Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Discussion of Digital Performer use, optimization, tips and techniques on MacOS.

Moderator: James Steele

Forum rules
This forum is for most discussion related to the use and optimization of Digital Performer [MacOS] and plug-ins as well as tips and techniques. It is NOT for troubleshooting technical issues, complaints, feature requests, or "Comparative DAW 101."
User avatar
mhschmieder
Posts: 11282
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Annandale VA

Re: Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Post by mhschmieder »

Wait, I've seen this one before. My recollection is that it can happen when something that only pops in now and then doesn't have a clean trim at either end, and/or maybe got processed at one point and resulted in a null somewhere due to "bad math" when trying to analyze audio that is -48 dB down or more.

You might want to ensure you don't have an unnoticed spike or related issue, in the silent spots -- especially near the beginning. I typically fade-in all of my miked tracks anyway, as destructive edits.

It's just an idea, before you toss out the baby with the bathwater.
iMac 27" 2017 Quad-Core Intel i5 (3.8 GHz, 64 GB), OSX 13.6.1, MOTU DP 11.31, iZotope RX 10
RME Babyface Pro FS, Radial JDV Mk5, Hammond XK-4, Moog Voyager

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35
Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, Johhny Marr Jaguar, 57 LP, Danelectro 12
Eastman T486RB, T64/V, Ibanez PM2, D'angelico Deluxe SS Bari, EXL1
Guild Bari, 1512 12-string, M20, Martin OM28VTS, Larivee 0040MH
User avatar
bongo_john_uk
Posts: 171
Joined: Sun Nov 14, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Brighton, UK
Contact:

Re: Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Post by bongo_john_uk »

Some other weird things happened after converting files.

One guitar part just stopped playing altogether. Preview fine. But no signal on the track meter. Also opening the wave editor it was blank (but the peaks on soundbites still looked fine).

At first I thought it had corrupted the audio file but when I used "create similar track" and then copied the non playing soundbites to it, it then played fine through the new track with what looked like exactly the same I/O settings.

Anyway.. I think the conversion issue will only apply to some specific recordings, so not all my old projects hopefully. But I haven't had a chance to try the others yet.
Mac Pro 12 core 3 GHz, Motu Ultralite, DP9.1, Mac OS X 10.10.5 64GB Ram.

http://limbicsounds.com
User avatar
FMiguelez
Posts: 8266
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Body: Narco-México Soul/Heart: NYC

Re: Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Post by FMiguelez »

I might have missed something, but wouldn't the easiest way be to simply turn on automatic conversions in the preferences and let DP do it all on its own? IIRC, there's an option to convert all audio formats right there...
Mac Mini Server i7 2.66 GHs/16 GB RAM / OSX 10.14 / DP 9.52
Tascam DM-24, MOTU Track 16, all Spectrasonics' stuff,
Vienna Instruments SUPER PACKAGE, Waves Mercury, slaved iMac and Mac Minis running VEP 7, etc.

---------------------------

"In physics the truth is rarely perfectly clear, and that is certainly universally the case in human affairs. Hence, what is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth." ― Richard Feynman
User avatar
bongo_john_uk
Posts: 171
Joined: Sun Nov 14, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Brighton, UK
Contact:

Re: Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Post by bongo_john_uk »

FMiguelez wrote:I might have missed something, but wouldn't the easiest way be to simply turn on automatic conversions in the preferences and let DP do it all on its own? IIRC, there's an option to convert all audio formats right there...
I am a bit wary of turning that option on considering conversions are currently crashing DP on this project. I might get DP into a state where I can't even open the project because it starts converting automatically.

PS I've been in touch with tech support and am going to send them some of the files that DP created during recording but crash DP on conversion.
Mac Pro 12 core 3 GHz, Motu Ultralite, DP9.1, Mac OS X 10.10.5 64GB Ram.

http://limbicsounds.com
JSmith1234567
Posts: 746
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:48 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Re: Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Post by JSmith1234567 »

Does anyone know of a good batch-processing program to do this?

I have tried Sample Manager (which I own) and Audacity (which is free), but they both have their quirks.

I am looking for something, if this is even possible, that would keep the mono SD II files mono, and the SDII stereo files (which have separate & R files) stereo, all converted to mono or stereo wav depending which it was.

Sample Manager and Audacity seem to need to do different processes depending on this, though I'm not an expert in either.

When I just drag a whole folder of SD II files into them to convert to .wav, they only seem to process some of them?
OSX Big Sur (latest). Mac Pro Late 2013 ("trash-can"), 3.5 Ghz 6-Core Intel XeonE5, 64GB RAM. Motu DP 11.03, Vienna Pro Server, Presonus Notion, Osculator, Keyboard Maestro
User avatar
mikehalloran
Posts: 15134
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:08 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sillie Con Valley

Re: Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Post by mikehalloran »

DSP-Quatro and TwistedWave are both good for batch converting.

