EBU Broadcast Wave Format, Version 1

Action Plan: EBU Broadcast Wave Format Version 1

Last Updated 4/14/2014

Description:  The Waveform Audio File Format is an audio bitstream standard format released by IBM and Microsoft in 1991. It has become a popular format for uncompressed audio. It has become a common master audio format at archives and libraries. The large size of WAV files has limited their prevalence among typical consumers.

Codec:  The EBU Broadcast Wave Format was developed in 1997 by the  European Broadcast Union  as a WAV file which included extended metadata. This expanded metadata is stored as "chunks" in the WAV file.

Software:  Windows Media Player,  iTunes ,  Audacity (for conversion, editing)

Long Term Preservation Plan:  Uncompressed, final production WAV files are the #1 preferred audio format used at LC (Library of Congress - Recommended Format Specifications 3/7/2014). It is an open, popular, and well documented format. WAV is limited to files less than four gigabytes in size. WAV files should be retained.

Division Specific Notes: "When reformatting analog sound recordings, the Broadcast WAVE format (either version,  WAVE_BWF_1 or  WAVE_BWF_2), wrapping  LPCM, is used as the archival master format for mono and stereo audio at the  Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation and by the  American Folklife Center... The Broadcast WAVE format (either version), wrapping  LPCM<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;">, is preferred as the archival master format for mono and stereo audio when reformatting analog sound recordings. The Library is a participant in the  Federal Agencies Audio-Visual Working Group<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;"> that published a  recommended specification<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;"> for BWF bext metadata conforming to version 1 in 2009, with an update conforming to version 2 in 2012. <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:19.049999237060547px;">( http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:19.049999237060547px;">) <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;">"

<p style="text-align:center;">Review in two years (2016)