Steinberg WaveLab Essential 6 Operation Manual

							41
Editing in the Wave window
You can also press [Shift] and click in the Wave window 
to make a selection between the position of the wave cur-
sor and the click position.
Selecting in stereo files
If you are working on stereo material you can select either 
channel or both so that you can apply an operation to one 
channel only or to the entire stereo material. Which chan-
nel will be selected when you drag or [Shift]-click de-
pends on where you position the mouse pointer, as 
indicated by the pointer shape:
ÖTo select a single channel by [Shift]-clicking, you need 
to set the wave cursor in only one channel (by clicking in 
the upper or lower part of the wave) and then [Shift]-click 
in the same channel.
Switching the selection between channels
If you have made a selection, you can move this to the 
other channel or extend it to both channels by selecting 
the corresponding items from the Select submenu (on the 
Edit menu). Or, you can press [Tab] to move the selection 
between channels (if there is no selection, [Tab] moves 
the cursor between channels).
Selection shortcuts
There are a number of ways to quickly make certain selec-
tions (for many options there is more than one method):
Selecting in the Overview
You can select in the Overview, just as in the Main view. 
To get the selection tool in the overview, hold down [Ctrl] 
and move the pointer into the overview.
Extending and shrinking the selection
Very often you will have made a selection only to find it isn’t 
completely perfect. In this case you can extend or shrink 
the selection. In fact you can very well use this as a 
method: make a coarse selection with a lower zoom factor, 
then zoom in and adjust the start and end in more detail.
By dragging
1.Move the mouse pointer to the beginning or end of the 
selection.
It turns into a double arrow.
Position Pointer 
ShapeDescription
Upper half of left channel  Only the left channel will be 
selected.
Middle area Both channels will be selected.
Lower half of right channel  Only the right channel will be 
selected.
To select… You can…
The area between two consec-
utive markers
 Double click between them.
 Depending on the type of marker, use 
one of the last two options on the Select 
menu (on the Edit menu).
The area between any two 
markers Double click between two markers, 
keep the mouse button pressed and drag 
left or right.
The entire waveform If there are no markers, double click.
 Triple click.
 Press [Ctrl]-[A].
 Select “All” from the Select menu on the 
Edit menu.
From the cursor to the follow-
ing or previous marker Select “From cursor to previous/next 
edge” from the Select menu (on the Edit 
menu).
 Hold down [Shift] and double click be-
tween the cursor and the marker.
From the cursor to the begin-
ning or end of the file Select “From cursor to start/end of file” 
from the Select submenu (on the Edit 
menu).
 Hold down [Shift] and double click to 
the left/right of the cursor position.
 Press [Shift]+[Home] or [Shift]+[End].
All data between two start/end 
loop or region markers Hold down [Shift] and double click on 
either marker head.
 Click between the start/end region 
markers and select the type (loop or ge-
neric region) from the Select menu on the 
Edit menu.
Half or double the current se-
lection length Select “Halve selection length” or “Dou-
ble selection length” from the Select menu 
on the Edit menu. These options are useful 
if you are working with measures.
What was previously selected Select “Toggle” from the Select menu 
on the Edit menu.
 Press [Esc].
To select… You can… 
						

							42
Editing in the Wave window
2.Press the mouse button and drag left/right.
Dragging the end of the selection.
Using [Shift]
Hold down [Shift] and click outside (extend) or inside 
(shrink) the current selection.
If you click inside the first half of the selection, this will change the start 
point, if you click inside the latter half, this will change the end point.
Using the cursor keys
 If you hold down [Shift] and press the [←] or [→] keys, the 
start or end of the selection is moved one pixel (screen dot) to 
the left/right. If you also hold down [Ctrl] it is moved twenty 
pixels instead.
 If you hold down [Shift] and press [Page Up]/[Page Down], it 
will also move 20 pixels.
 If you hold down [Shift] and press the [Home]/[End] keys, the 
selection will extend from the current cursor position to the 
start/end of the file respectively.
Which end of the selection you change depends on which 
end of the selection the cursor is closest to.
Exactly how much one pixel represents depends on the 
zoom factor. If for example the zoom factor is “x1:64”, the 
cursor keys alone move 64 samples, and together with 
[Ctrl] they move 1280 samples.
Using the Select menu
The Select submenu (on the Edit menu) has a number of 
options for extending the selection to various points in the 
waveform.
Moving the selection
If the selection is the right length, but at the wrong posi-
tion, you can move it:
1.Hold down [Ctrl] and [Shift].
2.Point at the selection and drag left/right.
Snapping to zero crossings
About zero crossings
If you cut out a portion of a wave and paste it in some-
where else, chances are there will be a discontinuity 
where the two waves are joined. See the example below. 
This discontinuity will result in a transient in the wave 
when it is played back, which is perceived as a “click” or 
“bump” in the sound.
To avoid this you need to make the splice at a zero cross-
ing.
A zero crossing is – a point where the wave crosses the 
zero level axis, the point where the wave is considered to 
have “zero level”.
Furthermore we recommend that joins are made with the 
splice points of the two waves heading from opposite di-
rections to the zero crossing. That is, one should be on its 
way up (below the zero level axis), and the other should be 
on its way down (above the zero level axis).
WaveLab Essential can help!
If you wish, WaveLab Essential can automatically search 
for zero crossings, and extend the selection “outwards” 
(make it bigger at both ends) so that it begins and ends at 
a zero crossing. Normally this will not be noted in the edit-
ing precision (since there are usually hundreds or thou-
sands of zero crossings per second), but it will help avoid 
“clicks” and “pops” and “bumps”.
At this point, there 
will be a click in 
the sound, due to 
the discontinuity in 
the splice. 
						

							43
Editing in the Wave window
But just making the selection start and end at zero cross-
ings is not enough. When you actually perform the editing 
operation (cut and paste or dragging, for example) you 
need to make sure the material is inserted at a zero cross-
ing. See “By dragging” on page 44.
Setting up zero crossing detection
1.Pull down the Options menu and activate “Snap to 
zero crossing”.
2.Select Preferences from the Options menu.
3.Click on the Wave edit tab.
4.Fill out the “Snap to Zero crossing” options.
Checking the effect of Snap to Zero crossing
1.Make sure that “Off at high zoom factor” is not activat-
ed and zoom in until the zoom factor is 1:1.
2.Make a selection and observe how it is extended left 
and right.
Snapping to time units
When “Snap to time units” is activated on the Options 
menu, selections will automatically be extended to the left 
and right so that they start and end at whole time units 
(and also at the closest zero crossing, if that option is ac-
tivated, see above). This allows you to easily make selec-
tions spanning a certain number of seconds for example.The “time unit” mentioned depends on which type of scale 
is selected for the ruler:
Using Magnetization
If you have “Magnetize bounds” on the Options menu ac-
tivated and create or adjust a selection, it will “snap” to the 
following positions (or to the zero crossing closest to the 
position, see above):
 The wave cursor.
 The start and end of the entire wave.
“What are markers for?” on page 98).
Level selections
For some of WaveLab Essential’s level processing func-
tions, it is useful to make a selection not only in time, but in 
level.
By dragging
1.Make a regular “time” selection.
2.Hold down [Shift].
3.Move the mouse to the top or bottom of the selection 
box.
The pointer changes into a vertical double arrow.
!Note that this means that you must drag across a 
certain “time area” (for example more than half a sec-
ond) to get any selection at all.
If you make a selec-
tion like this…
…it is automatically 
extended at both 
ends, to the closest 
zero crossings.
Option Cursor moves to
Time Closest whole second
Samples Function not available
Time code Closest frame
Meter Closest whole beat
File size Function not available 
						

							44
Editing in the Wave window
4.Press the mouse button and drag up/down.
If you then extend the selection time-wise, the level selec-
tion still remains the same.
Extend to peaks
To automatically set the level selection to the highest peak 
in the current selection, make a time selection as desired 
and select “Extend to peaks” from the Select submenu on 
the Edit menu.
Basic editing commands
Mono/stereo
WaveLab Essential is totally flexible in its handling of ste-
reo. All editing operations can be performed on either 
channel or both.
Copying audio
The following operations allow you to make copies of sec-
tions of audio within the same file or from one file to an-
other.
By dragging
1.Decide whether you want to use “Snap to Zero cross-
ing” (activated from the Options menu) for this operation.
When this is activated, both the selection start and end as well as the 
drop position will always occur at zero crossings. See “Snapping to zero 
crossings” on page 42 for details.
2.Make a selection.
3.Point at the selection, press the mouse button and 
hold it down.
