Audio File Formats I Demystified BY NORMAN

WEINBERG

know what we need. It's an ADA (an ­ oth er damn acronym)! It seems like the technology geeks who are reengi­ neering our world know how to program and speak in code. The goal of rhis guide is to help you find your way through the maze of the most common file formats used in { COlli . Pf1gt116 } digital music making.

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DRUM!

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FILEFORMATS

UNCOMPRESSED AUDIO FORMATS Wh en au d io is d ig itized , it is rransform ed fro m analog soun d pr essure levels to nu m bers. Your com p u rer , s t e re o syste m , or porr able mu sic pl ayer ne ed s to u nderstan d the n umber s a n d even tu ally turn all the littl e ze­ ros and ones back into sign als th at your ears can hear and yo u r b rain ca n und er stand. Th is is w her e th e wo rl d of a u dio file fo rmars come s int o play. Audi o files are b roke n down into two di fferent gro u ps - un co m p ressed (loss less) and co m ­ p ressed (lo ssy) . U nco m p ressed

t hro ug h o rhe r co m p u te r p ro ­ cess in g . Fi les th at have bee n co m p resse d w it h lossy co decs wi ll o nly be de gr aded furth er if they are sub j ec t to ad d it io n al comp u te r mo d ificat io ns. Co m ­ p ressed for ma rs are used w hen t he high est-quali ty aud io is no t necessary o r whe n sto rage spa ce and tr an sfer ti me are imp orr anr cons ideratio ns. W e'll first take a loo k ar the tw O mo sr co m mo n lossless aud io form at s. AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format). The se flies w ill o fte n use the .aif extens io n. Thi s is a non comp ressed for m at th at is

Without audio

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, songs on your iPod Format. O ne o f rhe ad va nta ges o f thi s f o rmar is th e l a r ge amo u nt of non audi o d at a tha t can be sto red alo ng with th e au­ d io inf o rm ation . AfFF files o f­ ten co n tai n inf orm ari on such as n ame, aut h o r, co py r igh r, a n d com ments . WAV(Waveform Audio Format). Th e commo n exte ns io n for this rype of file is .wav. T h is is a file fo rm ar de signed to stor e aud io data on PC s, yet mos r Mac soft­ war e wi ll also ope n WAY fil es. While rh is form at is a c lo se co usin to AI FF, ir makes som e use of rhe spe cial feat u res ava ilable with Int el CPU ma ch ines. WAY files can hold aud io thar has bee n com p ressed , bur th ey are rnosr of­ t en us ed to h ou s e non c om­ pressed aud io. Du e [Q the lim ita­ tio ns of rhe fo rmat, WAY files can't be larger th an 2G B.

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COMPRESSED AUDIO FORMATS

file fo rma ts are used when m ax­ im um audio qu al ity is d esired . While an alog puri sts will argue that digit izin g any signal resu lts in a loss in q ua lity, lossless aud io files try th eir best to keep all the dig it ized dara in its full form . In ge neral term s, yo u' ll wa nt to use lossless fo rmats wh en th e aud io ma y be furth er ed ired or passe d

Beca use un compr essed a ud io produ ces larg e files, th e po p u­ lariry of w or k ing wi th co m ­ pr essed file fo rm ars has grow n . C D -q ua liry sou n d (44 .1kH z , used to sto re audi o files p rim ar­ 16-bir stereo) eats ap proxi m ate­ ily on Ap p le co m p u te rs. H ow­ ly 10MB p e r minut e . Th at mak e s a 1O- minute u n c o m­ ever, m ost PC so ftw are can read p ressed aud io file abo ut 100MB AI FF files wirho ur a p ro bl em . The A I F F for m ar wa s d evel ­ in size. So me audio co m press ion op ed by Apple (so m e fol ks be­ schemes can redu ce file size by a factor of ten or m o re. W ithout lieve t hat t he acro ny m sta nds for Ap ple Inte rc ha ng e Fi le Fo r­ aud io co m p ressio n, it wo u ld n't ma t) and was based on the Elec­ be po ssible to ge t all th ose so ngs o n your iPod! rr oni c Arrs In rer ch an g e Fil e

AUDIO FILE FORMATS -

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Co mpre s s e d Lossless Compre s s e d Los s y

AIFF ALAe

APE

CAF

FLAC

AAC

ASF

ATRAC

CAF

m4a m4a

OGG

WMA

MP3

WMA

NOTE: So me formal s, like m4a and WM A, can house bot h lossless and lossy compre ssed files.

