How to read/write high-resolution (24-bit, 8 channel) .wav files in Java?

Question

I'm trying to write a Java application that manipulates high resolution .wav files. I'm having trouble importing the audio data, i.e. converting the .wav file into an array of doubles.

When I use a standard approach an exception is thrown.

AudioFileFormat as = AudioSystem.getAudioFileFormat(new File("orig.wav"));
-->
javax.sound.sampled.UnsupportedAudioFileException: file is not a supported file type

Here's the file format info according to soxi:


dB$ soxi orig.wav
soxi WARN wav: wave header missing FmtExt chunk

Input File     : 'orig.wav'
Channels       : 8
Sample Rate    : 96000
Precision      : 24-bit
Duration       : 00:00:03.16 = 303526 samples ~ 237.13 CDDA sectors
File Size      : 9.71M
Bit Rate       : 24.6M
Sample Encoding: 32-bit Floating Point PCM

Can anyone suggest the simplest method for getting this audio into Java?

I've tried using a few techniques. As stated above, I've experimented with the Java AudioSystem (on both Mac and Windows). I've also tried using Andrew Greensted's WavFile class, but this also fails (WavFileException: Compression Code 3 not supported). One workaround is to convert the audio to 16 bits using sox (with the -b 16 flag), but this is suboptimal since it increases the noise floor.

Incidentally, I've noticed that the file CAN be read by libsndfile. Is my best bet to write a jni wrapper around libsndfile, or can you suggest something quicker?

Note that I don't need to play the audio, I just need to analyze it, manipulate it, and then write it out to a new .wav file.

* UPDATE *

I solved this problem by modifying Andrew Greensted's WavFile class. His original version only read files encoded as integer values ("format code 1"); my files were encoded as floats ("format code 3"), and that's what was causing the problem.

I'll post the modified version of Greensted's code when I get a chance. In the meantime, if anyone wants it, send me a message.

Might http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5810164/how-can-i-write-wav-file-from-byte-array-in-java/5810662#5810662 help? — Atreys, Jun 23 '11 at 17:53
I am interested by the WavFile with support with PCM float :) — Mordan, Sep 22 '18 at 16:28

Matt M · Answer 1 · 2012-09-19T21:37:10.317

Very late reply but others might benefit from this.

A libsndfile java wrapper now exists, which should help with audio read/write/conversion issues like this. The wrapper (generated by swig) is true to the libsndfile API, so the structure is a little different from typical Java style, but entirely usable.

In your particular case, usage would look something like this:

String filePath = "path/to/some/audio_8_channels.wav";

// open the sound file
SF_INFO sndInfo = new SF_INFO();
SWIGTYPE_p_SNDFILE_tag sndFile = libsndfile.sf_open(filePath, libsndfile.SFM_READ, sndInfo);

// create a buffer array large enough to hold all channels (double per channel) of all frames
int arraySize = sndInfo.getFrames() * sndInfo.getChannels();
CArrayDouble darray = new CArrayDouble(arraySize);

// read every frame (includes all channels) into the buffer array
long count = libsndfile.sf_readf_double(sndFile, darray.cast(), sndInfo.getFrames());

// iterate over the doubles that make up the audio
for (int i=0; i < arraySize; i++) {
    // every 8 doubles is a frame..
    double d = darray.getitem(i);
}

The google code project, including a compiled 'usable' version for JDK1.7 on Windows7 exists here:

http://code.google.com/p/libsndfile-java/

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 23 '11 at 17:52

1

You could read the wav data in yourself, it's actually not that hard to do. Just search for the WAV file format information.

answered Jun 23 '11 at 17:52

Rocky Pulley

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Ok, I'll give this a try. Thanks. :) I'll post my solution here once I figure it out. – dB' Jun 24 '11 at 22:18

How to read/write high-resolution (24-bit, 8 channel) .wav files in Java?

2 Answers2