Search sound-files based on their codec

peter77 · Post by **peter77** » Thu Aug 29, 2019 12:15 pm

Apple moves to 64bit and is no longer supporting older codeces like PCM. Amadeus Pro shows the type of codec a sound file is based on but this information is not available via Apple's Finder- or Spotlight search. Since files based on the old 32bit codeces will no longer play under Mojave the only solution is to convert those file under an old system like Sierra. The problem is that I would have to listen to each and every sound file under Mojave to find out which file is no longer supported ... unless there was a way to do such a search in a kind of batch workflow.
I wonder if somebody has an idea if there is a way to screen some 50.000 files in an effective way for those that contain an 32bit codec or at least to screen for a specific codec like PCM ... and get a result-list

Post by **Martin Hairer** » Thu Aug 29, 2019 5:17 pm

Since files based on the old 32bit codeces will no longer play under Mojave

This is categorically wrong. The "64 bit" in Apple's move to 64 bit only concerns the number of bits used in addressing memory. This has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with any kind of sound codec / format / etc. 32 bit audio files produced by Amadeus or any other sound software do play just fine under Mojave and Catalina, just as they did under previous versions of macOS. There is absolutely no plan to change this and in any case this is not something that needs to be supported at the level of the operating system.

Now, even *if* Apple were to move the whole sound processing subsystem to treat only 64 bit PCM or only some compressed codec (again, there is no indication that this is the case), this would be utterly irrelevant to audio software's ability to play sounds encoded in different formats since it is completely trivial to convert these on the fly. Regards,

Martin

--
HairerSoft
http://www.hairersoft.com/

peter77 · Post by **peter77** » Fri Aug 30, 2019 8:29 am

I didn't mean to offend you. But since I find it always lazy when people post something without having tried to find out more first.
The base for my attempt to find the cause is this web-site
https://larryjordan.com/blog/important- ... der-media/

So - my simple questions are:
Why does a sound-file play under Sierra but not under Mojave (regardless of the way it was created).
And is there a way to make it play under Mojave - using Amadeus Pro?
As of now I am lucky to still have a Computer with Sierra which I can use to convert all respective file to AIF ... under Mojave I than convert it back to .m4p. All this is most likely deteriorating the quality ... which I would like to avoid.

(I couldn't find a way to upload an example file - if uploads are possible - let me know how to do it)[/img]

Jim Edgar · Post by **Jim Edgar** » Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:53 pm

In MacOS, you can set the default program for any specific type of audio file.In Finder
Select an AIFF file (single click)
"Get Info" (under FILE menu)
Expand "Open With" in the window which appears
Select Amadeus (or whatever you want to use)
When you do that, you'll have the option to "Change All"
Select that - it may take a few minutes.
Moving forward, any AIFF ile you double-click on will open in AP.
Repeat for mp3, WAV, etc.

Yeah - don't iteratively save as M4P (or MP3). It will compress the file size each time and deteriorate quality. For VO, where we regularly submit MP3 audio for auditions, I always work in WAV/AIFF until ready to send, then do a Save As into MP3 to send to client/agent.

- J
Jim Edgar

VO:Â JimEdgarVoices.comÂ |Â @jimedgarvoicesÂ | Source-Connect -Â jimedgarvoices

For audio/studio help:Â JustAskJimVO.studioÂ |Â Schedule a session

On Fri, Aug 30, 2019 at 1:29 AM peter77 <forum2mail@hairersoft.com (forum2mail@hairersoft.com)> wrote:

I didn't mean to offend you. But since I find it always lazy when people post something without having tried to find out more first.
The base for my attempt to find the cause is this web-site
https://larryjordan.com/blog/important-dont-lose-access-to-older-media/

So - my simple questions are:
Why does a sound-file play under Sierra but not under Mojave (regardless of the way it was created).
And is there a way to make it play under Mojave - using Amadeus Pro?
As of now I am lucky to still have a Computer with Sierra which I can use to convert all respective file to AIF ... under Mojave I than convert it back to .m4p. All this is most likely deteriorating the quality ... which I would like to avoid.

(I couldn't find a way to upload an example file - if uploads are possible - let me know how to do it)[/img]

Post by **Martin Hairer** » Fri Aug 30, 2019 5:24 pm

Dear Peter,

(I couldn't find a way to upload an example file - if uploads are possible - let me know how to do it)

A sample file would help. Could you please send me a Dropbox (or WeTransfer or similar service) link to it together with instructions on how to reproduce unwanted behaviour? Regards,

Martin

--
HairerSoft
http://www.hairersoft.com/