VS Pro X4 Ultimate - Serious problem editing WAV files

[GLOBETROTTER]

I have been using VideoStudio software for many years, so am familiar with the way earlier versions work.

I have been working on a new major video project using VideoStudio Pro X4 Ultimate edition the past few days, and have been relatively happy, even with the ProDad. But I have just uploaded some Wav files from a Zoom H4 and although they all load OK and Play OK on the timelines in CLIP mode, when I click on PROJECT and play the same sound files they just provide extremely loud 'white-noise', in other words I'm unable to edit the sound files at all! I thought that possibly the Wav 48.000KHz 24 Bit, Stereo files were at fault, but if I clicked back to CLIP and then pressed play, all the sound is perfect! So it is NOT the sound files but something within X4 Pro.
To double check my sound files, I opened up the exact same Wav files in the Corel Ulead Videostudio 11 Plus software, and ALL the sound files play correctly in both CLIP and PROJECT!
This is a VERY serious problem because I cannot edit many important sound files with VS PRo X4 Ultmate edition!

I've tried some 44KHz 16Bit stereo files and they seem to play OK in Project mode within Pro X4...

I hope that there is some simple explanation...

[Ron P.]

I'm not sure why VS has a problem with 24bit WAV, but the easy solution would be to convert them to 16bit.

[DVDDoug]

I don't have an explanation and I can't try it out at the moment. But if it was me, I'd try converting the files to 16-bit with an audio editor (48kHz should be OK).

You might try a 48kHz, 24-bit file from another source.

There might be something "funny" about the file header. You might try just opening & saving the file with an audio editor. (In order to force your audio editor to re-write the header, you might need to make a small change to the file, such as adding some silence to the end.)

How big is the file? There is a file-size limit for WAV files (2GB or 4GB depending on which spec you read, or what software you're using.)

they just provide extremely loud 'white-noise',

Of course this should never happen, but with 2-channels & 24-bits, there are 3 bytes per sample... The data can get scrambled (and you'll get noise) if the bytes get read in the wrong sequence, or if the software "thinks" it's reading 16-bit, etc. It doesn't take much... If you were to remove one byte from the file, all of the data after that spot would be scrambled noise.

[GLOBETROTTER]

I've just down-converted the files to 16bit and they now play correctly. I still can't understand why a far more advanced and later software like 4X Pro Ultimate should have problems playing files which the older 11 Plus plays smoothly. Does anybody else have 4X Pro Ultimate who can check if it can play 24 Bit files in Program mode?

[Roberto]

Hello,

I also use the Zoom H4 and I remember that during one of my recording I pressed "by mistake" the 48KHz recording option which ended up in something that VSX4Pro could not handle.
At that time I had to use a WAV editor to re-sample the part to 44.1KHz to let VSX4 digest the WAV...
Therefore, I think it's better to use 44.1Khz 16-bit as a standard way to record in case you want to assemble your audio/video projects with VSX4.
Btw, I experience some sync skew between the audio (Zoom H4) and the video (an old photo camera from Canon, PowerShot S2IS).
I can manage to have them synchronized at the beginning but after some minutes the audio is lagging.
When I used VSX2, with the same audio & video HW, I experienced no skewing at all.
Do you see the same problem ?

[GLOBETROTTER]

I use 48-KHz 24-Bit not 44-KHz 16-Bit, and have had no problems editing long projects In earlier Ulead and Corel software. The point is that it is a problem with 4X Pro that shouldn't exist. Why should I have to Lower my sound recording standards to fit the very latest software?

[DVDDoug]

Why should I have to Lower my sound recording standards to fit the very latest software?

As far as we know, the decision makers at Corel don't read this forum, and they certanly don't reply, so you're not going to get a real answer here... Maybe because although it's name is "pro" it's really "consumer software"?

For the price, it has lots of features but it's not perfect. If I need to do something that Video Studio can't do, I don't get stressed about it... I use another program that I already have, or I look for a program that can do it.

I understand your desire to maintain the best quality, and I agree it's stupid that Video Studio doesn't support 24-bits, which is very common and "automatically" supported by Windows.

But, don't worry about lowering your standards. There are reasons for using more bits (or floating point) in music production, but for your final output, 16-bits is more than enough. The 16th bit (technically "bit zero") is more than 90dB down and you cannot hear it. If you don't have a feel for how quiet -90dB is, here's a simple experiment - Try reducing the 2nd half of a song by -90dB... Play the 1st half of the song as loud as you like (but not so loud that it's distorting) , and then don't change the volume for the 2nd half and see what it sounds like.

[Kingston]

I don't have any problems with 24-bit PCM Stereo (.WAV) files in VideoStudio Pro X4. I created the files with Adobe Audition CS5.5.

[GLOBETROTTER]

That is interesting, Kingston, are your files 48kHz, 24-bit file? Do you have the original VS Pro X4 loaded or the recent 'Ultimate' version?

I am still unable to use 48/24 in Program mode (although sound plays perfect in the X4 timeline in Clip mode) and because I need to get this major film completed, I have decided to continue the editing project mainly in 48KHz, 16Bit, which the X4 seems to work Ok with.

Regarding the latest 'Ultimate' version, I'm quite happy so far, with only the odd crash...at least a lot less than previous versions. The Prodad is doing a semi-decent job on some footage, but of course nothing beats having completely steady & smooth orginal footage, especially with video from DSLRs like the 5D Mark II, so I'm glad that I don't need to use the ProDad often. It has however managed to save a few important clips that I'd earlier deligated for the reject bin, so it is certainly useful. It does however have the tendancy to slightly soften original footage.

Regarding the earlier comment that software named 'Pro' is not actually professional grade. I am a full-time professional and I've had most of the more expensive 'pro' editing software such as Permiere Pro installed for years, but rarely use it. I much prefer the work-flow of Corel and find it much more intuitive when editing hundreds of hours of footage. Use what you like and are comfortable working with; after all, it is the end result that truly counts.

[Kingston]

GLOBETROTTER:

Kingston's files are 2304 Kbps, 48.0 KHz, 24 bits, 2 channels, PCM

I have the original X4 with SP1.

[GLOBETROTTER]

Corel support have just informed me that:

"Please be informed that VideoStudio Pro X4 can only output 48000 KHz, 16 bit  Wave file."

[Kingston]

That's 16-bit for output. What about INPUT?