IMA ADPCM raw-import button greyed out

[RobertoM]

Hi,

Recently I tried to open a .wav file created by a voice recorder.
Audacity couldn't open it and therefore I tried quite a number of options in the RAW import dialog but so far without success.
Later I got me more info about the supposed file format: when viewing file properties in Windows Explorer I read that it was a 32kbps bitstream, 8kHz sample frequency IMA ADPCM file.

Selecting the IMA ADPCM option in Audacities RAW import dialog I ran into a problem: whatever settings I choose the "import" button keeps being greyed out.
Actually this happens with ALL ...DPCM options (only not with the VOX ADPCM option).

I use Windows XP Home SP2 and Audacity 1.2.6. The Lame plugin is installed (I can export audio to MP3).

Do I need additional plugins or did I run into a bug?
Hope someone can help me out here

Cheers,
Roberto

[jan.kolar]

<<Recently I tried to open a .wav file created by a voice recorder.>>
<<I read that it was a 32kbps bitstream, 8kHz sample frequency IMA ADPCM file.>>

Yes, .wav is just a container for infinite number of sample formats.
If your format is not supported by 1.2.6, you might try 1.3.5.
If that fails, you might try to get development pre 1.3.6 version (a GSoC student included ffmpeg libraries to Audacity)),
or to try ffmpeg (or other) program to convert your .wav to a supported .wav format.
or convert by mplayer
http://www.audacityteam.org/forum/viewt ... gray#p2934


The import cannot be extended by plugins as far as I know.
(For export you can call external program, at least as of 1.3.5.)

I confirm the gray button with *DPCM raw formats and I would think it is a bug. But this is nothing new, see the link above.
The related items are not anymore in the raw input dialogue of 1.3.5.

[steve]

SUPER by erightsoft and FooBar2000 are both excellent free programs for converting audio files.
"16 bit 44.1 kHz Microsoft PCM WAV" is probably the most widely supported audio format in the world today.

[RobertoM]

Hi Jan and Steve,

I downloaded the Audacity Beta but the "first" thing I noticed was that the list of available options in the RAW import dialog was significantly reduced: all ADPCM options were removed exept for the VOX ADPCM option ... so exactly the ones that show a greyed out "convert" button in Audacity Stable.

Nevertheless I tried other options again in Audacity Beta now but still so far no luck.

Despite internet searches for audio converters and checking out Super and Foobar2000 (thanks for the basically interesting links!) I now finally decided not to install additional software afterall: I'm good with just playing the (not perfect quality) voice recorder files from the voicerecorder and re-record them into pc.
It's just poor quality 8kHz sampled voice sound so loss of a bit of quality (if noticable at all) isn't an issue as long as spoken contents is fully recognizable.

But thanks for your replies anyway! At least from now on I have reason to check out Audacity Beta since it is installed now anyway Menu structure and dialog is more logical inthere and I noticed the number of options has increased I might run into bugs more likely than in the Stable version bit but I'm not expecting that to be a problem being just an audio editing basic features user

Cheers,
Roberto

[dubrox]

I had the same problem and I found an incredibly simple solution: Windows XP's sound recorder!
That little application integrated in Windows XP is able to read IMA ADPCM, so I used it to open my file and then save it in MPEG Layer-3 which is compatible with Audacity

No need to download & install any other apps ^_^

Hope it helps. Cheers,
dubrox