MusicPlayer Forums: Identifying dat files

You are not logged in. [Log In] MusicPlayer.com » Forums » Our Archives » Studio Tech » Identifying dat files - what are these?

Page 1 of 1

Topic Options

#1039444 - 09/27/05 03:15 PM

Identifying dat files - what are these?

swordofpork
Member

Registered: 09/27/05
Posts: 3

Offline

Hi all
I recorded a demo a while ago at a studio and as well as the final audio cd, i was sent a cd labelled "24 bit dats only". The files on the disc have no file extension, so I don't know what they are or how to open them.
There is a file for each song we recorded, typically around 50,000 KB (50 MB) for a 4 minute track, and also a 520KB file called "Desktop DB", and a 2,852KB file called "Desktop DF".
I'd love to know what format these are likely to be in?
Thanks
Ben

Top

#1039445 - 09/28/05 09:56 AM

Re: Identifying dat files - what are these?

paully
Platinum Member

Registered: 05/25/04
Posts: 1068
Loc: Northern New Jersey

Offline

Quote:

Originally posted by swordofpork:
...I recorded a demo a while ago at a studio and as well as the final audio cd, i was sent a cd labelled "24 bit dats only"...

>>>>>>>>>

The last time I saw an actual .dat extention was back in the MSDOS days of Quickbasic. Could mean any number of things besides a file type. My best guess is that these are the 'rendered' files that are used to create the final recognizable songs when burning the CD, and are virtually unuseable by you. They were probably included to save time if further track editing is needed. The other file is probably a 'song order' register. Why not just call the studio and ask them to decipher?(!). Paul

_________________________
WUDAYAKNOW.. For the first time in my life, I'm wrong again!!

Top

#1039446 - 09/28/05 05:18 PM

Re: Identifying dat files - what are these?

alfonso
Platinum Member

Registered: 11/06/00
Posts: 1070
Loc: Fregene, Italy.

Offline

It could also be that they meant 24 beat DATA only in the sense that they are not to be played on cd player. Then, the files Desktop DB and DF, together with files coming without extension are the typical stuff coming out from Macs, main file plus identifiers. I suggest to add the .aif extension to the big file as it is the preferred linear audio format of Macs, loadable by PC daws too, and see if it works. I bet it does.

_________________________
http://www.spacemuse.com/
http://cdbaby.com/cd/damoranatale
http://payplay.fm/damoranatale
iTunes

Top

#1039447 - 09/29/05 06:51 AM

Re: Identifying dat files - what are these?

swordofpork
Member

Registered: 09/27/05
Posts: 3

Offline

Thanks for the advice.
I rename a file .aif and it attempts to open (on my pc) with quicktime, which tells me 'the end of the file was reached prematurely'.
Is there another program i'm supposed to be opening it with?

Top

#1039448 - 09/29/05 07:21 PM

Re: Identifying dat files - what are these?

alfonso
Platinum Member

Registered: 11/06/00
Posts: 1070
Loc: Fregene, Italy.

Offline

I don't know if quick time can open 24bit files. Any audio editor or daw like Cubase should open it. But if you haven't any there is an excellent player called Foobar2000 that opens almost everything:

http://www.foobar2000.org/

just check that there are no spaces in the names of the files (you can rename them) as the version I have doesn't like spaces...

It is also possible that they saved with .wav extension, if Foobar has problems too try to see what happens if you rename them as .wav

A call for explanation would be also a killer solution!

_________________________
http://www.spacemuse.com/
http://cdbaby.com/cd/damoranatale
http://payplay.fm/damoranatale
iTunes

Top

Page 1 of 1

Previous Topic View All Topics

Index Next Topic

Hop to:

Support Your Forums