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All co m p ressio n form at s use a co d ec of so me SOrt . An aud io co dec is a pro cess o r a sofrwa re p ro gram that comp resses (co-) an d th e n d ecomp ress es (-de c) an aud io signa l based o n a n um­ be r of ru les and ass u mp t io ns abo u t how we pe rceive m usic. Co m p ressed aud io is fu rth er d i­ vid ed into cod ees that are lossy a n d th o se r h a t a r e lo ssles s. W irh lo ssle ss a ud io co m p res ­ sio n fo rmats, th e size o f rhe file is reduc ed bur rhe quali ty o f th e mu sic rem ain s rh e sa me . In the­ o ry, th e deco m p ressed sig na l is exactly the same as the o riginal signa l. W h ile lossy compr essio n form ars can of fer a hug e red uc­ tion in th e file size, yo u can ex­ pec r on ly abo u t a 50 -percent re­ ducti on whe n u sing lo ssless co decs . AAC (Advanced Audio Coding). T h is is a co m p ressed and lossy file format th ar was develop ed [Q be an imp rovement over M P3 and d esign ed for aud io srrea m ing. So m e of the feature s rh ar mak e MC more rob usr than M P3 are the ab ility [Q sam p le freq uenc ies from 8 Hz up to 96 kHz , the use of up to 48 ch annels, and high er codi ng efficienc ies for statio nary and tr an sient signals. The M C file form at was first publi shed in 1997 but carne inro the popul ar con sciousne ss when Apple co m ­ pure r's iPod began using this file for mal in 2003 . ASF (Advanced Streaming For ­ mat ; la te r changed to Advanced Systems Format). Th is file fo r­ mat is p aten ted in th e US by Mi croso ft and is used by W in­ dow s Media fo r both audio and v ideo . ASF fi les a re m ore lik e co nt ain er s t h at can h old d a ra comp ressed by a num ber of di f­ ferent co de cs. WMA (W indow s M edi a Audio) and WMV (W in-

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The usual tendency when miking toms is to place a directional mike about two inches from the drum, which picks up a prodigious amount of attack and results in an artificial low-end boost from proximityeffect (which is not necessarily an enhancement of the drum's actual tone). In the pursuit of capturing a more "mature" bottom end and a fuller, natu ral sound from the toms, fellow engineer George Borden shared with me one of his favorite recording techniques. By placing sensitive condenser mikes between six to ten inches from the toms, you allow the sound of the drum to develop before it reaches the mikes. The downside is that the mikes willalso pick up all sorts of bleed . To control unwanted sounds, use close mikes (rim-mounted versions are most practical) on the toms

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Send clip-on mike and distant condenser mike to separate channels.

distance), over the rim, and angled toward the heads . Insert gates on the distant mike channels . The gate will open to allow the sound to pass when it reaches a certain threshold determined by the attack and then willclose when the level dips below a certain point determined by the release setting .

( FIG. B)

During mixdown, insert a gate on the condenser track.

ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Co de c) . Thi s format is a lso ca lled Apple Lossless En cod er , o r AL E for sho rr. Simil ar to ASF files, ALAC files serv e as a con ­ tainer ro hou se files that ha ve the extension m4 a. This form at was first introduc ed in a QuickTim e up grade in 2004 and imple­ mented into Apple's iTunes 4. 5.

Send direct out of clip-on mike track to side chain input on gate to trigger gate opening.

Sony as a file fo rma t for th eir M inid isc record e rs.Two mo re re­ cent versio ns, AT RAC3- LP2 and ATRAC 3- LP4 , enab le th e lon g pl ay m od es feat ure d o n m an y c u rr e n r M i n id isc re cor de rs . Th e se t w o for ma ts in cr e as e record ing tim e up to 324 min ­ ut es on an 80- mi nute M inid isc. CAF (Core Audio Format) . Thi s is the newest addi tion ro th e au­ di o for m at fam ily a nd is su p­ porr ed nati vely in the Mac intos h ope ra ring syst em . Apple claim s that this file fo rm at can record as m an y as a th ou sand channel s of audio fo r as lon g as a

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( FIG. A)

to trigger the opening of gates inserted on the more distant mikes. You'llget the benefit of lightning­ fast response and control while capturing the sound of the toms from a more natural standpo int. Place medium - to large-diaphragm cardioid or hypercardio id condensers such as AKG's C3000 or C414 B-ULS, Shure 's KSM32, Audio­ Technica's 4030, or a similar mike, six to ten inches above the toms (listen to the sound to determine the best

d ows Me d ia V ideo) are the two most co m mo n file rypes held in ­ sid e a n AS F file.

ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding). This algo­ rithm was developed in 1991 by

files can be read by a numb er o f different pro gr am s o n all major computer plat form s.

The problem one faces in this situation (FIG. A) is having the gate open too late and close too early. The solution is to create a physical "look ahead" function on the gate by simply using clip-on tom mikes - for example , Sennheiser 's e604, Shure 's Beta98, or Audix's micro -D - and feeding the output of those mike channels to the side chain/key input of the gates on the distant mikes (FIG. B). The sound hits the close mikes earlier, so the gate opening is instantaneous. Adjust the release control to set a natural­ sounding decay time. Borden comments that "the beauty of the sound is when the stick leaves the head .. . Let it ring!"

th ou sand years (now that 's going to be a big file'). Like its cou sin s,

it ca n serve as a co nta ine r that ca n hou se both co m p ressed and un compr essed files. FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) . Th e "free" part of thi s file form at 's nam e mean s th at the FLA C pro cess is not co vered by an y patenr. Like othe r loss­ less com p ression for mats , FLA C ca n red uce a n aud io file by 30 ro 50 percenr. FLAC files are be­ co m ing more popular as a way to arch ive CD collections and as a way to transfer high-qualit y audio over the Inrerner. FLAC

m4a (MPEG-4 Audio Standard). This is the file ext ension of an audio file that u ses M PEG-4 Advanced Audio Codin g. Ap p le made this format famou s by us­ ing it for their iTun es so ftw are . Most software that will re ad MPEG-4 files will support the m4a formar. MP3 (Moving Picture Experts Group-l Audio Layer 3). With­ out a doubt, this is currentl y the most popul ar audio co m pres ­ sio n format on th e p lan er. Th e MP 3 audi o compre ssion forma t was fir st d evelo ped as early as 198 7 a n d finali zed in 19 92 . Th e fir st commer cial sof tw are to u se th e M P3 formar w a s W in p lay3 in 19 9 5 . Since th at time , M P3 files sta rte d ap pea r­ ing o n th e Int ern et , a nd as th ey say, "the rest is hi st or y." Tod ay, the number o f ap plicatio ns th at can read or w rite M P3 files is enormou s. It is t he ub iqu ito us standa rd for shar ing aud io files over the Internet , and for good reason. It's fast , it's free (for th e user), and it ca n d rastical ly re­ duce the size of a n a ud io fi le without totally desrro yin g t he quality. Like other lossy co m­ pression schemes, it do es thi s by removing portions of th e aud io image that the algorithm det er­ min es c an 't eas ily be he a rd . MP 3 fil es can perf orm their compr ession m agic ar a nu mb er of di fferent b ir rates rh ar can ad ­ JUSt th e tr ad e- o ff bet w een file size a n d au d io qu alit y. Co m­ mo n bit rares range between 32 and 32 0 k ilo b irs per seco n d (K b ps), with 12 8 Kbps and i 92 K b ps b ein g th e m o st p opul ar co m p ro m ise . Fo r m o st c iv il­ ians , a n MP 3 file at 128 Kbp s w ill so un d JUSt fin e . If yo u're pl annin g o n listen in g to mu sic files in a m ovin g car, 128 Kbps m ig h t sa tisfy yo u r ea r. Bu t for mos t mus ician s who are famil­ iar w ith th e sonic fing erp rint of hi gh -qu ali ry inst ru m ent s, a 192 Kbp s fo rmat o r hi gh er is often necessary. {Cont. Page II 8 }

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The downside is that the mikes willalso pick up all sorts of bleed . To control unwanted sounds, use close

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FILEFORMATS

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AU

MAS

VST

OirectX

OSSI

LAOSPA

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ope n files in many diff erent formals.

