User manual

Table Of Contents
689
File handling
Importing audio
Importing compressed audio files
Cubase can import several common audio compression formats. The procedure is the
same as when importing any non-compressed audio file, with one important thing to
note:
For most compressed file formats, Cubase creates a copy of the file and converts
this to Wave format (Windows) or AIFF format (Mac
OS X) before importing it. The
original compressed file will not be used in the project.
The imported file is placed in the designated project Audio folder.
The following file types are supported:
FLAC files
FLAC is
an open source format and
stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec
. Audio files
in this format are typically 50 to 60
% smaller than regular Wave files. FLAC files are not
converted to Wave files on import.
MPEG audio files
MPEG, which stands for Moving Picture Experts Group, is the name of a family of
standards used for encoding audio-visual information (e.
g. movies, video, music) in a
digital compressed format.
Cubase can read two types of audio MPEG files: MPEG Layer 2 (*.mp2) and MPEG
Layer 3 (*.mp3). Currently, mp3 is the most common of these formats, while the mp2
format is mostly used in broadcast applications.
Ogg Vorbis files
Ogg Vorbis is an open and patent-free format that offers very small audio files
maintaining comparatively high audio quality. Ogg Vorbis files have the extension “.ogg”.
Windows Media Audio files (Windows only)
Windows Media Audio is an audio format developed by Microsoft, Inc. Due to
advanced audio compression algorithms, Windows Media Audio files can be made
very small, maintaining good audio quality. The files have the extension “.wma”.
Ö For exporting Audio, see the chapter “Export Audio Mixdown” on page 638.
!
The resulting Wave/AIFF file is several times larger than the original compressed file.