User Guide

FILE FORMATS AND ATTRIBUTES
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Once you have performed the above operations, you should use Convert to 8-Bit
in the Process menu to do the 16- to 8-bit conversion. Sound Forge XP
provides three different 16- to 8-bit conversion options; Truncate, Round, and
Dither.
Truncate removes the lower 8 bits and they are lost forever. Round is similar to
Truncate, only some attempt is made to represent the highest of the low bits by
rounding up if possible. Dithering is used to mask the quantization noise with
less obtrusive noise. In the Convert to 8-Bit dialog, set the Dither bit depth to a low
value (like 0.1) and increase the value slowly until you reach an acceptable
sound.
Remember, an 8-bit sound file will always sound noisier than a 16-bit sound
file, so whenever possible, stick with 16-bit. When trying to save space, it is
possible to get better results from lowering the sample rate than using 8-bit
samples. For more information, see Resample under the Process menu in chapter
6, Sound Forge XP Reference.
CONVERTING FILES FROM ONE FORMAT TO ANOTHER
When producing audio files you may find that you need to work with a variety
of file formats. For example, WAV files could have data formats such as 8-bit
mono, 16-bit stereo, or even ADPCM.You may need the files converted to Raw
data, VOC, or some other PC format. You may even need to convert to a
different platform like Macintosh AIF files or Amiga SVX.
In the previous sections you’ve seen that you can quickly convert between
mono/stereo, 8-/16-bit, and change the sample rate with Sound Forge XP.You
can also use the Save As command to save the file to a new name, or you save it
in a new file format.
To convert file formats:
1. Open the TUTOR1.WAV file. Select the Save As command from the File
menu.The Save As dialog will be displayed.