4.Drag to a position outside the selection (in the same 
file) or to another Wave window.
When you have the cursor over a valid area, the pointer will turn into a 
single or double waveform (see below). The status bar will show the ex-
act position at which the selection will be inserted.
Make a regular selection, move 
the pointer to its top or bottom 
and hold down [Shift]…
…drag up/down, 
and release the 
mouse button.
!Please note that any existing markers (see “What are 
markers for?” on page 98) in the source audio sec-
tion also will be copied.
!Make sure you don’t drop on a selection in the desti-
nation window, or you will perform a crossfade, see 
“Crossfade” on page 73. 
						

							45
Editing in the Wave window
5.Release the mouse button.
The selection is inserted at the indicated point. The audio that previously 
began at that point is moved forward so that it is now played after the in-
serted section.
Using “Magnetize Bounds”
If you have “Magnetize bounds” on the Options menu ac-
tivated when you drag, the cursor will “snap” to the follow-
ing positions:
 The wave cursor.
 The start and end of the entire wave.
“What are markers for?” on page 98).
Stereo/mono “conflicts”
Stereo/mono is handled as follows when you drag be-
tween files:
Sample rate conflicts
If you copy or move audio from one window to another, 
and the sample rates of the two files are not the same, the 
copied/moved sound will play back at the wrong pitch 
(speed). The program will warn you if this is about to hap-
pen.
While mixing sample rates can sometimes be used as an 
effect, it is most often not desired. There are two ways to 
get around this:
 Sample rate convert the source file to the same rate as the 
destination file before doing the editing.
You might go back later and undo this conversion if necessary.
 Sample rate convert the destination file to the same rate as the 
source file before adding the audio to it.
Please note that you are then partly “stuck” with this new sample rate, 
since rate converting back and forth too many times is not recom-
mended, see “Convert sample rate” on page 79.
By using Copy and Paste
1.Make a selection.
2.Select Copy from the Edit menu, press [Ctrl]-[C] or 
drag the selection onto the Copy icon on the Standard 
Commands control bar.
3.If you want to insert the audio, click once at some po-
sition in the same file or in another file.
The wave cursor appears at that point.
4.If you would rather replace a section of audio, select it.
In this case, the position of the cursor is of no relevance.
Make a selection, position the mouse pointer over it…
…drag and drop…
…the dragged section is inserted at the drop point.
Dragged 
section“Drop” 
waveAction
Stereo Stereo The dragged audio is always inserted into both 
channels.
Stereo Mono Only the left channel is inserted.
Mono Stereo What happens depends on the vertical position 
in the destination window at which the drop is 
made. This is indicated by the cursor shape (see 
“Selecting in stereo files” on page 41). The se-
lection can be inserted into only one of the chan-
nels, or the same material can be inserted into 
both channels. 
						

							46
Editing in the Wave window
5.Select Paste from the Edit menu or press [Ctrl]-[V].
The material you copied is either inserted at the indicated point (no se-
lection) or it replaces the current selection (if you have a selection).
Stereo/mono “conflicts”
Stereo/mono is handled as follows when you paste:
Moving audio
The following commands allow you to rearrange the “or-
der” of the audio in a file.
By dragging
This is just like drag copying (see above). The only differ-
ence is that you hold down [Alt] and [Ctrl] while dragging 
to move audio. The material you dragged is removed from 
its original position and inserted where you drop it.
By using Cut and Paste
This is just like using Copy and Paste (you can for example 
drag the selection to the Cut symbol on the Standard 
Commands control bar – see above). The only difference 
is that when you select Cut, the audio is removed from the 
window. The material after the cut section will be moved 
to fill out the gap.
By nudging
The Nudge left/right tools in the Toolbox (also known as 
“Kicker tools”) can be used to move the audio in small 
steps within a file.
1.Make a selection.
2.Click on the selection with one of the Nudge tools (de-
pending on the direction in which you want to move it).
The audio is moved one pixel (screen dot). Exactly how much this is de-
pends on how far you are zoomed in. If for example the status bar says 
x1:256, the selection will be moved 256 samples.
Copied 
sectionPaste
waveAction
Stereo Stereo If the wave cursor extends across both chan-
nels of the destination file, the material will be 
inserted into both channels.
Stereo Stereo If the wave cursor is only in one channel, the 
Paste will only happen in that channel. Material 
from the left channel will be pasted in the left 
channel and vice versa.
