Sound Devices 722 - Manual (Page 34)

722 User Guide and Technical Information
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v. 2.67 Features and specifications are subject to change. Visit www.sounddevices.com for the latest documentation.
Audio File Formats
The 722 records audio to the industry-standard Broadcast Wave file format, either monophonic or
polyphonic, MP2, MP3, or FLAC. Files created by the 722 receive the .WAV, .MP2, .MP3, .FLAC file
extensions. The 722 will read files with the .BWF extension.
.WAV
The 722 has two file type options for recording WAV files, mono and poly. Select the file type in the
Setup Menu option REC: FILE TYPE.
Monophonic
When WAV Mono is selected, the 722 will generate a separate audio file for each recorded track.
The mono files generated by the 722 have file names similar to T01_1.WAV and T01_2.WAV. The file
name suffixes, _1 and _2, identify the track number of the file.
Polyphonic
When WAV Poly is selected, the 722 will generate one audio file for each take. All recorded tracks are
interleaved into this single file.
Wave Agent Beta allows for the splitting (de-interleaving) of polyphonic files and combining (merging or
interleaving) of monophonic sibling files into a single polyphonic file.
See Wave Agent Beta.
The 722 writes AES-31 Broadcast Wave formatted files. The audio files created by the 722 place ad-
ditional information in the file header, called the Broadcast Audio Extension data chunk. Software
that does not recognize this additional broadcast wave data chunk will simply ignore this added
information. Among the values recorded are:
• time code stamp
• time code frame rate
• date and time of the original recording
• bit depth
• sampling rate
• originating machine serial number
.FLAC
Free Lossless Audio Codec is a lossless data compression algorithm specifically designed for au-
dio. It is a convenient way to extend recording time with no effect on audio quality. It is suitable for
recording and archiving. FLAC, in particular, offers data compression rates that range anywhere
between 30% and 60%, depending on the audio program. Sound Devices Wave Agent Classic (www.
waveagent.com ) is a free Windows based software used to extract FLAC to WAV as well as combin-
ing monophonic files and splitting polyphonic files.
What to consider when recording FLAC:
• notes are currently disabled, all other metadata is stored
• limits your sampling rate to 96 kHz
• limits recording to only one storage medium at a time
• The 7-Series can play back the recorded FLAC files.
• Use Sound Devices Wave Agent Classic software (www.waveagent.com) to extract Broadcast
Wave files from 7-Series recorded FLAC files.
• Auto save feature does not apply to FLAC files, if power is lost while recording the file maybe
invalid.