This may be stupid yet I don't know how to do it. How do i add details like composer, year, artist, etc. to a wav file? I finished mastering and i want to send the file with as much info as possible.

thanks!

estebanworld


This may be stupid yet I don't know how to do it. How do i add details like composer, year, artist, etc. to a wav file? I finished mastering and i want to send the file with as much info as possible.

thanks!

There are a number of apps out there that will do this... some free.
 
I use Adobe Audition to finalize my mixes and it has that built-in.   But you could definitely find freebies on the net.
 
 

Wave files, unlike MP3s, are very limited as to what information can be inserted into them. Furthermore, few applications can read that information.

Wave files, unlike MP3s, are very limited as to what information can be inserted into them

Not entirely true. Broadcast Wave files can contain lots of information like the OP wants. And ID3 tags can be inserted into one of  .wav chunks, so they can contain exactly as much information as mp3 files.

But yeah, not too many apps can read all that info.  As Billy said, Audition is really good for it. And dBpowerAmp is as well.

The OP could also encode the file to a lossless format like flac which is very tag friendly.

tarsier

Wave files, unlike MP3s, are very limited as to what information can be inserted into them

Not entirely true. Broadcast Wave files can contain lots of information like the OP wants. And ID3 tags can be inserted into one of  .wav chunks, so they can contain exactly as much information as mp3 files.

But yeah, not too many apps can read all that info.  As Billy said, Audition is really good for it. And dBpowerAmp is as well.

The OP could also encode the file to a lossless format like flac which is very tag friendly.

So where does iTunes keep all that information ? I'm ripping my CDs in .wav right now for my home system and it seems to download all that stuff from the CDDB and know what goes with what file. Is it storing it inside the wav files or is it keeping a database ?

Frank, I believe that's all coming from a database and is not stored within the file itself.

While it's true that the RIFF standard allows for additional information blocks in wave files - that's the foundation for BWF - there is little standardization for what goes into them.

A wave file consists of a collection of "chunks", most of which are data chunks, but the spec allows for other types of chunks, even including an XML chunk that would let you enter MP3-tag type metadata.

But if applications can't read them, they're pretty useless. Pro Tools, Nuendo, Pyramix and Final Cut Pro can read them. I don't know of any freeware that can read or write them.

I use Adobe Audition, but it's news to me that AA can read these fields. It does MP3 tags, and it can save a WAV file as a BWF and include the standard BWF fields. That's it, AFAIK.

I use Adobe Audition, but it's news to me that AA can read these fields. It does MP3 tags, and it can save a WAV file as a BWF and include the standard BWF fields. That's it, AFAIK.

Which version? I've got AA3 and in the File Info dialog there's a tab for "broadcast wave" and "Text Fields". "Text Fields" lets you choose a drop-down and select from "Standard Riff" "Radio Industry" and "MP3 (id3)". Even if you have a wav file open, you can choose id3 and enter the fields which are then saved in the wav file.

So where does iTunes keep all that information ? ...  Is it storing it inside the wav files or is it keeping a database ?

Very good question. So I gave it a try by ripping a CD to .wav files. Looks like with wavs, iTunes doesn't encode any info to the file itself, it just keeps all the info in its internal database. When you rip to aac, mp3, aiff, or apple lossless, the info is written to the files themselves as well as the internal database.

tarsier

So where does iTunes keep all that information ? ...  Is it storing it inside the wav files or is it keeping a database ?

Very good question. So I gave it a try by ripping a CD to .wav files. Looks like with wavs, iTunes doesn't encode any info to the file itself, it just keeps all the info in its internal database. When you rip to aac, mp3, aiff, or apple lossless, the info is written to the files themselves as well as the internal database.

Humm... well... my car player can only read ID3 from mp3s so even if I had apple lossless it wouldn't help.  iTunes seems to do a good job of keeping it's database and .wav files sure are easy to remaster in place. So for my home stereo library I guess I'll leave it as .wav till I have a device that can read info from apple lossless.  I have another profile where iTunes is all mp3 that I use to sync my iPod and get my files for the car so that's covered.

Which version? I've got AA3 and in the File Info dialog there's a tab for "broadcast wave" and "Text Fields". "Text Fields" lets you choose a drop-down and select from "Standard Riff" "Radio Industry" and "MP3 (id3)". Even if you have a wav file open, you can choose id3 and enter the fields which are then saved in the wav file.

I don't think they are actually stored in the wav file. The standard BWF fields are the only things you can save with the wave file itself, as far as I can tell. Try it: after typing in some values for those fields, open the wave with a hex editor and search on the text strings you entered. I don't think you'll find them in the file.