Audition is not saving my edits (spectral display) on my wav file

Report · Feb 22, 2024

Version of the app: Adobe Audition Build 24.2.0.83
Platform and OS version: Mac, Sonoma 14.3.1
Basic steps to reproduce the problem: All I did was cut and pasta part of the wav from one spot to another. But when I paste it the spectral display area information is gone. This just started happening tonight. I have been working perfectly ok all day until this evening. I thought ok well let me just undo what I last did so that I can get the data back (which I did) and save it. But when I tried to close the program, it suddenly stopped and got stuck. I decided to save my work as a version 2 in hopes that I can figure out what was up. But the original edited file and the copy version 2 no longer have the spectral data under the waveform.
Expected result and actual result: Be able to edit the wave file - move part of a file around with the waveform and spectral display in tact.

Below I two screenshots below: the original raw version and the version I was editing. I really hope that I haven't lost all the work I have done this week. This is crazy.

Report · Feb 23, 2024

The thing is, the spectral display is rebuilt every time you make an edit - the spectral information isn't stored anywhere, unlike .pkf files. What appears to be happening to yours is that they are not rebuilding. But if you make the edits and save the file, you won't have lost any data. So if you do that, and then re-open the file, what happens?

Report · Feb 23, 2024

That's the weird thing. I swear I did. But even the previous work I had done earlier in the file lost the data completely. I did notice that something odd was happening and saved but it told me some warning about not being able to save and froze . Don't know why my previous saved work disappeared. I was in the process of moving a small section of the file around. And I wasn't doing anything fancy just cutting/copying in a small section. I'm just at a lose.

I also called Adobe support and even they could not figure out why all my data that I had previously done disappeared. So the conclusion was that I was just going to have to remake the original file and re-edit everything I had done over the last few days.

I now have a back up to my back up to save on the hourly. And I also plan to split the file up into several smaller files so I don't lose all my work in one swoop.

It's extremely frustrating and disheartening, but it is what it is. This weekend is going to suck.

Thank you,

Joanna

Report · Feb 23, 2024

I uploaded an image of what the file looked like when I opened it. It only saved the markers I had inserted and the work I had done in the waveform (green part). The spectral frequency is all gone from that file. It's like it was grabbed and deleted.

Report · Feb 23, 2024

If you have a file that appears to have a waveform with it, but there is no spectral display, it does actually provide a big clue. What it suggests is that there's a .pkf file (with the waveform display information in it) that appears to be the correct one for the file - but it simply isn't. What would happen then is that there would be a waveform displayed, but no spectral information because the actual waveform, which creates the spectral display, simply isn't there.

So now you want to know what sort of situation could cause that? The most likely culprit is the temp file that you are updating every time you make an edit in Waveform view. If it's a large file you are editing, and you've made a lot of changes, then this can get pretty large and unwieldy. There used to be a setting that let you limit the number of undos you could make in Waveform view, but that seems to have been dropped for some reason that I can't quite fathom.

So what's the best thing to do? Get a large external usb drive and relocate the Audition primary temp file location to a folder on it. This minimises the chances of anything getting at it that shouldn't. I did that on my DAW years ago and I've had zero problems with this since. But the other reason that I don't have trouble with it is that I very rarely edit in Waveform view. I use it for trimming the ends of files and alternative format saves, but that's about all. I do pretty much all editing in Multitrack view. Same goes for any local recordings as well - all get made in Multitrack, because the recording is direct to file, rather than do a temp file first, which it is in Waveform view.

If you haven't got an external drive available, then the other thing you should do is have a careful look in your temp location and make sure that the folder you are using is empty before you open Audition, and that there are no bits of file left over from previous sessions still in there. This has been known to cause problems. Other than that, work on small files and save often. It might also be worth mentioning that the original MO for Audition (and Cool Edit before it) is that you open a file in Waveform view and put labelled marker ranges on it for the bits you want to use. Then, using the ranges in the marker list, you can transfer them as clips into a Multitrack session. Right-clicking on a marker range will give you insertion options. After this it's easy to put things where you want them, and then do a final export/mixdown.