Skip to main content
Wendy_Marie
Participating Frequently
August 28, 2017
Question

Corrupted WAV files

  • August 28, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 5211 views

Hello,

Really hoping someone can help!

I'm using Audition 4.0. A few months ago I noticed that when I'd save my WAV file (after downloading from my recorder) the file would be corrupted when I opened it again. Luckily I still had the original on my recorder and edited it using a different program. However, I am now having this problem again to a greater degree. I open the file from my recorder (which is plugged into my iMac) and it plays fine. I then save the file to a folder on my computer. This file is then saved as a corrupted file. As in, when I play it back it repeats a section over and over, there are crazy sounds, it's jumbled. The strange thing is that one of the files (the most important one) was saved and playing correctly a month ago. I've been editing it and pulling sound bites from it. I've since deleted the original one to free up space on my recorder. And then today, when I went to open it to continue putting my piece together, it was corrupted. Furthermore, a few (not all) of the selected sound bites I had pulled and resaved are corrupted too. I am hesitant to continue using Audition, despite using it for years, as I am scared this will keep happening and I don't have the time to keep trying to recover my files. One important thing to note: Audition did not crash at the time. I think that's happened previously where it had crashed and then a file was corrupted. But this is happening without it even crashing.

Love some help!

Thanks!

Wendy

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    3 replies

    Participant
    November 27, 2018

    As a followup, we moved up to CC2019 and the file loading issue we were having with 3 and CS6 went away. I've noticed that CC takes a bit longer to load files into memory than the previous versions. This might be a good thing, and part of the fix to our previous problems.

    Participant
    November 17, 2020

    Is there any way whatsoever to fix this issue, even if the corrupt file is saved? I did an interview with my cast members, and it's the only file I have.

    Participant
    August 22, 2018

    Hi,

    I'm reviving this thread since we started experiencing the same problem. This happened in Audition 3 as well as CS6. To be more specific:

    A wav file is recorded perfectly and can be accessed  and played back at another time. Sometimes when opened in the editor, the file will play back a section and then repeat that section over and over. The waveform represents what I'm hearing, ie, the waveform section is repeated over and over. If I close the file and reopen, it will open correctly as it was recorded originally. However, if I save the file before closing, it saves the corrupted file and the original is lost.

    The only thing I can think of is that Audition is getting confused when writing to the temporary file. Why it's happening on occasion is unclear. The temp folder has lots of space on the drive so I don't think it's a space issue.

    If this issue has been discussed elsewhere please let me know.

    Thanks

    SteveG_AudioMasters_
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 22, 2018

    Hmm....

    roberts87183339  wrote

    A wav file is recorded perfectly and can be accessed  and played back at another time. Sometimes when opened in the editor, the file will play back a section and then repeat that section over and over.

    If you have a file that has been saved successfully and when reopened, plays fine then there's nothing wrong with the file. If you open it again, and it only plays back a section of it repeatedly, then the file read was incorrect - confirmed by you saying:

    If I close the file and reopen, it will open correctly as it was recorded originally. However, if I save the file before closing, it saves the corrupted file and the original is lost.

    So firstly, you've established that the file is correct. Second, you've established that sometimes when reopened, it doesn't open correctly - ie, it's not been read correctly. Thirdly, you've confirmed completely that the temp file is fine, believe it or not; It has correctly stored the incorrect information, and saved it from there - in its incorrect form.

    I think that what you've established is that for whatever reason, your computer isn't always reading your hard disk correctly. Which generally means it's on the way out, I'm afraid.

    SteveG_AudioMasters_
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    August 28, 2017

    Initially you should run some scans on your hard disk to check for corruption. The only times I've ever had this happen, it was because of disk faults, not Audition ones.

    Wendy_Marie
    Participating Frequently
    August 28, 2017

    Thank you, Steve! I just ran that, as I hadn't thought to do it, but it actually came back fine.

    ryclark
    Participating Frequently
    August 28, 2017

    Where are you saving the audio files that come back corrupted? Do any other media player apps open and play these files OK?