OGG (OffVorbis) . Vorbis is an au­ dio codec tha t is often placed in­ side an OGG con taine r. Togeth­ er, they use the .ogg file extension. T his form at has b een gaini n g popularity with those that sup­ po n open sou rce so ftware, and it's been showing up o n several web sites aro und the world. WMA (Windows Med ia Audio). WMA files are co mpres sed files th at are p layed using M icrosof t's Wi ndow s Media P layer. Or igi­ nally, th e forma t was develop ed to be a competitor to MP3; it's

n o w a competito r to Apple 's M C fo rm at. The n ewest ve r­ sion of WMA is 9. J and con­ tain s codecs fo r m u ltic h a nnel su r ro u n d so und and lo ssl ess suppor t. W MA files are mo st of­ ten containe d inside an ASF file. The re are a nu mber o f ot her lossy and lossless file fo rma ts, and it seems t hat ne w o nes are being develo pe d at a su rpr ising pace. Some, like Mo n key's Au­ dio 's APE format , are o nly su p­ po rt ed on t he P C p la tform . O ther s, like Rea lP layds Re­ alAud io Loss less forma t, are de ­ sig n ed to be read by a sing le ho st pro gram (alt h oug h ot he r so ftware may be ab le to im po rt th e files).

MIDI FORMAT MIDI is itself ac tua lly anothe r acrony m an d stands for Mu sical Instru m ent D igi ta l Interfa ce . M IDI is a co mm u n icat io n pro­ tocol rather th an a file rype , but files co ntain ing MIDI in forrna ­ no n are commo n.

SMF (Standard MIDI File). T he SMF specificat io n was d evel­ ope d by the M IDI Manufac tur­ ers Associate (MMA ) as a way to sto re the in for mation co nta ined in a MI DI pe rform ance. Whi le so frware seq uence rs use prop ri­ et ary file form ats to handle their own files inte rna lly, JUSt abo ut a n y M I DI sof twa re p ro gr am wi ll let th e user expo n to t he S MF fil e t yp e . O nce saved, these files ca n be ope ned o r im­ po rted into m ost m usic so ftware p rogra m s . Us ing Sta nda rd MI DI Files, it's poss ible to sha re a M IDI perfo rm ance berween a seq uenc ing p rogr am and a no ta­ tion program . It 's also pos sible to use the SM F format to trans­ fer informa tio n berween di ffer­ en t co m p u ter platf o rms . SMF files are a co m mo n way for com­ posers to sha re the ir co m posi­ tion s an d tra nscript ions of pe r­ forma nces o n th e Web . The re are t h ree d if ferent M ID I file formats. Type- J files are the mo st com mon , as they

ca n con tai n an unl im ited nu m­ be r of tracks and aJI t he neces­ sary in fo rmati o n to repr od uce an en t ire m ultitr ack MIDI song pe rforman ce. Typ e-O fi les are m uch less com mon, as they con ­ tain all th e MID I mes sages in­ side a sin gle tra ck. Type-2 MIDI files are even mo re rare. If you want to send M ID I files over rhe Int ernet or collabo rate with oth­ er mu sicians by tra d ing M IDI files, yo u' ll wa nt to use th e Type J SM F forma t for the mos t m u­ sicaJ flexibiliry.

PLUG·IN FORMATS A plug-in is an add itional com ­ purer progr am t hat ru ns inside an o ther pro gra m , o ften ca lled th e " host" p rogram . Pl ug-in s give a pro gram ad d it ional fea­ tu res or expa n d t he softwa re's funct ionality If you've used im­ age-edit ing programs, yo u may be fam iliar with plug -ins that aJ­ rer the source image in some way. For examp le, you mig ht run an image throug h a plug-i n t hat is

GE'rl1NG A GREAT SOUND

By STROTHER BULLINS

Using EO

Following proper tuning and microphone selection, equalization (detailed tone co ntrol via the adjustment of particular frequency ranges) offers drummers an effect ive way to provide the best drum and cymbal sounds to a recorded medium or a live audience. A standard three ­ band , fully-parametri c EO is a superior tool for sculpting the best individual drum sounds; it allows low-, mid-, and high­ range frequen cies to be targe ted for ± adjustment plus the added bene fit of variable bandwidth (the range of frequencies to be affected , often referred to as "0" ). As a general rule, the equalization proce ss should begin with all sett ings flat, which means no frequency is boosted or cut. For more natural sounds, use subtract ive equalization : Instead of finding a sound source's most pleasing or integral frequencies and boosti ng them , find the least pleasing frequen cies

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equalization (detailed 'tone co ntrol via the adjustment of particu lar frequency range s) offers drummers an effect ive way to provide the best drum

between the 5 to 7kHz area . Snare fatness resides around 240Hz ; nearby mid-frequencies can also be added for more body, but beware of "tubby" results . Likewise, reduc ing mid­ frequencies often uncovers extra crispness within the signal.

present and take them away. Here, we willexamine EO adjustments to try on various components of a stand ard drum kit. The inexpens ive ($129 .95 MSRP) PreSonus E03B willact as a visual reference (FIG. c). BASS DRUM For more powerful fullness and body, boost around 60 to 80Hz . To alter papery flap, adjustments can be made ± from 300 to 800Hz . Generally, a slight cut of

low-mids from 400 to 600Hz provides better overall tone . To add or adjust beater attack , find the click within the range of 2.5 to 6kHz and tweak as needed . To reduce leakage from cymbals, remove high frequenc ies above 5kHz. SNARE DRUM Iftuned and miked correctly, snare drums gene rallyneed little EO adjustment. However, for a bit more brightness, add

TOMS For increased impact on both rack and floor toms, boost at 5kHz. Likea snare's fatness and attack , a rack tom's fullness and snap are usually in the ballpark of 240Hz and 5kHz, respectively, varying on the size of the drum. Floor tom fullness is closer to 80 to 120Hz. Zero in and adjust to taste . As with the bass drum, remove frequencies over 5kHz to reduce cymbal bleed. CYMBALS/HI-HAT The c1angy gong sound of cymbals and hi-hats is usually around 200Hz . To adjust cymbal shimmer - adding to it is the most common EO adjustment - work in the area of 7.5kHz to 12kHz for optimal results . To reduce low-end rumble, cut all frequencies below 75Hz.

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ni n g the Linux ope rating sys­ tem . C lose ly r el ated to LA DS PA , th e D S SI lab el is used prim arily for instrum en ts, wh ile LAD SPA is used most of­ te n for o the r so u nd-p rocess ing ap p licatio ns . lADSPA (Linux Audio Develop­ er 's Simple Plug-In API). LADSP A pl ug-in s are designed ro ru n in ho st p rogram s un d er th e Linu x o pe rating system. Fi­ nalized in 20 00, rhe for mat has q u ite a few plu g-in develo p ers. W it n th e p opularit y of Lin ux ex pa n d ing ev e ry year, yo u 're sure ro see mo re plu g-in s bu ilt for Linux in the fuw re. MAS (MOTU Audio System). M AS is a p ropriet ar y form at of t he c o m pa ny M a r k Of T h e Uni corn (co m mo n ly kno wn as M OTU). MAS plu g-in s in ­ cl u d e virr ual ins t ru m ent s a n d aud io effects. RTAS (Real Time Audio Suite). RTAS is a p lug-in fo rm at th at is used in th e Pro Tools e nviron­ men r. W nil e de sig ned for Pro Too ls, o ther host a pp licat io ns, li ke Digi tal Perf orm er 4. 5 o r hi gher, are a b le ro use RTA S pl ug-in s. TOM (Time -Division Multiplex­ ing) . O rigina lly in vent ed fo r th e

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VST (Virtual Studio Technolo­ gy) . The VST fo rm at was devel­ ope d b y S te in b erg for u se in th e ir Cub ase soft w a re . Tod ay, VST p lug -i ns (a nd th ere a te

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hund red s o f rhern ) can be used in nea rly every audi o pro gram on borh th e PC and Mac plat­ for m s. VST can be viewed as th e d e fa er o s ta n da rd for a u dio p lu g-ins. VS T plu g-in s can ei­ th er be sof t instrum ent s, such as sy n rhs or sa m p le rs, or effec ts su ch as rever bs, co m pressor s , di s ro rrion b o xes , a n d o r h e r m e th od s of p ro cessi n g a ud io . In strumen ts are oft en given th e V STi ac ro nym ro d istingui sh th em selves from effect plu g-in s.

If you're involved with creating electronic music, at some point you're sure to use sample libraries

teleph on e in du st ry, this is t he way th at Pro To ol s co m m u n i­ cates with o ther extern al input and o u tp ut so u rces. It is also the fi le fo r mat us ed fo r plu g -i n s chat can use Pro To ols as th e host p rog ra m.