Make a selection, and select Copy…
…click for an insertion point…
…and select Paste. The copied section is inserted at the cursor po-
sition.Stereo Mono Only the left channel is pasted.
Mono Stereo What happens depends on whether the wave 
cursor is in one channel or both. The Paste can 
either happen in one of the channels, or the 
same material can be inserted into both chan-
nels.
!Please note that to completely undo a move between 
two files you must first undo the paste in the destina-
tion window and then undo the cut in the source win-
dow.
Copied 
sectionPaste
waveAction
The Nudge tools 
						

							47
Editing in the Wave window
ÖThe moved section “overwrites” the audio originally at 
that position. 
For example, when you nudge a selection to the right, silence will appear 
before the nudged section while audio to the right will be replaced by the 
nudged section. This is different from moving by dragging.
ÖIf you nudge many times in a row and then undo, all the 
moves are undone in one go.
Repeating an audio selection
To repeat a section of audio, proceed as follows:
1.Make a selection, select Cut or Copy and place a new 
insertion point, just as when performing a normal Cut or 
Copy (see above).
2.Select “Multiple copies…” from the Paste Special 
submenu on the Edit menu.
3.In the dialog that appears, enter the number of copies 
you desire (up to 1000), and click OK.
Other Paste operations
On the Paste Special menu you will find some additional 
options:
Overwrite
This will overwrite data in the destination file, rather than 
moving data to make room for the inserted audio. The ac-
tual amount that will be overwritten depends on the selec-
tion in the destination file:
If there is no selection in the destination file, a section 
with the same length as the pasted data will be overwrit-
ten.
If there is a selection, the pasted data will replace that selection, just as 
when making a regular paste.
Append
This will add the pasted audio after the end of the file, just 
as if you had placed the wave cursor there and selected 
Paste.
Prepend
This will add the pasted audio before the beginning of the 
file.
Mix
This will blend the two files into each other, starting at the 
selection (if you have one) or at the cursor position (if 
there is no selection).
When you select the Paste Special – Mix option, a dia-
log appears, allowing you to specify the desired gain for 
the audio on the clipboard and at the destination, respec-
tively.
A setting of 0 dB means the level will be unaffected.
All the data on the clipboard is always mixed in, regard-
less of the length of the selection.
It doesn’t matter whether or not you have a selection in the destination 
file when you paste.
Deleting selections
Delete
You can use the following methods to delete a selection 
of audio:
 Select Delete from the Edit menu.
 Click the Delete icon on the Standard Commands control bar.
 Press [Backspace] or [Delete].
 Drag the selection to the Delete icon on the Standard Com-
mands control bar.
Trim
To remove all the audio except the current selection, se-
lect Trim from the Edit menu (or press [Ctrl]-[Backspace]).
Silence
The Silence function offers two different methods for in-
serting silence:
 You can “insert” silence into a section, i.e. to space two sec-
tions further apart.
 Or, you can select to “replace” a selection or time range with 
silence. 
Insert silence
If you intend to insert silence, proceed as follows:
1.Make a selection that encompasses the range where 
you wish to insert the silence.
2.Select Insert Silence from the Edit menu or press 
[Ctrl]+[Shift]-[Space]. 
						

							48
Editing in the Wave window
Replace selection
If you intend to replace a specific range with silence, pro-
ceed as follows:
1.Make a selection that encompasses the range you 
wish to replace with silence.
2.Select Silence from the Edit menu or press [Ctrl]-
[Space].
There are four ways to replace a section of audio with 
silence:
 Select it and select Silence from the Edit menu.
 Select it and click the Silence icon on the Standard Com-
mands control bar.
 Select it and press [Ctrl]-[Space].
 Select it and drag the selection to the Silence icon on the 
Standard Commands control bar.
Turning selections into new documents
If you want to turn a section of wave into a new document, 
proceed as follows.
1.Make a selection.
2.Drag the selection out of the window and onto an 
empty section of the WaveLab Essential application win-
dow.
The cursor turns into a “new document” icon.
3.Release the mouse button.
The selection appears in a new window. You can also use this function to 
create stereo waves out of mono waves, see below.
Converting from mono to stereo
You may convert a mono file into a stereo file that contains 
the same material in both channels, for example for further 
processing into “real” stereo.
1.Make a selection.
