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Importing Files

Standard .WAV files are binary files containing a header followed by a block of data samples.  The .WAV file header contains information about the sampling rate, number of channels, and number of bits per sample.  Stereo files are interleaved (L,R,L,R...).  

The import feature allows you to import raw digitized data from an external source and create a .WAV file from the contents.  In order to properly build the WAV file header, you must specify the sampling rate represented by the data and the destination sampling format is.  

File Formats:
  • ASCII Integer - File is readable with any text editor.  For mono files, each line contains a single sample value.  For stereo files, each line contains both the left and right sample values separated by a comma.
  • ASCII Float - File is readable with any text editor but the values are converted to floating point format (e.g. 21.034).  For mono files, each line contains a single sample value.  For stereo files, each line contains both the left and right sample values separated by a comma.
  • Binary 8 bit - 8 bit integer values.
  • Binary 16 bit - 16 bit integer values.
  • Binary 32 bit - 32 bit integer values.
  • Binary floating point - 32 bit floating point values.

    Expected Sample Values:
  • 8 bit WAV data:  0...255
  • 16 bit WAV data: -32767...+32767
  • 24 bit Wav data -8388607...++8388607

    File Header Options:
    If the data file contains a header, you can specify the size of this header in lines (ASCII file) or bytes (binary file).  This header data will be skipped during the import process.

    Data Scaling:
  • If "rescale" is checked, the program will determine the maximum and minimum values contained in the file and rescale all values to optimally fit within the selected sampling precision.
  • If "truncate" is checked, the program will accept all values as is and truncate those which exceed the specified sampling precision.
  • Define Actual Data Values and Units - use this option if you know the units contained in the data file.  This will create the calibration parameters for properly scaling the data file. 


    See also:  Working with audio files, Exporting Files, Sampling Format, Sampling Rate