This section explains commands under the GoldWave's File menu. The File Overview section provides general information about how GoldWave handles files.
Use New to create a new sound with attributes you specify. These attributes are discussed in Appendix A. Note that GoldWave allows you to create and edit sounds that may not be playable with your audio hardware. For CD quality, use stereo, with a sampling rate of 44100Hz. Several commonly used settings are provided in the Presets list. Use the Initial file length box to specify the time length of the file (see Entering Times). You can alter the length later with the Edit | Trim menu or Insert Silence.
To change the default save format shown in the status bar, see File Formats.
Open presents a list of files in your Home folder within the app. Use Import From Library to open a file from your music collection. Use Import From Storage to import files from outside of of the app, such as shared folders, external storage devices, cloud storage, USB drives, and memory cards.
Choose ⋯ on a file or folder to view operations you can perform on that item.
See the File Format section if GoldWave could not open determine the file type automatically.
The Storage Overview section explains how the files are stored for editing. Depending on the size of files you work with, you may want to change the storage setting.
Use Close to close the current sound. If any changes were made, you are asked to save them.
Use Close All to close all sound windows. If any changes were made to any of the sounds, you are asked to save each one.
Use Information to assign or change text information stored in the file, such as artist, title, copyright, and date. Information is stored in certain file types only, such as .wav, .wma, .aiff, .ogg, .opus and .mp3. Some file types only store a subset of all the items given in the File Information window. Cover art is not supported in .wav files. There is no verification of the information entered. It is up to you how to use these items and to follow any guidelines required for a particular file type.
Do not replace artwork with high resolution photos from a camera! Such photos can easily exceed 3MB in size, which is excessive and completely unnecessary for artwork. Use image editing software (Windows Paint) to reduce the size and resolution of the photo. The artwork must be cropped square. A resolution of 300 by 300 pixels is recommended. The file size should be under 200KB when possible.
Any additional information and metadata within a file not shown in this window may not be preserved by GoldWave.
Use the Copy and Paste buttons to copy information from one file and paste it into another. Use the Clear button to erase all text and the artwork.
The File Format section lists the file formats supported by GoldWave and the level of text information retained. Formats supporting unicode text allow international (non-latin) character sets to be used.
When using Batch Processing or when splitting a large file with Split File, Track number can be set to ## (two pound signs). During processing or splitting, the pound signs are replaced with the sequential number of the file being processed or split.
The sound is saved in a file using its original name and type.
If memory or disk space is low, the file may not be saved successfully. GoldWave will inform you if this happens. If Save fails, try deleting some unneeded files or close other applications. Make sure that the file is saved successfully before closing GoldWave, otherwise the changes will be lost. Note that audio from video and movie files cannot be saved. You must save those files in an "audio only" format. You will see the Save As window if you need to save the file in a different type.
Cue points are saved only in certain file types. If you added cue points to a file that does not support them, you can use Save As to save it in a different type or save them in a separate Cue File.
An option to confirm saving is available in Window in the Options menu.
Use Save As to save a sound using a different filename, a different file type, or with different attributes. Note that files can be saved only in the Home folder or subfolder. To move a file outside of the app, you need to Export the file after it is saved.
Save As can be used to convert a sound to a compressed format, such as MP3, M4A/AAC, WMA, Ogg, etc. To save as MP3, select the "MP3 (*.mp3)" type and choose the Attributes button to select one of the many attributes. The smaller the bitrate (kbps number), the smaller the file will be. Note that quality may be reduced as well. To save as M4A (iTunes/AAC), select the "Media Foundations (*.m4a)" type. This option works only on versions of Windows that include the AAC encoder.
Use File Formats in the Options menu to assign a default format if you always prefer to use a specific file type and attributes.
Unless the number of channels or sampling rate has changed, GoldWave does not use the compressed audio data after saving. It continues to use the original audio stored in temporary storage. You must close and reopen the file in GoldWave (or play it in a separate program) to hear how the compressed audio sounds. It is strongly recommended that you listen to the compressed file before discarding the original to ensure its quality is acceptable.
The correct type must be selected from the type box. Typing in a different extension by hand for the filename does not convert the sound to the type associated with that extension.
The Select Audio Attributes window lists all combinations of attributes supported by a given file type. Use the Filters boxes to find the attributes required. Only attributes that match the filters are listed. The Attributes and File Compression sections explain the different kinds of attributes that may be listed.
An item in the list must be selected before choosing OK.
Use presets to save and quickly select commonly used attributes. Some presets are included for Wave, MP3, M4A, and FLAC files.
Choose Download to allow GoldWave to download the LAME encoder automatically. You must have an active Internet connection that does not require the use of a proxy server. Your firewall setup must allow GoldWave access to the network through HTTP.
Choose Browse if the encoder is already installed to provide the location of the encoder to GoldWave.
Choose Cancel to save the file in a different format.
For information about installing the LAME MP3 encoder manually, please see the website. A separate patent license may be required to use the encoder. GoldWave Inc. does not provide a patent license.
Save All saves all modified sounds. A confirmation window appears before all changes are saved.
Save Selection As saves the selected part of the sound to a file. Use this command to save parts of a large file. The Save As window appears where you can specify the new filename, type, and attributes for the file.
Use Export to export a file outside of the app using the devices file manager. You can export files to your music library, the cloud, external storage, or to other apps. Files must be saved before they can be exported.
Use Cloud Uploads to view the status of files recently saved to cloud storage using GoldWave's cloud file management. A status icon can be added to the main toolbar by using Options | Toolbar.
Use the Converted Save submenus to save the sound in different formats. The current format of the sound is not changed. Use Edit Presets to add or remove file types and attributes to the menu structure.
Use this window to add presets to the Converted Save submenu. To add a preset, select the file type first, then select the attributes, then enter a name for the preset in the Presets box and choose the add button. To remove a preset, select the file type, then select the preset from the Presets drop down list and choose the remove button. See presets for more information and using presets. Refer to the Attributes and File Compression sections for more information about attributes.