3 steps to ascertain whether two wav files are the same

Posted by: MangoMonkey on 15 January 2014

This might be interesting for folks who are trying to ascertain whether two cd rips are bit by bit identical. You'll need to install Audacity.

 

 

1) Import Files

a) File => Import => Audio (choose make a copy) -> First file

b) File => Import => Audio (choose make a copy) -> Second file

2) Select the first file, and do Effect Invert.

3) Select both files, and do Tracks => Mix and render

 

If you end up with Nothing, Just a 0.0 line, the two files have cancelled themselves out, indicating that both files indeed had the exact same data.

 

Enjoy!

 

Posted on: 17 January 2014 by MangoMonkey

@Charlie

The steps I suggested for Audacity do exactly what you're suggesting, albeit visually. I think you'll enjoy using audacity.

M

Posted on: 17 January 2014 by MangoMonkey

Joe,

You know that I had an ulterior motive to this - putting to rest, systematically, the notion that Naim has 'magic rips'.

Take any CD - rip on your PC using dbpoweramp, rip on Naim. You can check visually that they're an exact match. If anything, I suspect dbpoweramp will do a better job with scratched up cds.

 

Watching two files collapse into nothingness is powerful - more powerful than the abstract notion of CRC matches - even though that makes sense - but there's no arguing with you taking two files, and noticing that they collapse into 0s

 

 

Now, the digital equivalent of what you suggest would be rip two different pressings and listen - or more geeky watch the spectrum in audacity. If you do look at the spectrum in audacity, you can easily say which mastering was dynamically compressed.

Posted on: 17 January 2014 by joerand
Originally Posted by MangoMonkey:

You know that I had an ulterior motive to this - putting to rest, systematically, the notion that Naim has 'magic rips'.

Take any CD - rip on your PC using dbpoweramp, rip on Naim. You can check visually that they're an exact match. If anything, I suspect dbpoweramp will do a better job with scratched up cds.

Ah! Put in those terms it now makes perfect sense to me. You've found an indisputable means to wring-out any digital snake oil. Cool.