I should know this about audio loops but sadly don't

[rlindsey0]

I can't remember the version of Tracktion/Waveform I was using when I last had reason to use audio (as opposed to MIDI) loops, but it was a long time ago, and I've forgotten whatever I knew then. I discovered that I'll need to do this shortly in an upcoming song, and I realized that I don't know which audio loop formats Waveform can use. Is it WAV, Acidized WAV (I believe that's a thing?), AIFF, or REX2? Or can W10 handle all of the above? The loop library I'm going to buy is available in several formats (including Stylus RMX, whatever that is), and I want to be sure I get the right one(s).

Also, it's likely that I'll have to stretch or contract the loops a little to fit the tempo of a given song. Can that be done with all these file formats, or only with some? All thoughts welcome. Thanks!

[gerk]

It can handle WAV, Acidized WAV (it's a thing), AIFF, and REX2. Also, lossy formats like mp3.

[rlindsey0]

It can handle WAV, Acidized WAV (it's a thing), AIFF, and REX2. Also, lossy formats like mp3.

Thanks! Can all of these be stretched without pitch change/substantial degradation?

[fde101]

Thanks! Can all of these be stretched without pitch change/substantial degradation?

That depends on the sample rate and on how far you are stretching them.

None of them can be stretched without some degree of loss, but the loss will be more noticeable the more you try to stretch them, and the lower the sample rate is.

The specific file format is not relevant to that, possibly unless you get into lossy formats.

[gerk]

Thanks! Can all of these be stretched without pitch change/substantial degradation?

That depends on the sample rate and on how far you are stretching them.

None of them can be stretched without some degree of loss, but the loss will be more noticeable the more you try to stretch them, and the lower the sample rate is.

The specific file format is not relevant to that, possibly unless you get into lossy formats.

Modern stretching algorithms are very good and unless you are going for extreme changes (like 100 BPM changes) there is no perceivable loss.

Also, Acidized Wav and REX2 files have tempo and key information in them, so they are better suited for stretching.

[Steve Bolivar]

It can handle WAV, Acidized WAV (it's a thing), AIFF, and REX2. Also, lossy formats like mp3.

I would stay away from REX/REX2 files with Waveform. It can load them into your edit but then will randomly not be load them when reopening the edit. If you do use them, render the files on place.

[gerk]

It can handle WAV, Acidized WAV (it's a thing), AIFF, and REX2. Also, lossy formats like mp3.

I would stay away from REX/REX2 files with Waveform. It can load them into your edit but then will randomly not be load them when reopening the edit. If you do use them, render the files on place.

This is absolutely not true. If you are missing files in an edit it is because they are not where the project expects them to be, not because they are REX loops.

[tovokas]

UPDATE: chico.co.uk pointed me to the Propellerhead Rex library installer, and I was able to track down where the files get installed (/library/application support/propellerhead software/rex): on my machines the permissions were locked down so tight it was impossible for Waveform to access the library. Giving read access to everyone solved the problems. Since this has occurred on multiple machines, it's not just a weird Apple permissions one-off: something out there is messing with the permissions, but it's not Waveform's fault, and it's an easy fix once you know what's happening!

No, it is unfortunately true: this is a longstanding issue in Waveform that happens on certain systems. In MacOS on my iMac and MacBook, Waveform lost access to Rex files a while back, and nothing I've tried can bring them back. (A serious pain for existing tunes with Rex files). They work fine for me in Windows on my MacBook. (Wav, caf, and aif files all work fine, all the time, everywhere).

If I drag a Rex2 file into a project a little box pops up saying "can't read this file". This is what all my Rex2 files, despite existing in the right place, look like in my projects:

[gerk]

No, it is unfortunately true: this is a longstanding issue in Waveform that happens on certain systems. In MacOS on my iMac and MacBook, Waveform lost access to Rex files a while back, and nothing I've tried can bring them back. (A serious pain for existing tunes with Rex files). They work fine for me in Windows on my MacBook. (Wav, caf, and aif files all work fine, all the time, everywhere).

If I drag a Rex2 file into a project a little box pops up saying "can't read this file". This is what all my Rex2 files, despite existing in the right place, look like in my projects:

Have you reported this as a bug to Tracktion?
I have not seen anyone else complain about this, are you sure this is not specific to your OS X environments?

[tovokas]

I started reporting it back in 2016 (in Tracktion 7) when Rex2 strangeness began rearing its ugly head. It continued in Tracktion 8, and Waveform 9 and 10. It's happened on 3 different Macs, in Sierra, High Sierra, and Mojave, some of the machines being reformatted a time or two. It happens with Rex files from a half dozen different venders, from files on local and external drives.

In all cases the files worked fine for years (some going back to 2008 in Tracktion 3), then just suddenly stopped working. (Or worked for a while, then stopped after a time).

And I know of at least one other user that has experienced it on Windows, so it's not specific to Macs.

[rlindsey0]

Yikes, that's a little discouraging about REX2 files. I suppose it could end up being totally fine (I'm on Windows 10), but it sounds like WAV might be a safer bet.

[FigBug]

Are these REX files disappearing when you restore from archive? I thought I'd fixed that bug. (Mind you any previously created archive may still be broken). I think the files are still there but the file extension is wrong.

If it's another issue I'll look into it.

[tovokas]

It’s doing it in brand new projects as well.

Checking the log file, this is what is logged when I attempt to drag a Rex2 file in:

*** ERROR: REX (Code 101): Unable to load the DLL

Where is the dll usually stored on the Mac? I can find about fifteen other ‘Rex Shared Library’ files for other DAWs and plugins, but I can’t find one in a Waveform directory. Could it be that the permissions are somehow getting messed up?

Thanks for looking into it!

[Steve Bolivar]

Are these REX files disappearing when you restore from archive? I thought I'd fixed that bug. (Mind you any previously created archive may still be broken). I think the files are still there but the file extension is wrong.

If it's another issue I'll look into it.

These are problems with active edits/projects. Here are previous posts on this.
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=501640&p=7034443&h ... x#p7034443
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=461270&p=7027879&h ... x#p7027879
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=461270&p=7028069&h ... 2#p7028069
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=501640&p=7063358&h ... x#p7063358

I appreciate your efforts on this.

[chico.co.uk]

It’s doing it in brand new projects as well.

Checking the log file, this is what is logged when I attempt to drag a Rex2 file in:

*** ERROR: REX (Code 101): Unable to load the DLL

Where is the dll usually stored on the Mac? I can find about fifteen other ‘Rex Shared Library’ files for other DAWs and plugins, but I can’t find one in a Waveform directory. Could it be that the permissions are somehow getting messed up?

Thanks for looking into it!

Sounds like you have multiple versions of Rex installed ... isn't the point of the shared library that you only have one? And it's shared between apps? DLLs don't exist on mac, but the error code probably indicates Waveform doesn't know where the shared library is.

Have you tried installing the generic Rex Shared Library from the props site? I had to do control + open to get it to install, seems to be unsigned.

https://help.propellerheads.com/hc/en-u ... ed-Library