# *.wav file attributes



## 65elmwood (Mar 11, 2011)

Hi,

I'm running windows vista home basic on a Dell vostro 1400 laptop.

When I single-click on a *.mp3 file in my music folder, a section of the screen at the bottom of the window gives me the attributes of that file. As well as the file name and type it also shows artist's name, album, genre, rating, track number etc as well as length, bit-rate, size etc., and I can edit these attributes.
When I do the same for a *.wav file it only shows length, bit-rate, size and date modified.
These files are all ones I have created/recorded myself, they are not ripped from a cd.
How can I get to see and edit the attributes of the *.wav files?
Any help greatly appreciated.


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## stantley (May 22, 2005)

An Mp3 file can have tags that are inside the file itself that contains the artist, album, track etc. information.

Wave files don't have tags so they can't hold the same type of data. However you can put the files into a database that will store the information. You could use Windows Media Player but a much better option is MediaMonkey.

File attributes like length, bitrate and size can't be edited at all for both Mp3 and Wave files.


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## 65elmwood (Mar 11, 2011)

Hi,
Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to reply to my question.
Will using either of these databases result in the attributes being shown in my music folder?


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## stantley (May 22, 2005)

65elmwood said:


> Will using either of these databases result in the attributes being shown in my music folder?


No, the information will only be available in the database.


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## 65elmwood (Mar 11, 2011)

OK. Thanks again.


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## Maxitek (Mar 19, 2011)

stantley said:


> An Mp3 file can have tags that are inside the file itself that contains the artist, album, track etc. information.
> 
> Wave files don't have tags so they can't hold the same type of data. However you can put the files into a database that will store the information. You could use Windows Media Player but a much better option is MediaMonkey.
> 
> File attributes like length, bitrate and size can't be edited at all for both Mp3 and Wave files.


That is a common misconception. WAV files can hold metadata. There are several metadata standards for WAV (this tag editor supports five). The only problem is that applications and music players that support WAV metadata are quite rare.


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## stantley (May 22, 2005)

Yes, I understand that wav files can hold metadata, but I'm not going to recommend that someone waste $60 dollars on software to do so.


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## 65elmwood (Mar 11, 2011)

Thanks for posting your reply. I guess I'll just have to put up with the wav files not displaying the info I'd like them to.


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

65elmwood said:


> Thanks for posting your reply. I guess I'll just have to put up with the wav files not displaying the info I'd like them to.


Yes, that would be the wise choice. Though any file can theoretically contain tags, making your files too customized makes them less compatible with other people's software and players (or even your own). Some programs, and possibly all programs, may see those tags as file corruption. Go with the flow. You have gotten good advice, so make your wav's into mp3's if you want to use tags and use one of the many good taggers available.

If you right-click the menu bar and choose to add "Comments" as a column, you can save data about the files there. That will then appear for your wav files without altering anything about them (except NTFS metadata).

(By the way, your use of the word "attributes" can be confusing. They are the qualities of a file like read-only, system, archive, and hidden that refer to the file system. So another word would be a better choice, such as "tags" or "characteristics". Just FYI.)


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