GCDMaster cannot work with 32-bit float 48khz WAV file?

  • jamesbond
Posted: Mon, 11/05/2007 - 08:12
I tried to master a CD from several WAV files. They are 32-bit float 48khz WAV files - and opened fine by either Audacity or Rezound. GCDMaster however, complain that it cannot open the file because gstreamer codec that handle them cannot be found. Similar error message happens when I used Serpentine, Brasero, GnomeBaker, or even totem-gstreamer --- seems that the problem is with gstreamer? I have installed many gstreamer-0.10 plugins, from the base, good, bad, ugly, ffmpeg-full, etc ... that doesn't improve. A little bit googling cant say for sure that this is a known problem as well. What gives? If I convert the file to 44khz 16-bit PCM (using Audacity), GCDMaster is happy, however, this is tedious. As a comparison - UbuntuStudio's version of Serpentine handle them nicely w/o complaint. cheers! PS: running 64studio 2.0 64-bit.
‹ updating gimp to 2.4.1 Commercial sample libraries (and/or effects) ›

I think I have found the answer

  • jamesbond
  • 08/19/07
  • Wed, 11/07/2007 - 05:14
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UbuntuStudio uses gstreamer-plugins-bad 0.10.5, which includes libsndfile, and libsndfile can open/auto-convert the 32-bit float format to various other formats (albeit with lesser control than manual conversion). 64Studio still uses version 0.10.4 --- which doesn't include libsndfile. Well, sooner or later it will get updated :)

Thanks for the explanation and tip.

  • jamesbond
  • 08/19/07
  • Mon, 11/05/2007 - 11:30
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Thanks for the explanation and tip. I was kind of expecting that gstreamer has a converter for it (which can be setup for quality management for automatic dithering and such). Well perhaps different philosophy here, as you mention.

Formats

  • Quentin Harley
  • 05/24/07
  • Mon, 11/05/2007 - 09:25
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GCDMaster is the red book mastering program. An advanced CD writer application if you wish. Make sure you have your tracks in the correct format for CD when you take it to CD - that is 16bit 44100Hz. You then have control over the sound quality. No, the problem is not with gstreamer. The standard you are trying to play technically does not exist, neither can it be played with any hardware that is commercially available. 24bit straight is the best you'll get at the moment. 32bit float makes sense only in a preproduction setup where you want to keep as much as possible fidelity in your mix before you take it to the final format for media production. Ubuntu is obviously targeted at your less informed crowd, allowing a standard like that. It means you have absolutely no control over quite important stuff, like dithering and such. This is exactly why I took up recording in 44100Hz with 24bit resolution. I do my mixdown in the 32bit float environment that is Ardour, and in Ardour I export my project, ready for GCDMaster as 44100 16bit dithered. Dithering is the adding of a special kind of noise to the least significant bits of your sound. While you will not hear it, it works almost like the "soft fonts" you get in some consumer electronic devices. If you look closely the hard edges of the fonts are smudged, making it fuzzy, but if you view it at normal distance, it looks like a higher resolution than the screen of the device can actually deliver. When you give the CD burning application sound that is not dithered, with more resolution then it can burn, it will almost definitely not burn it dithered. This subtle difference can make a huge difference in your sound quality.