Best file compression format (.zip etc) for audio?

A

Agent47

Dismember
No, I don't mean mp3 etc... ;)

I need to archive a load of client audio, and I'm thinking of using file compression to reduce the file sizes (each project is between 4-8GB).

The files are wavs, mostly 16/44.1 mono.

I'm doing this on my Mac. What file compression format will result in the smallest file size? I'm not bothered about encoding time - I can wait. I can't find a comparison on the web comparing the reductions between formats anywhere.

Or is file compression a no-no for long-term archiving?

Thoughts please!

:)
 
Thanks, but I don't think you quite understand. I need these to remain as wav files when de-archived (they are mostly audio used in Pro Tools projects, but also some final client files).
 
What medium do you plan to archive to? And for how long?

I would consider leaving the files uncompressed and simply archive them to a removable hard drive. Create backups on Bluray disk and you have data redundancy. Storage is pretty cheap.
 
PRHunt - Thanks, I haven't quite made up my mind yet. Toss up between BD-R and a swappable SATA HD dock...

I've heard that HDs can fail if they're not spun up for a while, so I'm leaning towards optical storage at the moment.
 
My understanding is that FLAC is a completely lossless format so that if you "unpack" the files back to WAV format, there will be absolutely no loss of resolution. So, as long as ProTools can read FLAC files, you're golden.
 
With the cost of hard drives so low, why not just save then as they are on a dedicated hard drive or better still an external drive? Recently I saved a project on USB sticks, so cheap now, gave them to the client to put in a safe place.

Alan.
 
dug dog;3989602 as long as ProTools can read FLAC files said:
Ha ha, yeah, right! :laughings:

Hmmm, I might do that for the final master files, but I'd be worried about changing any of the PT session wavs.

Has anyone here compared Stuffit with Zip etc.?
Click to expand...
 
Frankly, I've always found the amount of data reduction available with things like .zip and .rar to be so minimal that it's barely worth the effort. I've never really thought about it but assume the "continuous" nature of audio recording just doesn't leave a lot of spare bits to chop out.

I'd probably just go with a lossless audio compression like .flac and not worry and farther.

Well, that's not true actually. Really, I'm on the side of those who think that disk storage is so cheap I probably won't even bother with FLAC and just same as wave files. I was offered a 2TB Seagate HDD for Aus$99 today.
 
Agent47 said:
I've heard that HDs can fail if they're not spun up for a while, so I'm leaning towards optical storage at the moment.
Click to expand...

I'm a little concerned about HD archiving to be honest.
 
Zip and rar will only give very tiny reductions in file size for audio (and video). They're not designed for compressing audio files (although they can be useful for grouping files and spanning across various disks). Flac will give moderate reduction, but as it retains the full quality, the files will still be fairly sizeable - I think flac is the best you're going to get as far as compression is concerned. However, I would also go for HDD storage - if you're worried about reliability, you need a backup of your archive as well, either via a second HDD or multiple HDDs in a RAID configuration, say, in a NAS.
 
+1 for flac (Free Lossless Audio Codec)

It gets you about 50% compression, and it will decompress accurately. The only data you might be worried about losing is meta-data (timestamps and what not). How much is PT dependent on that stuff?
 
Have a look at wavpack, it sounds like exactly what you're looking for.
Depending on the wavs, it usually compresses the file size to anywhere between a sixth to a half the original.

I use it to send/receive large wav files to clients.
If you're using windows it's dead easy!

Go to their download page WavPack downloads and get the first entry under 'binaries' which is called 'wavpack win32'
In that .zip file you will find several .exe files.

To encode wavs - drag and drop them onto 'wavpack.exe' which will compress and store the new '.wv' file in the original file location.
To decode .wv back to .wav - drag and drop them onto wvunpack.exe

You don't really need anything else in that .zip file apart from those two exe's.
This is free to use and free to redistribute as it says in the license file.

If you're not on windows then there are other options on that download page but I haven't needed to explore them myself.

Hope it helps!
Andrew
 
incidentally, the encoder / decoders are so small that you could easily email them to a client or include them with however you send the compressed wavs.
 
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