I find TW to be easier and faster. Not exactly intuitive, once you've done it, easy to remember.
https://twistedwave.com/doc/index.html

I have never tried mixing stereo and mono files in a batch to see what happens. If no one else comments, I'll try to find some time to test. TW can split stereo files during processing, however.

I do mix file types often in TwistedWave for conversion such as .wav, FLAC, CAF, .aiff, and mp3. Piece of cake.

Normally $79 but sometimes Cult of Mac and iLounge will have it on sale for $20. I bought it at a similar price a couple of years ago.
https://deals.ilounge.com/sales/twisted ... lity-mixes
https://deals.cultofmac.com/sales/twist ... lity-mixes
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
JSmith1234567
Posts: 746
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:48 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Re: Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Post by JSmith1234567 »

mikehalloran wrote:DSP-Quatro and TwistedWave are both good for batch converting.

I find TW to be easier and faster. Not exactly intuitive, once you've done it, easy to remember.
https://twistedwave.com/doc/index.html

I have never tried mixing stereo and mono files in a batch to see what happens. If no one else comments, I'll try to find some time to test. TW can split stereo files during processing, however.

I do mix file types often in TwistedWave for conversion such as .wav, FLAC, CAF, .aiff, and mp3. Piece of cake.

Normally $79 but sometimes Cult of Mac and iLounge will have it on sale for $20. I bought it at a similar price a couple of years ago.
https://deals.ilounge.com/sales/twisted ... lity-mixes
https://deals.cultofmac.com/sales/twist ... lity-mixes
Hey thanks I would really appreciate that!
OSX Big Sur (latest). Mac Pro Late 2013 ("trash-can"), 3.5 Ghz 6-Core Intel XeonE5, 64GB RAM. Motu DP 11.03, Vienna Pro Server, Presonus Notion, Osculator, Keyboard Maestro
User avatar
mikehalloran
Posts: 15134
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:08 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sillie Con Valley

Re: Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Post by mikehalloran »

In TwistedWave, I created a test folder and did a batch conversion of 40 files to wav 32bit floating. The source files were a mix of SDII stereo and mono, CAF, wav mono and stereo, mp3, mp4a and FLAC. Average file length was 3 minutes.

I listened to the results in iTunes. The stereo files stayed stereo and the mono remained mono as they should.

The conversion to .wav 32bit floating took a few seconds. When I do a batch conversion to mp3, it takes longer. My newer car only takes one CD at a time so I now bounce multiple albums tp mp3 audio CDs—I have been doing this a lot and can generally get 8 or more albums on one CD this way.

I still convert single files in QuickTime 7.6.6 as it is faster but I really like TwistedWave for batch conversion. DSP-Quatro works fine but I'm used to TW now.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
JSmith1234567
Posts: 746
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:48 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Re: Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Post by JSmith1234567 »

mikehalloran wrote:In TwistedWave, I created a test folder and did a batch conversion of 40 files to wav 32bit floating. The source files were a mix of SDII stereo and mono, CAF, wav mono and stereo, mp3, mp4a and FLAC. Average file length was 3 minutes.

I listened to the results in iTunes. The stereo files stayed stereo and the mono remained mono as they should.

The conversion to .wav 32bit floating took a few seconds. When I do a batch conversion to mp3, it takes longer. My newer car only takes one CD at a time so I now bounce multiple albums tp mp3 audio CDs—I have been doing this a lot and can generally get 8 or more albums on one CD this way.

I still convert single files in QuickTime 7.6.6 as it is faster but I really like TwistedWave for batch conversion. DSP-Quatro works fine but I'm used to TW now.
Hey man thank you so much!

this is a terrific solution, especially having tried this and failed with other batch-proccessors.

Thanks again for this great advice!
OSX Big Sur (latest). Mac Pro Late 2013 ("trash-can"), 3.5 Ghz 6-Core Intel XeonE5, 64GB RAM. Motu DP 11.03, Vienna Pro Server, Presonus Notion, Osculator, Keyboard Maestro
User avatar
mikehalloran
Posts: 15134
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:08 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sillie Con Valley

Re: Convert all soundbites in project to WAV?

Post by mikehalloran »

If f you can get TwistedWave for $20 or less through those links, as I did, it's a good deal.

I use the iOS version in live performance. Files load instantly unlike every other audio application I've tried on my iPhone or iPad.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
Post Reply