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The SD card I was recording sound to corrupted my files.
So, the whole story:
I shot a documentary on a DSLR, while using an external recorder + lavelier mic for sound. More specifically, a Tascam DR-40, which records data to an SD card. I filmed 5 interviews; one in one day, the rest in another. After the first day of filming, I copied the files to my computer and they worked just fine. On the second day, however, the same SD card stopped working when I plugged it into my computer to transfer the recordings.
I payed some guy to try and recover the data on the card, and he “did”. He sent me all of the files that were supposed to be there, and they all had the names and file sizes they were supposed to have. However, whenever I play them on any software, the audio is completely damaged.
I also tried loading them as RAW data on Audacity, which allowed me to preview some of the files that wouldn’t even open, but they all seem to have the same problem.
I think it helps to inform that I was recording in dual mode, so I got 2 files for each interview: one at 0dB, and the other at minus 6 dB. As a result, I’d get 2 files with the exact same size and duration. What happens when I open the corrupted files, though, is the 2 .wavs seem to be merged in a weird way, and I ended up with a single recording where I can hear the same sentence be repeated at a lower volume. Some files also contain sounds from more than one interview.Has this ever happened to anyone? Should I cry and accept the fact that I’m going to be stuck with my camera audio? :/ Is there hope?
If it helps, I can upload the first interview in its original and corrupted versions for comparison. Please help me! <3
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2 Replies
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Hello Bruno,
Have you tried Sound Devices Wave Agent software as a way to save or open the problem files?
Audacity, operating in the “raw file” mode has worked for me before. I wonder if the person working on the files got something mixed up.
Sorry for your pain.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford\’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford\’s Blog -
If you want to send me a link to download one of the files, go ahead. I can’t guarantee anything, and usually a corrupted file on a card is not salvageable. The fact that someone did recover them but that the files were corrupted as you describe seems pretty final.
A question of clarification:
You say that: On the second day, however, the same SD card stopped working when I plugged it into my computer to transfer the recordings.. I assume you mean that the files were corrupted on both your computer and the Tascam? Obviously, if the file is not being read on the computer, but is on the Tascam, you can use the USB port to transfer the file in. But I assume you have already tried that and that when you inserted the card in your computer the computer somehow corrupted the file.So if you want to, send me a link to the original corrupted file at albergstein@outlook.com
al
Al
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