2.Drag the selection out to the WaveLab Essential 
“desktop”.
3.When the pointer is outside the window, hold down 
[Ctrl] and release the mouse button.
Converting from stereo to mono
You may mix the two channels in a stereo file into a mono 
document.
This can be done in two ways. Which method to use 
mainly depends on whether you want to convert the entire 
file or just a selection:
By dragging
1.Make a stereo selection.
2.Drag the selection out to the WaveLab Essential 
“desktop”.
3.When the pointer is outside the window, hold down 
[Ctrl] and release the mouse button.
By saving (converting an entire file)
1.Open the stereo file.
2.Select “Save as” from the File menu and click the 
Properties button at the bottom of the dialog to open the 
“Audio File Format” dialog.
3.Change the Channels setting to the “Mono (Mix)” op-
tion, but leave the other settings as they are.
You can of course change the other settings too, but this will have other 
effects, see “Saving in another format (Save as…)” on page 51.
ÖThe other two “Mono (Mix)” options will also convert a 
stereo file to mono, but the amplitude of the resulting file 
will be attenuated by 3 or 6 dB respectively.
Since the mixing of the two channels when converting a stereo file to 
mono might often result in the amplitude increasing to a point where clip-
ping occurs, these two options can be useful to remedy such a situation.
4.Click OK and save the file.
5.Open the file you just saved.
Swapping channels in a stereo file
You may move the material in the left channel to the right 
channel, and vice versa:
1.Make a selection across both channels.
Only the material in the selected section will be swapped.
2.Select “Swap channels” from the Edit menu. 
						

							49
Editing in the Wave window
Waveform restoration with the Pencil tool 
The Pencil tool allows you to redraw the waveform directly 
in the Wave window. This can be used to quickly repair 
waveform errors.
This error in the right channel (red waveform) can be corrected quickly 
by using the Pencil tool.
The Pencil tool can be used if the Zoom resolution is set 
to at least 1:8 (one pixel on the screen equals 8 samples) 
or a higher resolution.
Resolution values can be set in the Zoom pop-up menu. You can open it 
by clicking on the Zoom factor field in the Status bar, located at Wave-
Lab Essential’s bottom window rim.
Select the Pencil tool from the Toolbox and redraw the 
waveform.
If you wish to redraw the waveform of both channels at once, press 
[Shift] on your computer keyboard during the drawing process.
File handling in Wave windows
Supported file formats
WaveLab Essential can open and save audio files in a 
number of file formats. The table below gives you some 
basic information about the various formats available (note 
that additional file formats may have been added after this 
document was written).
 The Format column also lists the typical file name extensions 
for each format.
 All sample rates are supported, for all file formats.
 All file types can handle mono and stereo.
Click here to open the 
Zoom pop-up menu.
!This section describes file handling in the Wave win-
dow (i.e. handling audio files). File handling of other 
document types (e.g. Audio CD Montages) is de-
scribed in the respective chapter.
Format Description
Wave (.wav) The most common file format on the PC platform. If 
you plan to load the files into any other PC program, 
Wave files are a safe bet. 8, 16, 20, 24 bit and 32 bit 
(float) resolutions are supported.
AIFF (.aif, .aiff, .snd) Audio Interchange File Format, a standard defined 
by Apple Computers Inc. 8, 16, 20, or 24 bit resolu-
tions are supported.
MPEG-1 Layer 3 
(.mp3)The most common audio compression format. The 
major advantage of MPEG compression is that the 
file size is significantly reduced, while there is little 
degradation of sound quality. WaveLab Essential 
can both open and save files in this format.
- Note that when you open an MPEG compressed 
file in WaveLab Essential, the file is converted to a 
temporary wave file that is much larger than the orig-
inal compressed file. Therefore, make sure that you 
have enough free space on your hard disk when 
opening MPEG compressed files. 
- When you save, the temporary wave file will be 
converted back to MP3, so from a user perspective 
the file handling is transparent apart from the size 
difference mentioned above.
MPEG-1 Layer 2 
(.mp2/.mpa/.mpg/
.mus))MP2 (sometimes referred to as “Musicam files”) is a 
common file format in the broadcast industry. With 
regard to file sizes the same applies as with MP3 
files.
Original Sound 
Quality (.osq)This is WaveLab Essential’s proprietary lossless 
compressed audio format. By saving files in this for-
mat, you can save considerable disk space without 
compromising audio quality. See “About saving 
OSQ files” on page 51.
