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Format

Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX)

Summary

Name
Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX)
Identifiers
  • MIME: audio/x-wav
  • PUID: fmt/142
Format type
Audio
Family
WAVE
Description
Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX) is an extended version of the Waveform Audio file format, and was developed by Microsoft. It has superseded the Waveform Audio (PCMWAVEFORMAT).
File extensions
wav, wave
Source
Digital Preservation Department / The National Archives
Developed by
Microsoft Corporation
Supported by
Microsoft Corporation

Relationships

Has lower priority than
Has priority over
Is previous version of
Is subsequent version of
Is subtype of

Internal signatures

Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX)

Note
RIFF header, WAVE ID, Format chunk, chunk length GTE 18, wformat Tag not equal to decimal 65534 = 0xFFFE and Data chunk. Since DROID cannot currently handle inverted (i.e. not equal to) sequences, the wformat chunk is not expressed in this signature. For fmt/143 the wformat tag = 65534 = 0xFFFE, so this is handled by setting an appropriate identification priority.

Byte sequences

Min Frag Length
Absolute from BOF
Offset
0
Max offset
0
Byte Sequence
52494646{4}57415645666D7420[!10]{21-*}64617461
Endianness
Big-endian

Changelog

  • Updated in V109

    Release date
    1 November 2022

    Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX): Adjusted signature caused by copying error from previous release. Submitted by Preservica.

  • Updated in V108

    Release date
    5 September 2022

    Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX): Signature update - removal of wformat chunk due to DROID not currently being able to handle inverted sequences. For further details see issues #805 and #806 in the DROID GitHub page (https://github.com/digital-preservation/droid/issues). Submitted by Preservica.

  • Updated in V88

    Release date
    27 September 2016

    Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX): Adjusted signature due to findings from Archives New Zealand.

  • Updated in V65

    Release date
    25 October 2012

    Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX): Modified signature to remove multiple identification conflict with fmt/141 Waveform Audio (PCMWAVEFORMAT) identified through Ross Spencer's Skeleton Corpus.

  • Updated in V62

    Release date
    28 August 2012

    Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX): Existing signature refined through PRONOM Research.

  • Updated in V59

    Release date
    21 March 2012

    Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX): Priority set to avoid multiple identification with Waveform Audio Format.

  • Added in V58

    Release date
    21 March 2012

    Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX): Signature submitted by Georgia Tech Research Institute, USA.