What is the _z.WAV file

[robertgarven]

Friends,

My bands working on our latest album and I'm mixing down the demos to send off to be mastered and I have a question. I usually just take out the SD card from the tascam unit and take it home, plug it into my computer, open the Music folder, then the song I am looking for, and drag that file onto my computer. The is always another file right above it with a _z.WAV extension. I was just curious if any of you know what this is?

Thanks for any and all replies I wish I had more time to learn more about this machine do you know we've been using it for several years now there's still some ports of mystify me.

Thanks to all,

Rob

 

[shredd]

I was gonna answer this, until I realize that - as the resident maroon around here - I'm NOT sure my answer is correct.
I was GONNA say that when you master a song on the DP, it creates a second file, with the same song name (presumably the one with that "z"), that (according to the manual, Section 10 - "Creating A Master File") is "used only by the unit".

I myself have, after mixing & mastering a song, taken this "Z" file off my SD card, converted it to an MP3, and sent it to people, thinking THAT was the completed/mastered song.

HOWEVER: now I'm uncertain as to whether this actually IS the mastered song, or just the file the SD "uses" (for example, when you play back your master for checking?) - and the "regular" file ([song_name.wav]) is ACTUALLY the mastered song file.

So I'm as interested as @robertgarven about the facts here...

Apologies in advance for being stewpyd. Some days, I run my PortaStudio like I'm landing the Space Shuttle...other days, I spend a 1/2 hour figuring out a routing problem that should take 2.4 seconds to resolve...

EDIT: just wondering: when sending songs out for mastering...wouldn'tcha wanna send the individual trax?

 

[-mjk-]

Every time you press record on the DP, it creates an audio file. Those so-called ZZ files are snippets of audio that the machine has to manage and collate into a playback performance on the fly. This is why Tascam recommends consolidating songs by exporting all the files which forces the machine to render them all together into single files. It's also recommended to clean out the directory once in awhile but whether a great number of unused ZZ files has an impact on machine performance is a subject of debate. Much has been written about ZZ files on the forum. A search of the subject makes for interesting reading.

@shredd mastering is for the completed mixdown file. If you are sending tracks to an engineer, then the engineer is mixing. Some artists send out stems for mastering, but again that would be giving the mastering engineer control over the mix.

Lastly, those ZZ files are not good for anything at the user level and should never be sent to anyone, for anything. They are snippets and not complete files. The Audio Depot is the method by which files are shared with the exception of the master song file.

 

[shredd]

Thanks @-mjk- ; as usual, your vast understanding of the gear is riveting. I learn a lot reading your posts/stickies/links.

I've never had someone master for me - so I wouldn't know what they get sent...I was just stabbing at it, wondering...

Amazingly - I DO understand the Tascam system's method of using little "ZZ" .wav files - each one created by each recording, be it punch-in, auto-punch, anything...for example, a single track could be made up of many "ZZ" snippets, which the DP manages and creates the actual track, which can be exported, etc.

In fact, I have a "housekeeping" habit of using the "Delete Unused" operation when I've done one of those tracks that took me 382 takes to get right...because if you don't, EVERY ONE of the takes/snippets is living in the song's folder (presumably for the sake of undo/redo). So I sort of "take out the trash" periodically, to get rid of unwanted/unusable snippets, once I'm happy with the take I have.

EDIT: so - still wondering: is the [song-name_z.wav] file the finished master - OR is it "for the DP's use only", and the finished song is actually the [song-name.wav] file?

 

[robertgarven]

MJK & Shred,

Thanks for all the info. I am hoping the file right below it "IS" the mastered file, for example "SONG A.WAV", as I have been using these for years.

The unit is at the band room and I bring the SD card home and drag those files out onto my computer. Another reason is a lot of people have said that mini USB cable connection to the back of the unit is really fragile and if it breaks there's no way to fix it, so plugging it in and unplugging it etc. is not the main reason but another reason I've been doing this.

Rob

 

[robertgarven]

All,

I think we're not talking about the same thing so I took a picture of this, these are songs in the music folder. I may not have enough post or something it won't let me upload the file. It's the two bold songs I was talking about the one I grabbed is the one under the one with the "Z" in it.

But is here:

Music Folder
Song A
edltable.sys
Song A _z.wav
Song A. wav
song.sys
ZZ0000_1.wav
ZZ0000_2.wav
etc.

Do you have to have so many post before they let you upload a filed??

 

[shredd]

Thanks for all the info. I am hoping the file right below it "IS" the mastered file, for example "SONG A.WAV", as I have been using these for years.

As mentioned - I'm the card-carrying resident maroon around here. BUT - I think that's how it works. Some of the smarter doods around here could possibly confirm. @Phil Tipping ? @-mjk- ? @Mark Richards ?

