How to check if wave file is 24-bit?

Drey wrote on 4/8/2002, 12:09 PM

I'm using the Delta 1010 and WDM driver version .26 on Windows XP. I am testing it out with the Vegas Video 3.0a demo and want to verify that in fact I'm getting 24-bit I/O with this setup. How can I check the wave file to verify that it is truly 24-bit?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Drey

Comments

Mike M. wrote on 4/8/2002, 10:27 PM

Drey,

I'm not sure if this is what you want but in Windows (My Computer or File Manager or Explorer) right click on the "wav" file and select "properties" and then "details".

ramallo wrote on 4/9/2002, 3:27 AM

Hello,

Try to record a signal below -96 dB (96 dB is the limit of 16 bits). Create a tone (With the sound forge for example) of -105 dB (For example), and play and record by digital (The noise of the analog will be stronger than -105 dB). If you can record (And playback) the -105 dB signal, you don't have the 24 bits problem.

Bye

ramallo wrote on 4/9/2002, 3:29 AM

Hello mixer440,

The file will be of 24 bits, but with 8 bits of 0.

Bye

Drey wrote on 4/9/2002, 8:51 AM

Well, that was not quite what I had in mind. I know the file "says" its 24-bits but I'm trying to determine if it ACTUALLY recorded 24-bits from the Delta 1010. Thanks for the heads up though.

Drey

Drey wrote on 4/9/2002, 9:08 AM

Ramallo,

Thanks for both of your replies. My fear is that Vegas is in fact recording 16-bit plus 8-bits of zeroes. I did try the signal below -96dB test, although I didn't do it exactly as you outlined. I used a keyboard that I know outputs a noisefloor of around -108dB, and just played back a snare sample at a VERY low level, peaks at -96dB, and was able to hear a trace of the sample in the noisefloor. I did the same thing in Cool Edit Pro and had similar results. My gut tells me I'm getting all 24-bits recorded in both programs, but I'm not one to be convinced just by gut feelings.

The interesting part to all of this is that when I analyze both wave files in Cool Edit Pro it reports the Cool Edit file as having a noise floor of around -108dB, but reports the Vegas file as having a noise floor of around -96dB. And just to balance things out I've recorded a file at 16-bit through the same Delta 1010 converter using the same settings above and get a noise floor of around -94dB.

Anyone here care to analyze and comment on this data? I'm not quite sure how to interpret these numbers. Again, my gut is telling me that Vegas doesn't seem to be getting all 24-bits.

Drey