MP3 Turns into WAV Upon Import

[Aaron Guidry]

Hello,

I'm important fairly large mp3s into DP (75MB, 1 hour, 30 minutes).
Upon importing each file, DP is turning the mp3 into a WAV (1.38GB)!
Is this normal for an mp3 to be turned into a WAV upon import?
OR
Is there a setting to turn this feature on/off?

Thank you!

[Tonio]

Yes, check your preferences for audio files - its probably on convert on import.

[Aaron Guidry]

Tonio, I don't see this preference. Can you be more specific?
I have Automatic Conversions turned off and all parameters set to "Never"

[mikehalloran]

Tonio, I don't see this preference. Can you be more specific?
I have Automatic Conversions turned off and all parameters set to "Never"

It's possible that DP is converting automatically and, since you do not have preferences set to 44.1/16 .aif, it is going to 48/16 .wav on its own.

mp3s are lossy compressed files. I don't know of any DAW that processes them. Since DP processes everything at 32 bit floating, I don't know how that would be possible. I understand the concern over file size but storage is cheap nowadays.

Here's the fun part: when you bounce those files down, you will want to convert back to mp3 in DP. Don't. Instead, bounce to one of the native formats instead. Then using iTunes/AppleMusic, QuickTime or any of the dozens of converters out there, concert your bounced file to mp3 — this will save a lot of time. Otherwise, DP will be processing, finalizing and converting at the same time which can take a very long time. Been there, done that and learned my lesson.

[CharlzS]

From the Docs:

Digital Performer can natively use interleaved or
deinterleaved 16-bit, 24-bit, or 32-bit floating
point audio files in AIFF and WAVE formats.
Other types of audio files are converted into the
project audio file format for use in Digital
Performer.

[bayswater]

There are audio editors out there that work on MP3 files without conversion, locatable via your favourite search engine. But it would be odd for a DAW to do that.

And, there is no reason not to work with the larger WAV files as long as your audio drive has the space. I've done a couple of soundscape projects that involved recording three tracks at a site for 72 hours at a time with DP, and not had any issues. One thing I do to avoid potential issues is to cycle record with cycle lengths of an hour, so you end up with a set of smaller files. DP's transitions from one cycle to the next appears sample accurate, so passages that span cycles can be merged together.

[Aaron Guidry]

Thanks for the replies guys!!

[AGM]

Hi Aaron,

I think all 'proper' DAWs convert compressed formats in order to work with them. This I think is to get round the issues of the way file compression works. I'm no expert at all but I think often compression works by having a mixture of full fat audio frames (called I-Frames) with all the information present - like ordinary wav files. And then a series of deltas - frames that contain only the difference between the last I frame and the current position in the audio file. Think of a wav file as being made up only of I-Frames.

Have a look at mp3DirectCut - freeware on windows

https://mpesch3.de

or for Mac

Rogue Amoeba have the great Fission editor

https://rogueamoeba.com/fission/

If you try one of those you'll find that you can only edit at the points of I frames ie the editing experience is quantised into largish blocks, which of course is true in wav editing where the blocks are every sample which are small enough to much less noticeable in every day use.

Ta like, AGM

[Aaron Guidry]

Hi Aaron,

I think all 'proper' DAWs convert compressed formats in order to work with them. This I think is to get round the issues of the way file compression works. I'm no expert at all but I think often compression works by having a mixture of full fat audio frames (called I-Frames) with all the information present - like ordinary wav files. And then a series of deltas - frames that contain only the difference between the last I frame and the current position in the audio file. Think of a wav file as being made up only of I-Frames.

Have a look at mp3DirectCut - freeware on windows

https://mpesch3.de

or for Mac

Rogue Amoeba have the great Fission editor

https://rogueamoeba.com/fission/

If you try one of those you'll find that you can only edit at the points of I frames ie the editing experience is quantised into largish blocks, which of course is true in wav editing where the blocks are every sample which are small enough to much less noticeable in every day use.

Ta like, AGM

Right on!