wav vs mp3

If the 765 has an MP3 player then AFAIK you can use mp3 files for your POIs. If it has no MP3 player then you will need to use .wav files and, of course, you'll need the sox.exe file.

Your 765 has MP3 capabilities so you can use an MP3 file. It will also play a .wav file so you may use either format.

Just make sure as t923347 mentioned you must have sox.exe present in the PoiLaoder folder for a .wav file to work.

Also make certain you name the sound file EXACTLY the same as the .csv and.bmp flies to work.

I believe it is 14.1.0

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730 for the correct sox

Almost. 14.1.0 will not work. You need 14.0.1 which is the sox version (zipped) that's available here in the faqs area.

My 660 uses MP3 files, but, whenever I used the FM Modulated audio (HD Audio is decoded, it sounds great) I run into a problem where POI audio's change the playback selection of the music...

So you could be playing track 1, a poi alert will change to some other random track, and I hear no POI Audio.

If I disable FM transmitter, then it works correctly....

So even though audio sounds great with FM Transmitter, I run Garmin 660 off it's internal speakers... because of this...

As I recall, my 350 does that when I connect the audio out cable to car audio in.

For several years, my 760 worked with .mp3 files for POI alerts. Then one day the .mp3s stopped working. Rather than trying to find out why, I switched to .wav files and placed sox.exe. They have worked fine ever since.

Note - The 760 is different from the 765.

dobs108

One caveat. WAV files are considerably larger than MP3 files so if space is an issue, go with MP3.

While this is true, I would think that this should never be an issue and that .wav files are preferable because they will work with all Garmin devices that will play sound files.

Before worrying about whether to use .wav or .mp3 files, there are many ways to get space on the devices PLUS a SD card is a better solution when space becomes an issue due to map sizes.

Just my opinion.

I agree with jgermann. I use .WAV on both my 755T and 855 (MP3 compatible devices) as well as my 3597LMT (non-MP3 device). That way I can use the same poi.gpi file on all 3 devices.

While the .WAV source files are larger than the .MP3 files, it makes very little difference in the size of the .gpi file. If you are that tight on storage space, you will need to move some files to the SD card anyway.

the reason there is very little difference in GPI file size is neither the MP3 nor WAV is actually stored but a derivative format native to Garmin. It may also be the fact that SOX 14.0.1 is actually converting the WAV to an MP3 format as SOX is a file conversion program.

Should space be an issue when using MP3 files you can always have them on an SD card.

I too use .wav files exclusively since I only need to create 1 POI file to use either on my 660 (MP3 capable) or my 2460 (No MP3 compatibility).

Since Garmin hasn't included Nuvi's with MP3 capability for a very long time now .wav files are the only option for sound alerts.

I only wish the available POI sounds from POI Factory were in .wav format, the majority are still in MP3.
To use them you need to convert them to .wav which is an extra step.

thanks for the updated sox fiile.

i noted that many of the sounds for the speed camera in POI-factory are mp3. How do you convert the mp3 to wav files

the file name has to be exactly the same as the poi file! same goes for the pictures if you use them.

See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730 and scroll down toward the bottom and look for MAKING YOUR OWN WAV FILES .

I looked on the FAQs page and tried to do a search but cannot find the sox.exe file to download. is there anywhere else i could download it that is safe...Thaks.

The direct link is at the letter b
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730

Cheers

Converting .mp3 files to .wav files using media.io

Step 1: Download your POI sound files in .mp3 format from poi-factory. Put them in a folder for easy access.

Step 2: Go to http://media.io/

Step 3: Click on the light blue "SELECT FILES TO UPLOAD"

Step 4:
A. Navigate to the folder with the .mp3 files that you wish to convert.
B. Click on the desired file
C. Click on "Open"

Step 5:
A. In "OUTPUT FORMAT" section, click the "WAV(.wav files)" button
B. Click the "Convert" button"

Step 6: Click on the "Download (x KB)" button that will appear below the file that you just converted.

Step 7:
A. Navigate to the folder in which you want to save the converted file.
B. Accept the file name or choose a new one
C. Click the "Save" button

If you have more than one .mp3 file to convert, press the "back" button on your browser and go back to Step 3:

Also in the FAQ quoted above for the direct link to the sox file you will find a direct link to Audacity download page:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

I've used Audacity to easily convert mp3 to wav files for many years. Works great.

