Metadata and Uncompressed File Formats?

[tommyd]

Hi all,

I've got a couple of questions about the above; any answers would be appreciated.

I was surprised to discover that 1.3beta allows you to add metadata to .wav files. Mainly because I didn't think this was possible - I didn't think wavs (unlike, say, mp3s) had anywhere to carry such data!

Am I wrong in this? What other audio apps, plugins etc. can read/write wav metadata?

Furthermore, assuming that you can actually write metadata to wavs (and read it anywhere else)...:

How much can you alter the metadata fields? "tempo (bpm)", "time sig" and "duration (beats)" would be much more relevant for sample loops than "artist", "album title" etc. Is it possible to delete the default fields? (I've tried adding custom fields such as these and saving the metadata template as an .xml file, but I can't get it to work).

Basically: What's the crack...

[steve]

I was surprised to discover that 1.3beta allows you to add metadata to .wav files. Mainly because I didn't think this was possible - I didn't think wavs (unlike, say, mp3s) had anywhere to carry such data!

You are correct - there is no MetaData for wav files, and yes it's annoying that you get prompted for it - just leave it blank.

[tommyd]

You are correct - there is no MetaData for wav files

Damn, that's a pity. I was hoping I was wrong, TBH: it'd be pretty handy to be able to store the tempo, duration etc. of loops as metadata.

I guess that's what acid loops (and .rex files etc) are for...

Thanks for enlightening me, Mr Fiddle.

edit:

...Mind you, whenever I examine a wav file using something like FileAlyzer there always seems to be loads of space/seemingly random hex nonsense in the header; maybe - in theory, at least - there's room to store encoded data(?)

further edit:

Hmmmm: having searched the forum in more detail, it's clear that some people are really quite annoyed by the metadata dialogue box that pops up when you save a .wav file; I'm guessing this feature has generated quite a bit of negative feedback...

[steve]

...Mind you, whenever I examine a wav file using something like FileAlyzer there always seems to be loads of space/seemingly random hex nonsense in the header; maybe - in theory, at least - there's room to store encoded data(?)

The WAV format includes a number of data "chunks" before the main audio data that may contain a range of information about the file. See here for more information: http://www.harmony-central.com/Computer ... format.txt

For metadata tag support in a lossless format, FLAC is a better choice (widely supported but not supported by iTunes or WMP)

[Inundated]

Greetings!

I am a very happy regular Audacity user now wading into 1.3.x and like what I see so far.

The only problem is that the prompting for Metadata after exporting to WAV file format bugs me, and there doesn't seem to be a way to shut it off (i.e. I NEVER want to see that screen in exporting non-compressed formats).

The 1.3.5 (?!?) help pages show some sort of preferences dialog, but I'm only at 1.3.4 (1.3.5 wasn't downloadable that I could see), and the option is missing. The tab/page is also different in the preferences, it's called "Audio Files" on my 1.3.4 (without the toggle to shut off the Metadata dialog), and it's called "Import/Export" in what appears to be the 1.3.5 help page (with the toggle option on the screen shot).

It's not a huge deal, as I basically just hit ENTER to pass the screen, but it slows me down a little because I'm not used to that screen being there.

Any thoughts?

Mike

[steve]

Yes, annoying isn't it.

There is an option to switch it off, but only for batch (chain) processing,
"Edit > Preferences > Batch"

Even then, it often does not work and the meta data box still pops up.

[Inundated]

OK.

But if the documentation for what appears to be 1.3.5, along with some of the release notes are accurate, it would appear there WILL be a fix to this in 1.3.5, whenever it comes out as the latest Beta release.

It's not a biggie for me...I'll just ENTER-out of that screen until such a fix happens, but if it is NOT in the works, I'd like to request it to someone who could do it.

[Inundated]

And as suspected, in 1.3.5, there's an option to turn off (uncheck) the Metadata Editor under Edit > Preferences > Import/Export.

It came checked - unchecking it solves the problem.

Thanks!!