File size of single WAV vs. sum of 2 WAVs after splitting???

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

This isn’t a pressing problem, I’d just like to understand what’s going on. I hope I can explain this in a way that isn’t confusing.

I have a single WAV file that is comprised of the last 2 songs of a CD. The file size is 159,030,524 bytes if I do any of the following:

  1. Use EAC to rip these 2 tracks as 1 using ‘copy as range’
  2. Edit the cue sheet so that EAC splits them off as a single track from the master WAV file
  3. Rip them as individual tracks and then append one to the other.

Question #1: As individual tracks, their combined file size is 159,030,568 bytes, 44 bytes more than when they’re seen as a single track. Why is this? Does it have to do with 1 header vs. 2 ?

Question #2: If I take the single WAV file that is the union of these 2 songs and split it with Audacity by picking the split point and doing a cut & paste, the combined file size of the 2 individual tracks is the same as mentioned above in the first question, 159,030,568 bytes. This ‘makes sense’ to me that it would be the same. HOWEVER - the same isn’t true if I split the WAV by using Audacity’s ‘label method’ where you add labels to multiple parts of a WAV and then do an ‘Export Multiple.’ When split this way, the combined file size of the 2 individual tracks is 159,030,724 bytes… an additional 156 bytes more than mentioned in the first question, and 200 bytes more than when the 2 files are seen as 1. What happens with this ‘labels method’ that makes the individual file sizes larger?

2

My guess is that it is due to headers. I’ve never looked into this because a couple of hundred bytes is insignificant compared to hundreds of millions. If you are interested in perusing this you could open the files in a Hex editor (search on line for a free one if you don’t already have one). WAV is a type of “RIFF” file http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_Interchange_File_Format