I recently updated to 3.6.1 and cannot import wav files anymore. I get an “incorrect file type” message. I have been importing these files for years. Is there some setting that has changed?
Strange…
Older versions of Audacity are here.
Have you imported these WAV files? Are you sure they are really WAV files? …Regular-uncompressed WAV files?
You can check the files with MediaInfoOnline (or you can install MediaInfo on your computer). A regular WAV file should say “PCM”.
Do you have FFmpeg for Audacity installed? It will allow Audacity to open most files in case they aren’t really WAVs.
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I went back to a WAV file that I had loaded into an earlier version of Audacity and it gave me the same error. Nothing else has changed.
Thanks. I wasn’t aware that I needed to re-install FFmpeg after the update. I seem to be back to loading WAVs.
DVDdoug was right. You are not using real WAV files
Thank you DVDdoug and VP2024. I’ve been recording “WAV” files with a Tascom DR-08, a linear PCM/MP3 recorder, and reading them into Audacity years. This is the first time I’ve had issues. Installing FFmpeg allowed me to load the files. Any idea as to why this addon was necessary.
We still need the one last piece of this. Find out what you really have.
Macs have a Get Info tool.
Did you tell Widows to reveal filename extensions? Most of the time nobody cares, but when something goes wrong, that can be really handy.
Koz
I do not show file extensions. When I select “Properties” on these files, it definitely says WAV filetype. (I hope this picture loaded correctly.)
WAV is a “container” and it can legitimately contain compressed audio in various compression formats, but it’s rare to run-across it and Audacity may need FFmpeg to decompress it.
Or sometimes it might simply have the wrong file extension.
File size can be a clue but you need to know the details. The are 8-bits in a byte so for example, uncompressed “CD quality” audio is:
44.1kHz x (16-bits/8) x 2-channels = 176kB per second, or about 10MB per minute. (Imbedded artwork will throw off the calculation.)
But you never tried Media Info?
Read this forum test.
https://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/TestClip/Record_A_Clip.html
It should be an 11 second wave file which should fit on the forum. The forum upload icon is the heavy sideways bar with up arrow.
Koz
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