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Th e VS T 2 fo rma l , rel ea sed arou nd 1999 , ad ded m or e flexi­ bili ry ro the o rig inal fo rm ar. If yo u r host so ftwa re a nd a p art icular pl ug-in a ren't co m ­ patibl e, all is not losr . T he re ar e a few co m pa n ies th at are mak ­ in g ada p ters or "w ra ppe rs" so that plug-i n s wrirr en in on e fo rm a t ca n b e u sed in a h o st th at uses a not he r. Th e fxp a n­ sion fo lks m a ke popul ar pr o ­ g ra m s th at a llows VST plu g-in s

ro b e u sed in ho st p ro gr am s th at rea d RTAS , AU , a nd Re­ wir e ap p lication s. If yo u're in ceresred in learn­ ing m or e abou t plu g-in s, check OUl kv raud io.co rn . It is the # I web site fo r all au d io plu g-in s ­ instrum ent s, effects, and hos ts.

SAMPLE FORMATS If you 're at a ll invo lved with cre­ atin g electro nic musi c, at som e point yo u're sure ro use sampl e libr a ries. It 's a facl t ha t sam ple rs (h ardware an d softw are) all read and pl ay di gi tal aud io files, bu t how these files are in co rp or ated inro t he sam pler and how the sam p ler saves its files ro a sro r­ age med ium can be very d iffer­ enr. For instan ce, if you 've got a g rea t drurnki r in the N N- XT sa m p le r in sid e Prop ell e rh ead 's Rea son , you wo n' t be a b le ro ope n tha t fil e dire c tl y into Ca kewa lk's Project 5. M an u fac­ tur er s h ave rec ently re alized that it's ro their ad vanrage ro of­ fer a produ ct th at is ca pa b le o f readin g a variety of file for m ats. Tod ay, yo u can find soft sa m ­ pl ers th at claim to be "u n ive r­ sal" in t h e ir a b ili ty to re ad a large n umber of p roprie tary for­ m at s a nd " interp re t" t he m so that they can be playe d by th e host sa m p le r. N ative l n srr u­ m enr s' Ko nrak r 2, for exa mp le,

will nativel y read and in terp ret at least 20 diff erent file fo rma ts . It's possibl e ro pur ch ase o r do w nl oad a ud io file s in .wa v a n d .a if fo rma ts th at ca n b e us ed t o con st ruct b anks o f soun d s fro m sc ra t c h in an y sam p le r for m ar. H o we ve r, if you d o n 't wan t ro d o a ll th e work y o u rs e lf, yo u can bu y packages th at have eve ry t h ing read y ro go . JUSt co py th e ban k ro yo u r nard d r ive an d then op en it in you r h a rd w a re or so ftwa re s am pl er. T he mo s t popul ar sampl e forma ts a re for Acid , Aka i, E-m u , EXS24 , Gi­ gas t u dio, H A Li on, Ko n ra k r, Ku rz w e i l , R e a son, Ro la n d, RM X , Sa m pleCel l, a nd So u nd­ Fo n r. On e parti cul ar rype of file is so un iq ue th at it de serves specia l arrenri o n . REX files (mo st o fte n loop s) are creat ed by Prop eller­ he ad 's ReCycle So ftware. Th e o rigina l ve rsio n o f ReC ycle ex­ porr ed REX files so rhat the y co u ld be used inside th eir Rea­ son softwa re packag e. An upd at­ ed version, ReC ycle 2. 0 creates RX2 forma t files tha t use a co m­ pr essio n codec to red uce the size of th e file. REX files have been sliced inr o a nu mb er o f d ifferenr p arrs th a t ca n th en b e p lay ed back sl ice-by-sl ice . U sin g thi s tech n ique, it's possib le ro time ­ alt er loops and alte r th e o rder of the var io us sli ces of file. REX file s have be com e so popu la r t ha t m a n y so ftwa re p ro gr a m s now read them natively.

CONVERSION SOFTWARE W ith so ma ny di fferent sampl er for ma ts, yo u mi ght thin k that sh a ring sa m p les betwe en rna­ c hines or so frwa re wo u ld be im ­ pos si b le . Bu t JUSl as th er e a re progra ms that w ill co nvert o ne aud io for mat inr o anot her , there are so frware p rogram s design ed ro con verr one sam p ler fo rmat in ro an o th er, Two th at th is au­ tho r h as use d a nd ca n reco m ­ m end ate C D Xtrac t by Bern ard C h avonne t and Tra ns la to r by C h ic ke n Sys te ms. Both pro ­ gra ms have a pr et ry wide m atrix of sour ce file form at s ro d estin a­ tion file for mars. •

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