Importing files from Tascam

[Babel]

Split from https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/using-audacity-from-a-prerecorded-file/33758/28

Would you mind helping me out, as I see that your goals are similar to mine, but you are obviously ahead in the game.
I have recorded interviews on a Tascam DR-40 but have had considerable problems trying to load the audio files from my computer hard drive onto Audacity.
I have the Tascam WAV audio files in a Library I created called INTERVIEWS UNEDITED, then in a yellow folder below that. They are accessible to play if I access them directly by going into the Library.

However, if I try to import to Audacity and go to the INTERVIEWS UNEDITED to retrieve “Audio” it tells me there are no folders in it.

I have discovered I can load them if I click on Raw Data rather than Audio then I get a box asking me about a series of characteristics so I click 16 bit and 2 channel because that is how I recorded them, but it also asks me about stuff I have never heard of: Byte order: Little-endian; no endianness (?); big endian (?); default endianness

When I somehow get the files loaded onto Audacity it will not allow me to save as an Audacity file when I press Save As, telling me it is an “audio” file and telling me to export, but export to what?

I want to be able to record regularly on my Tascam DR-40, upload the sound files from the SD cards onto my computer, then into Audacity to edit. Are there any particular characteristic I should pre-set on the Tascam before I record in order to make transferring into Audacity easier, and for optimum final sound quality?

Please advise – I am not sophisticated technically so please answer in simple layman’s terms.

Thanks

[Gale_Andrews]

@Babel

I have recorded interviews on a Tascam DR-40 but have had considerable problems trying to load the audio files from my computer hard drive onto Audacity.
I have the Tascam WAV audio files in a Library I created called INTERVIEWS UNEDITED, then in a yellow folder below that. They are accessible to play if I access them directly by going into the Library.

However, if I try to import to Audacity and go to the INTERVIEWS UNEDITED to retrieve “Audio” it tells me there are no folders in it.

I have discovered I can load them if I click on Raw Data

Stop there. If these are proper finished WAV files that Windows Media Player can play, then you should use File > Import > Audio… and select the files. There is a high chance you will choose the wrong Raw Import settings if you don’t know what the settings mean.

If you created this Library using Windows Explorer, try pressing the big “Libaries” button on the left of the dialogue where you choose the files to import.

@Babel

When I somehow get the files loaded onto Audacity it will not allow me to save as an Audacity file when I press Save As, telling me it is an “audio” file and telling me to export, but export to what?

Export to “WAV (Microsoft) signed 16 bit PCM”.

If you want to overwrite the imported file with your changes, then in the Export dialogue, select the file you imported, OK, then say “Yes” when Audacity asks if you want to overwrite the file. You must be sure your edits are correct if you want to do this. If you want an insurance policy, save to a different file name then you have the old file to go back to.

@Babel

Are there any particular characteristic I should pre-set on the Tascam before I record in order to make transferring into Audacity easier, and for optimum final sound quality?

I don’t have Tascam, but look at its manual. PCM WAV is good (the quality is lossless). 44100 Hz is good - it is the same as Audacity’s default project rate.

Gale