Old Cool Edit files in 32-bit floating point format

WaveLab
1

I’ve got an old file in 32-bit WAV format, but when I load it into WL the sound is totally distorted. I’ve done some research and it appears the the original file format for Syntrillium Cool Edit was “Windows PCM IEEE Float (16.8 float type 1)”. Does anyone know how I could get this into WaveLab?

2

You need an old copy of Adobe Audition or CoolEdit; even current versions of Audition won’t open them - I had to reload an old one (which I already owned, and fortunately had not ditched) to convert some of my files. There is, as far as I know, no official method of reading these files with any current program, Adobe or otherwise.

In January 2013 Adobe made CS2 (which included Audition 3) freely available for download, so that users could get a serial number that didn’t require activation, and thus enable Adobe to turn off the activation servers. Although this was not intended as a give-away for just anyone (the page now requires a login), it acted as such, and Google will enable you to get a working copy of Audition 3 with no difficulty.

Paul

3

Thank you very much – I think I may still have an old Cool Edit somewhere from the time it was still shareware … I shall investigate and report back!

4

OT: Good old Cool Edit. I held on to it for a long time next to Wavelab, just for the noise removal tool in it… :sunglasses:

5

Yes, good old Cool Edit … but worrying when you think about it; how many of us would have given any consideration at the time to the fact that a product would be taken over by a multi-national, and then have its native format abandoned? I feel quite certain that there’s stuff out there for which people believe they have archival copies, in this strange format that can only be read by a product for which the vendor has switched off the activation server!

I will look in the advice given when I get some more time, but suffice to say that I’ve tried WaveLab, Cubase, Reaper, Audacity, Awave Studio and SOX, and none of them can do anything with this format. Admittedly the ultimate fault lies with Cood Edit, for choosing a non-standard format, but how many users of this “Pro” software were in a position to know that at the time?

Begs the question … how many more “time-bombs” are out there in the archives?

6

Well, now that you mention it… Since I did use it, I might have some of those unreadable files myself.
Not cool, Adobe :cry: