Supported File Formats

WaveLab Yellowtec Edition can open and save audio files in a number of file formats.

Wave (.wav)

The following bit resolutions are supported: 8 bit, 16 bit, 20 bit, 24 bit, and 32 bit (float).

Wave 64 (.w64)

This file format is very similar to the Wave format but with one important difference: it allows you to record and/or edit files of virtually any length. Standard Wave files are limited to 2 GB (stereo files) in WaveLab Yellowtec Edition.

Note

Wave 64 does not support meta-data. If you need large files and meta-data, use Wave files and activate the RF64 option.

RF64

In the Audio Files Preferences, you can activate the RF64 file format support. If this is activated, the standard Wave file format switches automatically to the RF64 file format as soon as the file size exceeds 2 GB, without any performance loss or interruption. This is useful when recording very long sessions. A RF64 file has the extension .wav, but it can only be opened with an application that supports the RF64 standard if the file exceeds 2 GB.

AIFF (.aif, .aiff, .snd)

Audio Interchange File Format, a standard defined by Apple Computers Inc. The following bit resolutions are supported: 8 bit, 16 bit, 20 bit, and 24 bit.

MPEG-1 Layer 3 (.mp3)

The most common audio compression format. The major advantage of MPEG compression is that the file size is significantly reduced, while there is little degradation of sound quality.

Note

When you open an MPEG compressed file in WaveLab Yellowtec Edition, the file is converted to a temporary wave file. On saving, the temporary wave file is converted back to MP3.

MPEG-1 Layer 2 (.mp2, .mpa, .mpg, .mus)

MP2 (sometimes referred to as “Musicam files”) is a common file format in the broadcast industry.

Ogg Vorbis (.ogg, read-only)

Ogg Vorbis is a compressed file format that is open, patent-free, and which creates very small audio files maintaining comparatively high audio quality.

Windows Media Audio (.wma, .asf, read-only)

Microsoft’s own compressed format. WaveLab Yellowtec Edition lets you import audio in this format (Windows only). To import audio in WMA surround format, Windows Media Player 9 or later must be installed on your system.

FLAC (.flac, read-only)

Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed.

AAC (.aac, read-only)

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a codec that allows lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio.