On 2011-11-26, John Lundsten wrote:
Now for sure I'm not saying .wav is the only format for all time.
Of course not. RIFF, CAF, and whatever, follow the same EAV/TLV formula
that Commodore Amiga's IFF did:
entity-attribute-value/type-length-value. The four byte/32-bit total
schema for each of those values actually originated with Motorola's
680x0 series of processors, instead of the ones we now use. The original
RIFF was Commodore Amiga's IFF.
I trust that you possess a copy of the original Interchange File Format
specification, as I do.
But i do maintain the basic Wav structure was far better layed out &
more to the point, shared, than say AIFF and then Wav got 'extended',
building on the well stated idea of 'mandatory' chunks (Eg info)
supplemented by various other chunks going from well defined or near
universal, down to overt 'private chunks'.
Yes. (And sorry, you do seem to know about AIFF as well. Most don't.)
The point is that that structure cuts through to QuickTime and MP4 BMFF
as well. While getting better on the way. Unfortunately we don't know
too well what the best and most widely spread contenders look like,
internally. Like Flash or ShoutCast. But the fact is, the newer
derivatives of the age-old IFF are better than the older kinds. By a
mile.
The basic rule is if a chunk is not understood, ignore it - the basic
Wav'ness means the file will still play just fine.
That's the basic theory, yes. But does it hold forever? No. Just look at
SMB as a protocol or Microsoft Word's format even after it moved over to
COM or whatever it was. It's a thorough wonder by now that them
OpenOffice dudes have been able t decipher what that basic TLV/EAV
format does, over the years and versions.
'The WAV format was compromised in its early years by mutually
incompatible 'extensions', created by various software houses mainly
for multichannel (> 2 channels), but also for plain mono and stereo.'
Sorry this is Nonsense.
Mostly, but not quite. It did happen, and the people working with the
format fealt it. Just as they did with incompatible extensions to the
standard MIDI file. But the ecosystem-wide effects were rather limited,
which they are not today.
The absolute worst that can happen is the 'new stuff' is not
understood & may even be 'played' as a 'splat'. [where software
developers haven't bothered to read the Wav specs].
I actually have. And some others. Did you know RIFF WAVE is no longer
primarily controlled by Microsoft as it used to be? That it's now RF64,
an extension of BWF, a derivative of RIFF WAVE? RF64 is controlled by
EBU. So is BWF. And I seem to remember both of them have been ratified
by AES. So there you go: there's no WAV anymore. ;)
Mac apps on the other hand regularly wreck a BWF chunk. (which is
vital to most Film /TV work).
Hell. Another format narc. Will yield if necessary...
Or some Mac apps attempt to add that which is basic to wav, and not in
the 'archaic' AIFF spec, & add a 'timestamp'.
There are new genuinely new things in the QuickTime/BMFF stage. Like
hints for realtime casting of an unevenly compressed, multiplexed file.
Those can't really be neglected in the so called "manly work". Plus,
those are already well-standardized.
As I said this may be the 'true way', but basically, IMO, it's yet
another attempt by Apple to create yet another format 'the other lot
can't read'.
Fully agreed. Though then you'd have to agree it's a neat format per se.
Well-thought out, as clean as de novo ones come, and perhaps the only
new one which includes at least some support for ambisonic. It might be
that we're a bit partial here, being that many around here like
ambisonic. But you too have to admit it's a neat de novo design.
Of course it only works for Apple, as an ecosystem. That's why nobody
here really bets their livelihood on it. Just look at the logs and be
assured of that. :)
--
Sampo Syreeni, aka decoy - [email protected], http://decoy.iki.fi/front
+358-50-5756111, 025E D175 ABE5 027C 9494 EEB0 E090 8BA9 0509 85C2
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