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I have the Audiophile edition of BB and RB. I see in the RealTracks folder on my hard drive that there are 2 variations for each Real Track file...a .wav and a .wma.
How can I be sure the program is using the higher quality .wav files rather than the .wma files? Is there is setting somewhere for this?
Thanks.
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It should use wav over wma if available. If I recall correctly you can even convert the wma to a wav and it will use that if available.
You could always test it (if you can hear the difference).
Listen to a wma and then listen to the same wav. Note any difference you may notice.
Generate that realtrack and listen to it.
Many do not realize you can 'play' those wma and wav files in most mediaplayers .. that's how I discovered that at the end of many RealDrums there are individual recorded hits of each drum. So if you want to add a cymbal at X point in a song, you can do it. Not sure why this isn't the rule for all of the Realdrums and a feature mentioned by PGMusic somewhere.
To me that was a huge discovery. It means I can open a sampler and have the same Realdrums sounds yet customize them when needed.
/add a second snare hit .
// add a ride cymbal on on the beat ..
///slashies come in threes ...
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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"Should"...but does it?
My question remains: Is there a setting to force the program to use the higher quality file format?
Also, a .wma file converted to .wav is not the same quality as an original .wav file. Far from it, and it defeats the reason I paid extra to buy the Audiophile edition.
Your suggested listen test may tell me if a .wav file is being used in a particular instance, but it doesn't assure me that the program will ALWAYS select the .wav over the .wma.
Thank you anyway for your reply.
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RealBand
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From what I recall, yes; the program does inherently check for wav first, then wma. It uses the wav if available. I believe it is programmed to do this.
I would have said 'it does' instead of 'it should' but I didn't write the program so can't authoritatively say that.
I do not know of a setting for it.
I think it happens 'automagically' if the wav file exists. That's why I gave the example of the wma/wav conversion; a user without the Audiophile version could test this by making a wav file (in the correct folder) and see if it gets loaded first. In theory it could be a whole different file to make the test results obvious. Of course you wouldn't want to write over any existing files if you do have the Audiophile edition, so you'd need to be more careful testing this way.
I also provided a test scenario you could try (your ear).
I trust it does use wav when available, but like I said, I haven't really tested nor do I have documentation references.
Your 'thanks anyway' comment makes me think you didn't fully comprehend my answer .. maybe partially my fault for terminology ..
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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As a test you could always move the WMAs out of the main directory. That would give you the proof you seek.
 Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics.
PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory
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isn't it always your fault Bob!?!?! "ducks for cover!"
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini with 16 gig of ram, BiaB 2025, Realband, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 9 32c , Melodyne 5 editor, Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL, Presonus control app.
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Simple experiment: how about you pick an example set of sounds (piano, guitar, whatever) (move the wma's to some other location that RB can't find then: 1) load RB, and 2) select those RT's (that now ONLY have .wav's) and see if those RT's play? The supplied Decompress utility ONLY converts WMA to WAV, not vice versa, so RB won't "re-compress" those wav's to wma's. So if you hear the pianos, guitars whatever - then RB is using the wav's in teh above experiment. As a matter of fact I've read a few places here, over the years, that BIAB and RB always USE WAV. If the WAV isn't there THEN it decompresses the WMA version to WAV (could be wrong on that - Matt is the resident expert on most things Audiophile, and he explained somewhere why there are both WMA's and WAV's in Audiophile sets) http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=273811&page=2That decompress from WMA to WAV (for us non-Audiophile users we understand the resultant WAV is lower quality than Audiophile counter part) - is why some of us non-audiophile users can take a few very LONG seconds (it's noticeable even when one has a fast processor and HDDs) to load a RT heavy songs: takes a while to run decompression utility on all the involved RT's. EDIT I SEE Steve beat me to the "experiment" Good Luck Larry
Last edited by Larry Kehl; 12/21/14 08:29 AM.
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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If do the experiment (relocate the .wmas) on just one folder so as to keep the number of files I have to relocate to a manageable number, then of course RB will use the .wavs in that folder...that's all it has to choose from.
But in order to be sure RB is then using .wavs in all instances, I would have to move all the .wmas out of the relevant BB subfolders. That would be...let me see...umpteen million files. No thanks.
I still think there has to be a setting somewhere to specify the use of .wavs rather than .wmas. If not, I'm hoping a PG rep will chime in here and definitively tell me that it happens automatically.
Thanks to all who responded.
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OK - when you call or email them (they may not see this thread, this is a user forum) - let us all know what they said, please.
