flac refuses to support PCM Floating-Point audio and I need to archive projects as lossless as possible.

Is it possible for Goldwave to support this file format in the future? It's open and royalty-free.

https://www.wavpack.com/

Re: WavPack Support?

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2021 11:19 pm
by GoldWave Inc.
Sorry, there are no plans to support WavPack directly. Audio isn't actually recorded in floating point format (24 bit PCM is usually the max), so there isn't any real benefit saving in that format.

Re: WavPack Support?

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 1:40 am
by Coolgamer
A large number of DJs I know save to the format for reasons that are unclear to me, but since Flac doesn't support it I have been compressing with Wavpack. There is a higher range (32 bit) and converting to Flac would cut out data. Not what I want when archiving.

I tried installing the WavPack DirectShow filter but that didn't help, even though an old post said I'd be able to at least open files.

Seems that given its popularity is about the same as Monkey's Audio, which is supported, it should at least be considered for the future. Looking back at the forums, a few others have requested it over the years as well.

Re: WavPack Support?

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:51 am
by DougDbug
You can save-as WAV/IEEE Float Signed 32-bit, then use another tool to compress to WavPack.
There is a higher range (32 bit) and converting to Flac would cut out data.
I doesn't cut-out anything audible.

The guys who do blind ABX tests have pretty-much proven that "CD quality" is better than human hearing! (A 44.1/16 copy downsampled form a high-resolution original will sound identical to the original in proper-scientific blind listening test.)

And, there are very-few 32-bit DACs (and I'm pretty sure they are not floating point) and even 24-bit DACs usually don't have 24-bit accuracy so it's going to get downsampled to 24 or 16-bits when you play it.

I don't know of any 32-bit ADCs and they are all integer based so like Chris said, you're not really recording in 32-bits either.

GoldWave (and most audio editors & DAWs) use floating-point internally because DSP (digital signal processing) is better & easier in floating-point. Plus, it can go over 0dB without clipping. But, it's "bad practice" to produce/release a file that goes over 0dB because it can clip your DAC when you play it.

Re: WavPack Support?

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:17 pm
by Coolgamer
DougDbug wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:51 am
You can save-as WAV/IEEE Float Signed 32-bit, then use another tool to compress to WavPack.
There is a higher range (32 bit) and converting to Flac would cut out data.
I doesn't cut-out anything audible.

The guys who do blind ABX tests have pretty-much proven that "CD quality" is better than human hearing! (A 44.1/16 copy downsampled form a high-resolution original will sound identical to the original in proper-scientific blind listening test.)

And, there are very-few 32-bit DACs (and I'm pretty sure they are not floating point) and even 24-bit DACs usually don't have 24-bit accuracy so it's going to get downsampled to 24 or 16-bits when you play it.

I don't know of any 32-bit ADCs and they are all integer based so like Chris said, you're not really recording in 32-bits either.

GoldWave (and most audio editors & DAWs) use floating-point internally because DSP (digital signal processing) is better & easier in floating-point. Plus, it can go over 0dB without clipping. But, it's "bad practice" to produce/release a file that goes over 0dB because it can clip your DAC when you play it.
I just know that I'm working with a lot of DJ-raw master archive copies that are in the format and the people that I work with, and others, would prefer the original masters be preserved for editing purposes rather than downsampling. I'm aware of the audio quality, it's just a matter of being an archivist. Goldwave is my gold standard for working with files, so I hope that eventually it might be compatible.

Re: WavPack Support?

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:10 pm
by GoldWave Inc.
You might try installing GoldWave v5.70, which should be able to use the older WavPack DirectShow decoder. You can then Batch Process a bunch of files to convert them to something GoldWave v6 can use.