Since Sox as being used by Poi Loader has only the sox.exe file, it cannot create an mp3 file.

From the soxformat.pdf file that comes with the sox package:

“MP3 support in SoX is optional and requires access to either or both the external libmad and libmp3lame libraries. To see if there is support for MP3 run
sox -h
and look for it under the list of supported file formats as ‘mp3’.”

Here is the result of running sox.exe –h on my computer:

Note the absence of mp3.

I have created a gpi file via Poi Loader using a single wav file and can see the entire wav file embedded in the gpi file.

@bsp131

like jgermann, i also use the free online mp3 to wav converter at http://media.io/.

I like the idea of not having to add another program to my PC by keeping things simple using an online program.

He has given excellent instructions on how to do it (4 posts up)
I save the converted file in the same folder where the mp3 file is stored, this way I have both of them.
When creating the POI file, don't forget to rename the .wav it to match the csv file.

Another option to convert is another FREE online program where you can create your own .wav file.
Although it's limited to certain voices you may find one you like. You can hear the sound you created before downloading to your PC.

http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php

Since I have a 765 as well as a 2595, I prefer to have all of my sound files in .wav format so that the same .gpi files can be used in both devices - using only .wav files.

I am willing to take the time to help convert poi-factory .mp3 files into .wav files. If there were a number of others who were also willing, then the task could be split up among the volunteers.

My suggestion would be to have both types available so that those whose devices can use .mp3 files are not confused as to why poi-factory changed things on them.

Perhaps JM or Globe Turtle will weigh in here with their reaction to such a project.

Thank you to everyone for all of your helpful comments.

And will consider it some more. Once we figure out the best way to coordinate submissions we will let you know, probably by the end of the weekend.

~Angela

I also try the Media.io I convert the file and I install them with the poi loader with out the need of sox. I notice that if already you convert the file to wav and you have the soxs install it.when you use poi loader somehow the soxs file will be asking you if you want to allowed sox to change the file.the way I See it. if you are using media.io and you do not need the sox (inside the poi loader folder)

If your Gps have mp3 and you do not need sox.
If you do not convert the mp3 to wav then yes you need sox.

I use the same method that muell9k does and I they work great for me too.

You seem to have missed what muell9k said:

What they said applies no matter how a wav file was created.

I don’t see how that could happen.

sox.exe is a command line program that has a silent mode(which silences any messages).

I have purposely provided faulty files with the .wav extension and found that neither sox.exe or Poi Loader issued any kind of error message. So I am convinced that Poi Loader invokes the silent mode when It calls sox.exe

Also, Sox.exe does not “install” a wav file, nor does it change the wav file you provide.

sox.exe reads your wav file as input and, as output, creates a new file named temp.wav that conforms to the required PCM, mono, 44100 Hz sample rate specs required by Garmin devices, whether or not the original file did.

Poi Loader then copies the contents of temp.wav into another temporary file (with a name similar to PoiA8E8.tmp) that it uses to build the gpi file that is the output of Poi Loader.

Thus the wav file you provide is not changed, so there would be no reason for sox.exe, Poi Loader, or the operating system to ask for your permission to change it.

You would use MP3s. More recent models of the Nuvi use .wav files.

.

As member Everet stated, this is NOT possible.

POI Loader is designed to create POI files using ONLY MP3 files. If you try to use it without .sox.exe it will create the POI but without the alert sound.
You will receive a message “Unable to convert (name of file) to the proper format, therefore this audio file was not transferred.” .

Have you actually tested a POI file you created using a .wav file for you POI WITHOUT having sox.exe loaded in the POI Loader folder?

BTW POI factory does have one availble Redlight Camera audio file available in .wav format. If you like the sound it's # 19 at the link below.
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6503

As for myself I will never use an online program to convert or do taxes or what have you. What do they do with YOUR information ??? I also DO NOT use iTunes for my Apple products since they do not need to know what I install. For the Apple stuff I have a program on my computer to do that with.
To convert MP3 to WAV I use "MP3 to Wave converter" and it is very simple to use.