Larry
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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If do the experiment (relocate the .wmas) on just one folder so as to keep the number of files I have to relocate to a manageable number, then of course RB will use the .wavs in that folder...that's all it has to choose from.
But in order to be sure RB is then using .wavs in all instances, I would have to move all the .wmas out of the relevant BB subfolders. That would be...let me see...umpteen million files. No thanks.
I still think there has to be a setting somewhere to specify the use of .wavs rather than .wmas. If not, I'm hoping a PG rep will chime in here and definitively tell me that it happens automatically.
Thanks to all who responded. HangDogCat, like others have mentioned, there is no 'user selectable switch' to do this. It's an automatic feature. I too have Audiophile (starting off with the non-Audiophile version). I have determined, with the right listening equipment, that there is a difference. To assure yourself, you would have to go through the process of moving the 'other' files to a different location. Sort by file type, select all files of that file type, and move, it should only take a few moments (in Move operations, Windows doesn't move the actual files, it just adjusts the directory entry of where they are located). My understanding is that if there are only WMA and no WAV files available, the program will be using WMA, and visa-versa. HTH Trevor
BIAB & RB2025 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
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Many do not realize you can 'play' those wma and wav files in most mediaplayers .. that's how I discovered that at the end of many RealDrums there are individual recorded hits of each drum. So if you want to add a cymbal at X point in a song, you can do it. Not sure why this isn't the rule for all of the Realdrums and a feature mentioned by PGMusic somewhere.
To me that was a huge discovery. It means I can open a sampler and have the same Realdrums sounds yet customize them when needed.
/add a second snare hit .
// add a ride cymbal on on the beat ..
///slashies come in threes ...
I didn't know that! Thanks Bob! This deserves to be a sticky somewhere!
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Absolutely, a hidden gem! Deserves a sticky. Thanks Rharv.
Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2025, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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I did contact tech support about this issue, and here's the exchange:
PG Music: The Audiophile is programmed to automatically use the WAV files. There is no setting inside the program to change this, so you won't need to worry about using the WMA files instead. The only time the WMA files would be used instead is if the WAV files aren't present. This would happen if you installed the full program on your computer's internal drive, since that option only installs the WMA files. If you use the Audiophile straight from the external drive then it will use the WAV files.
Me: Thank you, but what about a third possibility? I installed the full program to my computer's internal drive, and then copied the RealTracks and RealDrums to an external USB drive. In the programs I specified the paths to these folders. But they contain both .wavs and .wmas.
It sounds like you are saying that the program will always use the .wavs in this case, assuming they are present...correct?
PG Music: That's correct, if the Audiophile sees that both WMA and WAV files are present for a RealTrack then it will always use the WAV files.
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I don't have sticky privileges.
Wish I did sometimes because some good Tips items just disappear down the list quickly.
I have put this in Tips area and here in the RB forum before, but I guess this time the light came on for you! Glad I said it again.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Glad you did too Rharv. Can't speak for Pat, but as you can see from my avatar, I'm usually out fishing on some beach....sitting there brain-dead. Glad there's guys like you to watch out for us!
By the way, if you ever get a chance to get out of that cold northern icebox, stop on down...way down in sunny FL. I'll show what that avatar is all about.
Jeff
Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2025, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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Glad you got the verification you needed.
Thanks for sharing that.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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MountainSide We have some pretty good fishing around here too ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xzKDsh1tHo
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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MountainSide - Based on your comments about fishing, I figured you would have a moniker of something more like Seaside. Not too many mountains in sunny Florida. 
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA BB2025/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com
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Fishing. Bah. I'll just lay on the beach checking out the scenery...
As to why there's a utility to convert the WMA's to WAV it's because when using the standard RT's and not the Audiophile version, the program will generate WAV's a "bit" faster than WMA's because the program does an automatic decompression of the WMA's. If you do the full conversion to WAV yourself first then the program can skip that step.
When the the RT's first came out several people did test the generation time between the stock WMA's and the decompressed WAV's and the difference really wasn't much, just a few seconds usually. Of course of someone has a really old slow system that might make a bigger difference.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Oh yea! Nice vid there Rharv! Definitely do like seeing those big 'uns swim up there in the Lakes. I grew up on the shores of Lake Erie and really do miss fresh water...I just hate getting in salt water but the fishing is great down here...both fresh water and saltwater.
Mr JFord....take a look at that avatar again....down here that's what we call mountains....that and the I-75 exit ramps! Actually, that MountainSide moniker came from a time when one of my interations of my home studio was on the side of Kennesaw Mountain north of Atlanta. Actually, that wasn't much of a mountain either..but that's what the locals called it so it just kinda stuck.
Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2025, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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