Compatibility

As some of you may know, I am currently an analog recording enthusiast and I am getting good results with my antique 16 track, one inch, reel to reel and analog 24 channel mixing console...

But,

I am thinking about the future for when my current equipment can't be repaired any longer and more so for the possibility of doing collaboration work with other people who are on a digital, computer based recording medium and so, my question;

Is Cool Edit Pro compatible with other programs that are designed to be its competition?

If I get sent a file or group of files from someone who is working with Sonar or N-Track or Cubase or XYZ... Can CE2P play these files and allow me to edit and mix them and send them back to the other person in a format that they can deal with on their software that might not be Cool Edit Pro?

I want to prepare for the inevitable and I have read that CE2P is a good program that is not too hard to learn and play with and don't want to make the mistake of buying the wrong 400 dollar piece of software.

Any help would be appreciated!

Cheers! :)
 
I would say that CE is able to use all the common sound file formats (wav, mp3, snd, voc, pcm etc.). However, this isn't saying that CE is "compatible" with other programs.

Compatiblity lies in the format of the saved file. For example, if someone were to send you a proprietary format specific to N-Track, then only N-Track would be able to use it. But if that N-Track user saved it in a standard format instead (wav for example), then CE would be able to use it just fine. I think instead of questioning whether CE is compatible with other programs, it may be more accurate to question if CE supports a variety of formats used by other programs (to which I think it does).

So as long as you're not receiving all kinds of proprietary stuff, I think CE would be a good choice. And... if you *are* getting all kinds of proprietary stuff, then you'll have problems no matter what software you choose :)

Hope this helps,
Miglio
 
I've heard someone talking about a conversion tool at http://www.audiomastersforum.org, so you might want to ask this question there.

The conversion tool they were talking about had to do with the .ses file. In CEP, all the individual tracks of a session are saved as wav files (usually) and the placement data, track volume and pan, volume envelopes, bus data, and any real-time effects data, are saved in the *.ses file.

The conversion tool changed the *.ses file so that other programs could load the session. The problem is that not all aspects of the .ses file are translatable because not all programs have the same features.

For instance, you may lose the volume envelopes in the conversion because CEP supports the envelopes, but the target program doesn't.
 
Thanks for the info so far that has been offered! :)

So, it would seem that the multi-track session file extension is the key stumbling block to getting the various programs to talk to each other.

I assumed that all of them could open mp3 and wav files, etc, or, what good would any of them be?

Can I surmise that if I can not open an other programs session file that I could at least extract the individual tracks and build a fresh multi-track session in CEP2 and re-work the session from scratch as a worse case scenario?

Conversely, If I send a .ses file to someone else along with the .wav or mp3 files that they too could build from scratch?

Wouldn't the world be a nicer place if everybody could talk to each other? :)

Thanks for your help!:cool:
 
Yes, you can re-build a session with just the .wav (or .mp3) files. The big trick is to get them aligned in time correctly. If you have tracks that start at different times in the session, you may have troubles. A way around this would be to write down the exact time where a track starts so that when you rebuild the session, you can get the alignment corect. Good luck!
 
Thanks again for all your help! :)

So, I guess the next step in my research is to obtain a listing of all the file extensions that are compatible or usable in CEP2 and then compare that list to the other programs out there to see where the major stumbling blocks are.

Could anyone here post a list of all the file extensions that CEP2 can deal with or, open?

Thanks again! :)
 
This is what formats I have to choose from when I do a File - Open in Adobe Audition (which I understand is the exact same as CEP2.1).

.dbl
.sam
.wav (5 distinct subtypes as well)
.iif
.aif
.txt (that's what it says, I swear :) )
.cel
.cda
.voc
.vox
.dwd
.mp3
.au
.smp
.wma
.pcm

Miglio
 
miglio

Thanks very much for the info!

I noticed that .ses is not on your list?

Is this because it what CEP2 creates as a working multi-track mix, while the others are files that it can open up from outside sources? (i.e. other programs)

Thanks again for all your help.:)
 
Aye, those are just what I can open in single file mode. In multi track mode, .ses is the only choice. I'm not sure, but I think .ses is proprietary to Cool Edit.

As Dakota pointed out (and something I didn't think of), multi track sessions are indeed going to pose a problem. I don't know of a universal multi track session format (perhaps .snd, but I don't know). All my projects are my own, so I've never had to deal with cross program compatiblity for multi track files. And you know the old saying... "it's best to say nothing and have people think you are and idiot, rather than say nonesense and PROVE it" :)

Miglio
 
Ok, well, thanks to everybody that helped clear up some questions I had about the program!

Hopefully, one day, I can return the favor and help you guys out with analog questions, should you ever have some.

I hang out mostly in the analog forum with my caveman buddies.;)

Cheers! :)
 
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