The unit is at the band room and I bring the SD card home and drag those files out onto my computer. Another reason is a lot of people have said that mini USB cable connection to the back of the unit is really fragile and if it breaks there's no way to fix it, so plugging it in and unplugging it etc. is not the main reason but another reason I've been doing this.

Yes, the "delicateness" of that USB connector, and of SD cards themselves (as well as the reader in the DP) are ALL to be protected and used as lightly as possible, if the intent is to make the DP serve you for a long time.
I leave my USB cable plugged into the DP at ALL times - and I attach/detach my laptop as needed.
Thus I can use the USB>computer connection at will, to transfer files back/forth. I don't have the "location" issue you do.

 

[BazzBass]

Robert, welcome, may I highly recommend buying Phil Tipping's most excellent user guide. It really is the best. Tascam should be paying HIM to produce their manuals, coz they really suck at it lol.


PS If you have to take the SD card out of the DP and into a PC then back again, and again, may I suggest you use a MicroSD card. Reason being, when, not if, the adaptor's contacts fail, you can take the MicroSD card out of that adaptor and insert it into a new adaptor. Then you will have brand new contacts on the adaptor and the MicroSD card's contacts have only been reinserted once.

 

[Phil Tipping]

I think we're not talking about the same thing

The z file (as opposed to the ZZ files) is the backup master file which is used for undo purposes. The non-z file is the latest state of the master file.
There's a myth floating around that the z file is the mixdown file and the non-z file is the master. This is only true if you only do a single mastering pass.
When you first do a mastering pass, i.e. press Record in mastering mode, or press Normalise (you must not press Record when normalising), the existing master file (the non-z file) is preserved as a z file so you can press Undo later if you don't like the result. This is the only time where the z file is the mixdown file and the non-z is the master.
If you do a 2nd mastering pass (you can do as many as you want), both the z and non-z files are overwritten, so the z file will now be the previous mastered file and not the mixdown. The mixdown file has now gone forever.

Bottom line is if the filename looks 'strange' (z or ZZ), it's for the machine's internal use, not us humans.

 

[-mjk-]

Thanks @@-mjk- ; as usual, your vast understanding of the gear is riveting. I learn a lot reading your posts/stickies/links.

When I joined the forum, I knew jack squat about the DP-32. The first thing I did was binge-watch Phil Tipping's video series. As soon as I was appointed as a moderator I then proceeded to create individual posts for those videos to make it easier for them to be found and utilized. @Mark Richards and @David Porter have contributed much to the organization of the forum topics and of course @Phil Tipping's contributions here are legendary.

EDIT: so - still wondering: is the [song-name_z.wav] file the finished master - OR is it "for the DP's use only", and the finished song is actually the [song-name.wav] file?

The best way to think of it is that no file with a "z" in the name should be directly used for anything.

 

[-mjk-]

Robert, welcome, may I highly recommend buying Phil Tipping's most excellent user guide. It really is the best. Tascam should be paying HIM to produce their manuals, coz they really suck at it lol.


PS If you have to take the SD card out of the DP and into a PC then back again, and again, may I suggest you use a MicroSD card. Reason being, when, not if, the adaptor's contacts fail, you can take the MicroSD card out of that adaptor and insert it into a new adaptor. Then you will have brand new contacts on the adaptor and the MicroSD card's contacts have only been reinserted once.

Given the age of some of these machines, I think it might be prudent to utilize something like this:

SD Card Extender Cable

 

[robertgarven]

Thanks to all,

Where can I get Phil’s user guide?

Rob

 

[BazzBass]

Phil's Step by Step Guide is available here. He will email you the pdf file.

http://www.philizound.co.uk/freebies/dp24-32/dp24-32.html#guide

 

[BazzBass]

Given the age of some of these machines, I think it might be prudent to utilize something like this:

SD Card Extender Cable

genius, plus you don't have to reach behind the DP . Just ordered two. Gotta have a backup for the backup lol

 

[shredd]

The z file (as opposed to the ZZ files) is the backup master file which is used for undo purposes. The non-z file is the latest state of the master file.
[snip]
Bottom line is if the filename looks 'strange' (z or ZZ), it's for the machine's internal use, not us humans.

Straight-ahead, to-the-point answers like this is why @Phil Tipping is the King Solomon of the DP. +1 on his How-To Guide.
Like @-mjk- I've also binge-watched his videos (and frankly, still do now n then, despite ytube having decided to compete to be the worst online-content platform in existence!!!). There's more usable info in any 5 minutes/2 pages of those resources than in the ENTIRE O/M. Tascam should be paying him points on every DP ever sold.