Audio Files

The following audio file formats are supported:

• .WAV files: 16 bit mono or stereo (Pro edition also supports 24 bit, 32 bit and 32 bit floating point files).
• .AIF files: 16 bit mono or stereo (Pro edition also supports 24 bit, 32 bit and 32 bit floating point files).
• .GJM files: 16 bit mono using lossless compression (Pro edition also supports 24 bit).
• .GJS files: 16 bit stereo using lossless compression (Pro edition also supports 24 bit).
• .M4A files: 16 bit mono or stereo files using lossy compression.
• .MP3 files: 16 bit mono or stereo files using lossy compression.
• .AEM files: contain references to audio files to play. .AEM files are application-generated (see Understanding Audio Editing).

The Windows version can open existing .aac, .ac3, .mp4 and .wma files (requires Windows 7 or newer).

The Mac version can open existing .aac, .ac3, .mp4, .aifc, .caf, .snd, .au and .sd2 files.

WAV files

WAV files can be used with almost any program that supports audio. You need a WAV file to create an audio CD.

AIF files

AIF files are similar to WAV files. They're widely supported on Mac computers, but rare on Windows.

GJM/GJS files

GJM/GJS files use lossless compression to reduce file size. The compression algorithm works best if the audio signal doesn't contain loud treble parts. This works well for multitrack recording since tracks typically have many silent or soft parts so the file size can easily be reduced to about 70% of its original size.

Note that sound quality isn't impaired in any way by the compressing action: if you save a .WAV file in .GJM format and then save that file in .WAV format again you get exactly the same file.

M4A files

M4A files use a lossy compression algorithm that degrades sound quality. Sound quality tends to be slightly better than MP3.

The Mac version supports lossless 'ALAC' compression.

MP3 files

MP3 files use a lossy compression algorithm that degrades sound quality. The resulting file size is 3..9% of the original size. This makes MP3 the format of choice if you want to publish your songs on the internet, or if you want to send them via email.

Every time a new MP3 file is created the audio quality can be chosen: Medium, High, Higher or Very High. These options correspond to 56, 128, 192 and 256 kb/sec (stereo files) or 32, 64, 96 and 128 kb/sec (mono files).

Note for Windows 7 users:
Windows 7 doesn't provide an MP3 encoder. A .dll is required for creating MP3 files:
The 64-bit version expects a 'lame_enc64.dll' file in the C:\Program Files\MtStudio folder.
The 32-bit version expects a 'lame_enc.dll' file in the C:\Program Files\MtStudio folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\MtStudio on 64 bit Windows).
You can search the web for the files mentioned. If there's no dll file any ACM codecs which are on your system will be used.

Legacy files

• .LST files: pre MultitrackStudio 5 equivalent of .aem files.
• .SAM files: 16 bit mono headerless raw data files.