That is good info because I had that problem in the past, you would think Garmin would mention that in their product

If you have multiple files to convert you can select all (or several) in a folder after you click on “SELECT FILES TO UPLOAD” in media.io

media.io will then convert the whole batch when you click on “WAV” and “CONVERT”

After the conversions are complete, you can download all of the wav files at once by clicking on “Download as ZIP file” under “DOWNLOAD ALL FILES”.

Note: Ctrl-a is a quick way to select all files in a folder. (You may have to left click anywhere within the file list first.)

@Evert, right you are.

I wrote the FAQ on the assumption that people would have separate folders for specific POI file with each folder containing a "file set" (.csv/.gpx; .bmp; .mp3/.wav).

However, this may not be the case and your comments have been added to the FAQ (with proper attribution)

I totally agree with you!

I appreciate your consideration but sounds like you already knew about the feature so you don’t need to credit me in your FAQ – it is not like I invented it.

I had downloaded several sound files from Poi Factory into the same folder just to test out the process and to see what specifications the wav files had after being converted by media.io since it does not give you the chance to change the specs (and audacity does).

I randomly picked several mp3 files and could see via audacity that most did not have the Garmin required specs (mono, 44100Hz)

Some were stereo, some were mono, and most had a sample rate other than 44100Hz.

After I converted the mp3 files with media.io I could see that the wav files had the same specs that the mp3 file had.

Example specs:
Ace Hardware.mp3 [mono 32000Hz]
Casey_s_Restaurant_ahead.mp3 [stereo 44100Hz]
JCPenney.mp3 [mono 16000Hz]
Light house.mp3 [stereo 22050Hz]

That is no problem though because I could see that each temp.wav Poi Loader created via sox.exe had the required mono,44100Hz specs.

Also I would conclude that those using audacity would be wasting their time if they bothered to change the specs. I would just open the mp3 file with audacity and immediately export it to a wav file without changing anything.

It is good to know that sox.exe will make the necessary conversion of .WAV files that don't conform to the spec's required by the Garmin alert system. I wonder if the same is true for the Mac version of POI Loader which apparently uses the built in audio functions of the Mac OS to import the .WAV file alerts. Does Mac POI Loader also make the necessary conversions for non-conforming files?

In any case, if POI Factory starts publishing .WAV instead of .MP3 alert files, it seems like it would be best to have source files that are already in the correct format rather than relying on the POI Loader plugins to do the conversion.

Since the only Apple computer I ever had was a hand-me-down AppleIIe, I have no way of testing the Mac Poi Loader.

But if you consider sox.exe a “POI Loader plugin” I have to say that the PC version of Poi Loader will use that “plugin” no matter if the input wav file meets the specs or not. So you will still be relying on a POI Loader plugin to do the job correctly even if it was not really needed.

If Poi factory management (or someone else) comes up with way of batch converting all the existing mp3 files to wav files with the proper specs – that would be great.

But if volunteers try to do the job with the tools mentioned so far, they would be stuck with a very laborious task converting one file at a time via audacity.

Since the sole purpose of sox.exe is to insure that the wav file is of proper specs and will be called up by Poi Loader even if the input file has the proper specs, I don’t see the need for all the wav files on the site to be of correct specs.

You are right, plugin is the wrong term to use for sox.exe. It will be good if the Mac services do the conversions like sox does. My concern was if they don't and non-conforming WAV files get published on POI Factory, it could cause difficulties for our Mac members.

Hopefully someone with a Mac will do the thorough testing that you did Evert and let us know the results.

Given that the Garmin programmers obviously thought it necessary to provide a means to make sure a proper wav file was available for PC computer users, I would expect that they would do the same for MAC computer users. However if not, it will not be the first time my expectations were dashed to pieces upon the rocks of reality.

I would expect that Garmin did proper accommodation for Mac users. It would be nice to have that confirmed though. In fact, since SOX has a mac version, maybe that is what Apple incorporated into the Mac OS. I admittedly have very little knowledge about the internals of the Mac OS.

