We’re almost there.

In the earliest days of RealTracks, a few of us users attempted to measure (in a very unscientific way) the difference between rendering the WMA files and the WAV files. We concluded it was maybe 20% faster with the uncompressed WAV files.

That difference is less now. When the Elastique algorithm was introduced, if your PC was fast enough, you could delete what was called the +- files. These eliminated fully 2/3 of the required files, since pitches could be shifted effectively using Elastique. Not only did it dramatically save storage space, but it seemed to work faster

In any event, the program first has to uncompressed a WMA file, and this is why the regular version regenerates a song slower than the audiophile version.

It is my understanding RealTracks are loaded into RAM, and that the real magic is then done by the CPU. Another way to say this is that the CPU seems to be by a good measure the most important component in how fast BIAB regenerates a song. Yet another way is to say that improving my CPU and RAM made much more of a difference than switching from a hard drive to an SSD, or from the PG Music USB drive to an internal hard drive.

BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors