• Is there any reason to use the Wave 64 file format in Cubase SX?
• Are Broadcast Wave files are better to use in Cubase SX if I want to take my project to other platforms?

Is there any reason to use the Wave 64 file format in Cubase SX?

Wave 64 files were designed by Sonic Foundry for applications where huge files were required. By huge, I'm talking about audio files that could be many hours long. They'll play back like any other wave file, but they've got an internal structure which allows them to hold the extended range of information for lengthy live recordings in surround format.

Chances are, if you don't know what Wave 64 files are, you probably don't need to use them. Broadcast Wave Format files are another format that has become popular; these files can be programmed to contain text strings about the author, composition and more. Important for archival and transfer to other digital editing platforms, Broadcast Waves also carry timing information, which is an alternative for converting all tracks in an session to files from zero (or 1.1.1.1).

AIFF files, which were created by Apple Computer, can also carry embedded textual information. For almost all applications in Cubase SX, standard WAV files will do fine.

If you're concerned about getting the highest quality out of your DAW, you'll probably want to dive into larger bit depths. Cubase SX is set to process audio internally at 32 bit float, but the hardware of some sound cards won't capture audio at anything above 16 bit. Check into bit depth settings and your audio hardware's specs to find out how to get the best quality out of your setup.

Are Broadcast Wave files are better to use in Cubase SX if I want to take my project to other platforms?

Broadcast Wave files are like any other WAV files as far as the audio they contain, but they also contain additional information about the file's creator, song position and more, which are held in text fields within the code of the file. If you open Cubase SX Preferences, you'll see a page dedicated to Broadcast Wave files. Here you can tell the program how you'd like the files to be prepared.

One excellent feature of the format is song positioning. If you wanted to take a Cubase SX project to a ProTools workstation in the past, you had to create a version of your song's audio with each track beginning at zero (or really 1.1.1.1, but zero gets the idea across). This way, all the ProTools engineer needed to do was to drag all files to their own tracks and mix away.

This method also took up tons of space. If you had a track of tambourine that only came in for the last 20 seconds of the song, the track's audio had to be elongated to begin at zero so the precision placement of the track would translate to the ProTools platform. ProTools (and other sequencers) can be set to recognize the timing placement of Broadcast Wave files and place them exactly in the time line where they belong.

However, 8-track tapes were all the rage once upon a time, and media formats are changing almost daily. Many believe it's still far better to create files from zero for archival purposes and for transfer to other digital audio platforms.

You can quickly create files from zero by using the Range Tool to select all audio files in the song and use the Bounce command from the Audio Menu. Open the audio folder in your operating system and view the files by date and size (you should see all of your new zero files at the top, and they should all be of equal size). Copy the zero files to another folder for archival purposes.

Broadcast Wave files are supposed to carry pinpoint timing information with them, but there is no way to screw up a zero file. Either way, it's all up to you.