Is there a utility that can look at a directory full of wav files and
report if any of them are corrupt in any way?

Ideally, it would also report the sampling rate and bit rate of the
files.

(Bill Miller) wrote in message ...
Is there a utility that can look at a directory full of wav files and
report if any of them are corrupt in any way?

Corrupt in ANY way? No, it's not possible.

I could take a completely valid wave file and replace the data
chunk with nothing more than random numbers, and as long as I get
the chunk header right, it's a valid wave file. I could swap all
the bytes of all the samples And it would sound AWFUL) and as long
as the chunk headers are right, it's a valid wave file. I could
change the sample rates around and as long as I maintain consistency
in the fmt chunk, it's a valid wave file. I could take an MPEG
wave file, change the fmt chunk to say it's PCM format, and, again,
as long as everything is consistent, it's a valid wave file, even
though the file is very audibly corrupted.

You CAN find things like contradictions in parts of the fmt chunk,
invalid lengths of chunks, missing fmt extension for non-PCM formats
and such.

Ideally, it would also report the sampling rate and bit rate of the
files.

There are probably a bunch of things out there, but check out
www.cartchunk.org for one WAVE utility whose intent is to
display metadata in WAVE files, including support for EBU and
AES-46-2003 compliant WAVE files.

"Bill Miller" wrote in message
...
Is there a utility that can look at a directory full of wav files and
report if any of them are corrupt in any way?

Ideally, it would also report the sampling rate and bit rate of the
files.


I thought Wav files were raw? no way to detect corruption !.

do you mean MP3 or similar type files?

The Exact Audio Copy program checks for corruption when ripping a file from a CD
to WAV format. But I don't think it can analyze existing files.

In principle, you could write a program that opened and read the WAV file,
looking for such things as excessively long all-zero or full-scale sequences, or
abrupt jumps in sample values.

"malcolm" wrote in message
...

"Bill Miller" wrote in message
...
Is there a utility that can look at a directory full of wav files and
report if any of them are corrupt in any way?

Ideally, it would also report the sampling rate and bit rate of the
files.



I missed the original post so I'm not sure what you mean by corrupt but they
certainly can be corrupt: missing or fouled headers; headers that are
correct but the data is corrupt; etc. The second kind is the hardest to
detect because the OS thinks they are fine and will even open them and they
will "play" somewhat (even though it's usually ear crunching noise). I don't
know of a program that will detect the second type but you might be able to
either copy the files to another directory and see if the copy fails. That
would be my first step. That might tell you which files are physically
corrupt. Secondly you might be able to use something like Windows Media
Player and just play the whole directory (like a playlist). If any files
fail to open or if they play noise you'll know they are corrupt. Of course
someone while have to sit and monitor it but you can "fast forward" to the
next one when you know the file is OK.

"malcolm" wrote in message ...
"Bill Miller" wrote in message
...
Is there a utility that can look at a directory full of wav files and
report if any of them are corrupt in any way?

Ideally, it would also report the sampling rate and bit rate of the
files.


I thought Wav files were raw? no way to detect corruption !.

No, WAV files are NOT raw files. Wave files have format information,
enabling a wav reader to fully interpret the contents. A raw audio
file simply has samples, no format, no sample rate, no nothing.

On CAN detect corruption in the various chunks, like the fmt
chunk (bogus sample rate, inconsistent average byte rate, and
so on), one can detect whetehr chunk headers are corrupted, and
so on.

But, even if its MPEG encoded, one may net necessarily be able to
detect if the audio DATA is corrupted. (Yes, WAV files CAN be MPEG
format).

In rec.audio.misc,rec.audio.tech,rec.audio.pro,rec.ra dio.broadcasting,
"William Sommerwerck" wrote:

The Exact Audio Copy program checks for corruption when ripping a file from a CD
to WAV format. But I don't think it can analyze existing files.

Reading from the CD is different, because the drive gives errors
when it can't read/reconstruct a sector from the CD. Also, the actual
data from the CD is "raw" whereas a .wav file is not.
As Dick Pierce said, the .wav file is not "raw" but has a header
with sample rate, number of channels, number of bytes per sample, file
length and such. This can be checked for "reasonable" values and the
claimed length against the actual file length, things like that.

In principle, you could write a program that opened and read the WAV file,
looking for such things as excessively long all-zero or full-scale sequences, or
abrupt jumps in sample values.

This is a way to discriminate in the .wav data or a raw file
whether the content is "musical" or not, but may not be foolproof.
All-zero sequences might last for over four and a half minutes. g
An LP declicking algorithm would find abrupt jumps with no trouble.
-----
http://mindspring.com/~benbradley

"Ben Bradley" wrote in message
...
In rec.audio.misc,rec.audio.tech,rec.audio.pro,rec.ra dio.broadcasting,
"William Sommerwerck" wrote:

The Exact Audio Copy program checks for corruption when ripping a file
from a CD
to WAV format. But I don't think it can analyze existing files.

Reading from the CD is different, because the drive gives errors
when it can't read/reconstruct a sector from the CD. Also, the actual
data from the CD is "raw" whereas a .wav file is not.
As Dick Pierce said, the .wav file is not "raw" but has a header
with sample rate, number of channels, number of bytes per sample, file
length and such. This can be checked for "reasonable" values and the
claimed length against the actual file length, things like that.

In principle, you could write a program that opened and read the WAV
file,
looking for such things as excessively long all-zero or full-scale
sequences, or
abrupt jumps in sample values.

This is a way to discriminate in the .wav data or a raw file
whether the content is "musical" or not, but may not be foolproof.
All-zero sequences might last for over four and a half minutes. g
An LP declicking algorithm would find abrupt jumps with no trouble.
-----
http://mindspring.com/~benbradley


ah modern art, wonder if they would hand out a grant for a new version g