Another thought I had ... Sox can be run from the command line with parameters to do the correct conversion. I assume that is how POI Loader invokes it. It seems like it shouldn't be too difficult to write a Windows (DOS) command script that would take a directory full of MP3 files and convert all of them to the correct .WAV format. Maybe JM would be willing to look into that since he has access to the full list of MP3 source files.

check this out

https://evolution.voxeo.com/wiki/kb:conversionofaudiofiles

John, I had started making a batch file similar to that in response to alandb’s last post but my social director told me I was supposed to be staining the deck instead of playing on the computer.
(Also I had used the for-in-do command quite a bit years ago but had to knock some rust off.)

Here is my prototype batch file:

Notes:
I am using sox.exe version 14.0.1 (same as required for Poi Loader).

The convertmp3.bat file is to be put in the same folder as the mp3 files.

The set command is used so the path to sox.exe does not have to be provided within the “for” command, and so that the sox.exe file does not have to be in the same folder as the mp3 files. The path shown applies for Windows 7 and 8.

The format-options for the output wav file are similar to what I posted 3 years ago. (See the subject “Ah Ha” in this thread: http://www.poi-factory.com/node/33887?page=1 ) I bumped up the sample rate to 44100Hz because that is the rate that I see in temp.wav files created by Poi Loader/sox.exe

Things that need to be worked on:
For-in-do does not work for filenames with spaces (there were several of these type amongst the mp3 files I downloaded from Poi Factory.

Need external library(s) for mp3 conversion (as mentioned before.)
===================
Perhaps JM already knows all this but I found it fun to tinker with.

I always say that the man who tells you he is the boss in his family will lie to you about other things also.

GSpot is a freeware and portable program that will quickly determine the specifications of audio files.

The thing I like about it is that you can "drag and drop" onto the dialog. So, you can run through a directory full of sound files very quickly.

It is amazing the wide range of specs I am finding for our poi-factory sound files.

Unless you can compile sox.exe with Lame, sox will not accept a .mp3 file as input.

If we want to work in "batch", then using media.io by pointing to a folder full of .mp3 files (CTRL-A) may be best.

Note that I said this at the bottom of the post that you quoted me from:

Today I spent quite a bit of time looking for the “external libraries” based on the wording in the soxformat.pdf file that I had referred to in an earlier in this thread:

I found several versions of libmad.dll and libmp3lame.dll files and put them in the same folder as sox.exe as advised at the sites that had the files, but was not able to convert any mp3 files with sox.exe

Results of more searching indicated that there was more to it and I found this that looks promising but have not have time to do it yet:
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/33901/Compiling-SOX-with...

I agree fully.

The only downside is that the resulting wav files would the same specs as the mp3 files and as you found, “It is amazing the wide range of specs I am finding for our poi-factory sound files.”

Remember that the reason for looking into using sox.exe for batch converting mp3 files to wav files was to make all the wav files on the site be in the correct format. But as I said:

I was able to get a sox.exe version14.2.0 that has mp3 capability from this site:
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/33901/Compiling-SOX-with...

At first the task looked pretty labor intensive and my trial version of Visual Studio had expired some time ago. I do have a C++ compiler that probably would work, but it looked like the task would take more effort than I wanted to take on right now.

But then I saw in the comments under “SOX MP3 binaries” that the file “Download sox.zip - 316.35 KB” contains a sox.exe compiled with mp3 capability.

I downloaded the sox.exe file and put it in folder C:\ soxwithmp3 (no other files are required.)
Then I modified my batch file thus:

and put the batch file in folder C:\Convertmp3 along with several mp3 files.

(Notice that I used the old style format-options but they seemed to work ok. I intend to try it with the new style later.)

Here is the text of the conversion.log that was created:

First, the reason I made the comments on .mp3 was to alert other readers that the script would not work with the version of sox.exe that they had in their POI Loader folder. I knew you were aware and had commented to that effect in both 370101 and 370825.

I had been to that same Code Project site and had indeed saved the page under my Evernote but did not read through the comments like you did. Thus the "Download sox.zip - 316.35KB" did not register as possible "gold".

After reading the article I looked around at whether I could get a "free" copy of Visual Studio 2008 but decided not to pursue it at the time.

You are on to something really important here.

Be nice if Garmin would put that info in all of their products info for the first time user

It seems that sox will not itself handle files with spaces in the names.

So POI loader must be looking at the sound file and eliminating spaces before invoking sox.exe.

@Evert, is that what you are finding?