Audio files with data values > 1.0?

    Charles Turner
    Nov 12 2009 | 3:44 pm
    Hi all-
    I think a pretty simple question, but maddening difficult (for me at least) to search for on the Internet.
    I am recording some audio rate envelopes ( to a file, and the data values range from, say, 0.0 to 50.0 rather than the usual -1.0 to 1.0.
    So on playback, I'm getting clipping on values > 1.0. I'm having trouble locating exactly where my trouble is: [sfrecord~]? the AIFF file format? my audio editor?
    Any hints, light shed, or suggestions (RTFM where?) would be greatly appreciated!
    Thanks, Charles
    • Charles Turner
      Nov 12 2009 | 4:14 pm
      As a small addendum: if I use the "open raw" message with [sfrecord~], the object will open a "Save..." dialog and the filename will be "snd.raw," but the "Format" drop-down menu at the bottom of the dialog is still set to "AIFF file." So it seems one inadvertently produces an AIFF file.
      Not sure whether this is a bug in [sfrecord~] or something I'm missing about it's use...
    • Roman Thilenius
      Nov 12 2009 | 4:57 pm
      its the bit depth/format.
      you must export to 32 bit float.
      float formats preserve the "over" values, integer formats clip.
      -110
    • Charles Turner
      Nov 12 2009 | 6:27 pm
      Thanks so much, Roman! That did the trick.
      My next challenge is finding something that can visually edit an 8-channel file of this type. Looks like Amadeus and Audacity clip or normalize the resulting file to -1.0 to 1.0, and the MSP [buffer~] accommodates only 4 channels...
      Best, Charles