Sound 
Designer II (.sd2)This audio file format is used by Digidesign applica-
tions (such as Pro Tools). 8, 16 or 24 bit resolutions 
supported. 
						

							50
Editing in the Wave window
About 20-, 24- and 32-bit float files
You do not need a 20- or 24-bit audio card to take advan-
tage of the fact that WaveLab Essential can handle 20- 
and 24-bit audio files. Any processing or editing per-
formed on the files is always done at full resolution, even if 
your card doesn’t support the full resolution. For playback, 
WaveLab Essential automatically adapts to whatever card 
you have installed.
About temporary files
As you work in WaveLab Essential, temporary files (file 
name extension .$$$) used for Undo, etc. are created on 
your hard disk, see “Temporary files” on page 15.
You can decide whether these files should be in 16-, 24- 
or 32 bit format. This is done on the Preferences–File tab.
The higher this value, the better the quality of the tempo-
rary file. However, 32-bit files are also twice as big as 16-
bit files and take longer to process.
 If you ever plan to export your files in 24-bit or 32-bit format, 
use this format or a better one (higher number) for your tem-
porary files as well.
 Use 32-bit if you want to create files with levels exceeding 
0dB.
 Even if you only work with 16-bit files, selecting 24-bit for your 
temporary files can improve audio quality slightly.
 For less critical applications where speed and disk space are 
crucial factors, use 16-bit temporary files.
Opening files
The various methods for opening an audio file in a Wave 
window are described in the section “Opening Waves” on 
page 33. Importing CD tracks from an audio CD is de-
scribed in the section “Importing tracks from an audio CD” 
on page 34.
Save and Save as – General information
ÖWhen you save a new document for the first time, it 
doesn’t matter whether you select Save or Save as. 
The “Save as” dialog will appear, since you need to specify a file format, 
folder, and file name.
ÖOnce a file has been saved, you can continue to edit it 
and then select Save from the File menu, or press [Ctrl]-
[S], to update the file and make the changes permanent.
ÖIf you want to specify a new name, location and/or file 
format, you should select Save As from the File menu.
See “Saving in another format (Save as…)” on page 51.
ÖAll save operations except “Save a Copy” clear the 
Undo buffers, which means that after saving you cannot 
undo or redo.
U-LAW
(.ulaw, .vox)This is an audio encoding and compression tech-
nique supported by Windows and Web phones, us-
ing 8 bit resolution. The U.S. telephone system uses 
U-law encoding for digitization.
A-LAW 
(.alaw, .vox)This is an audio encoding and compression tech-
nique for telephony, using 8 bit resolution. The EU 
telephone system uses A-law encoding for digitiza-
tion.
Sun/Java
(.snd, .au)This is an audio file format used on Sun and NeXT 
computers. Files in this format can often be found on 
the Internet. 8, 16 or 24 bit resolutions are sup-
ported.
ADPCM – 
Microsoft/
Dialogic (.vox)This is a format commonly used for games and tele-
phony applications that offers a lower bit rate than 
linear PCM and thus requires less storage space/
bandwidth.
Ogg Vorbis 
(.ogg)Ogg Vorbis is a relatively new compressed file for-
mat that is open and patent-free and offers very 
small audio files maintaining comparatively high au-
dio quality. 
Text/Excel (.txt) This is a text representation of a waveform. By sav-
ing an audio file as a text file and then opening it in a 
spreadsheet application such as Excel, you can view 
it in textual, decimal form and edit the sample values. 
When you open a text file representing a waveform 
in WaveLab Essential, it will be decoded and 
opened as an audio file. Note that these files are not 
compressed in any way, so they can get very large! 
Therefore, avoid creating and opening extremely 
large .txt files. Also note that when using 32 bit float 
files, the .txt format is not 100% lossless – i.e. infor-
mation may be lost! This is because it is not possible 
to express a binary floating point value in textual 
decimal form without some precision loss.
Windows Media Au-
dio (.wma, .asf))Microsoft’s own compressed format. WaveLab Es-
sential lets you import/export audio in this format, 
provided that you have Windows Media Player 9 (or 
later) installed on your system.
Ensoniq Paris (.paf) Used by the Ensoniq Paris™ system (16 bit resolu-
tion). Format Description