WaveConvert Pro 2.3 and BarbaBatch 2.1

WaveConvert Pro 2.3 and BarbaBatch 2.1

Introduction Audio File Input and Processing Sample Rate Conversion and Compression Dynamics, Bit-Rate Conversion, and Extensibility File Output Performance -- How Does It Sound? Picking A Winner

In both programs, files can be selected either in a standard Macintosh file selector or by dragging and dropping folders or files onto the desktop icon or main application window. When adding files to a batch list, BarbaBatch stands out in that it lets you drag and drop folders containing nested directory structures. This is a huge advantage for projects in which you have a large number of source files that require some organizing directory structure (such as a league/team/player name directory in a sports game). This nested directory structure will be recreated during the output phase, with separate subdirectories created for each different conversion.

WaveConvert Pro simply ignores files that exist in nested directories during a drag-and-drop input, so you have to visit each subfolder separately to select all of the files that you need. For a large job, this can be quite time consuming. Once you've input all your files, however, WaveConvert Pro does allow you to save a text file called a Joblist, which, among other things, can be loaded again later if you need to reprocess a large batch of files.

Both programs have good features that allow you to audition individual files. In WaveConvert Pro, you can double-click on a group of files and they will play in order. BarbaBatch lets you batch audition files from a folder and even lets you insert an alert sound between files.

Loading files was easy in both programs. The only trouble I had was when I tried to import Raw audio files into WaveConvert Pro -- the product had trouble recognizing Raw files that it had created itself, which was odd.

Both tools support basic file conversion processes, such as mono-to-stereo and vice versa, sample-rate and bit-rate conversions, and file format conversions (see Table 1 for more detail.) BarbaBatch also can export split stereo files, which is very useful for people who work with a multitrack digital audio workstation, such as Digidesign's ProTools or Macromedia's Deck.

Beyond these basic functions, the products begin to diverge. BarbaBatch offers a minimal, but well targeted suite of processing functions. WaveConvert Pro, on the other hand, offers a much wider range of processing options and supports external DSP plug-ins. So it's almost more appropriate to think of WaveConvert Pro as a platform rather than a single application. These plug-ins, also from Waves, represent some of the highest quality audio signal processing available on any platform, anywhere. While considerably less expensive than comparable hardware devices, these external plug-ins are not cheap (each costs up to twice as much as WaveConvert Pro itself). Because of this price difference, suffice it to say that WaveConvert Pro's power comes from its extensibility.