Support for Wavpack (.wv) DSF compression

Feedback Feature Suggestions
24

I do not think this is very complex to implement.
Leading software should support multiple formats.

Regards Chris

3 Likes
25

Yes, Wavepack dsd decoding would be a solution I’d probably use.
You have to consider a DSF collection at scale…
In my scenario that would be an estimated 8TB gain

3 Likes
26

Just to bump this. I’d like to compress and tag my DFF much like I do my PCM content. Doing so at present means those albums won’t be visible in Roon.

2 Likes
27

bump from me as well… this would be such a great feature to implement.

1 Like
28

another bump! I never was into wavpack as flac rules for pcm.
But for dsf, wavpack saves about 50% of storage.

1 Like
29

I would love to see this feature added as well. I converted all of my SACD extracted tracks to .wv for the reduced size and superior tagging. DSD compressed to .wv is supported on foobar and moode, so I assumed roon would support it as well. I kept my ISO files so of course I could re-extract everything to DSF, but .wv is a great container for DSD.

2 Likes
30

I would enjoy wavpack support in Roon too. But @Analogue_Ghost there is no need to re-extract DSF from your ISOs, you can just use the wavpack tool to extract them from the wv file - exactly the same, and that’s the point!

Cheers,
Robert

1 Like
31

Yes, you are 100% correct! The wavpack tool absolutely would be the better way to go if/when I decide to make the switch back.

2 Likes
32

Bump from me as well.

1 Like
33

This should be a simple thing to implement - taglib (the open source library which Roon relies on to read file based tags) has built-in support for Wavpack:

https://taglib.org/api/namespaceTagLib_1_1WavPack.html

and the Wavpack code library is freely obtainable:

https://www.wavpack.com/downloads.html

2 Likes
35

It may not be obvious, but getting some open source code is just the tip of the iceberg in doing what is required to support a new codec in Roon.

The actual codec or file formats are usually the least of the concerns.

36

Could you elaborate? Once decoded are they not handled by the same Roon code that handles PCM or DSD content?

37

Not every codec / format library uses the same api, so they aren’t drop in replacements.

There are differences between streaming and file based access modes, and there are concurrency issues to consider with every library. There are considerations for platform support, including optimized versions for various CPUs. We have to look into licenses, redistributions, plus patents, both locally and internationally. Plus are there any requirements for redistributions, modified or unmodified.

We also use these libraries in more than just audio decoding, there is also detection, and validation, plus format support.

As for taglib, while we do use it for some things, we can’t just upgrade to the latest version due to issues that arose last time we tried.

This stuff is complex.

38

Thanks for the insight on the potential complexities of adding this feature. From where we sit as consumers things often look pretty simple, especially when open source projects support a specific function, but that view can often disregard that supporting it may be part of why the open source projects are sometimes less usable or reliable.

If it’s feasible to add would certainly be beneficial in my situation, and I’m glad that it sounds like it’s at least under consideration.

To illustrate the benefit in my case, my SACD ISOs consume 1.6TB and are stored on backup disks, the extracted DSF consumed 3.8TB before being recompressed via Wavepack to consume 1.7TB (and being more easily tagable as a bonus). It’s the difference between needing to upgrade to a larger spinning disc as my total library size pushes well past 8TB with DSF versus staying around 6TB and fitting comfortably on a single SSD with .wv. That’s just me and I recognize that other people have larger or smaller libraries so they aren’t facing this -particular- decision, but I figured I’d share in case the insight helps.

39

So, what are you saying regarding support Wavepack compressed DSF files? Are you looking into it? Are you saying you aren’t looking into it? Will you look into it?

Note: This post was censored by @danny.

40

We aren’t staying no, and we try not to say yes until it’s done.

3 Likes
41

Well I’m gonna bump this for the very reasons [Analogue_Ghost] mentions. My Library in DSF is @ 7 TB right now. I really don’t want to spend hundreds to get 12TB or 14TB drives it’s already costing me several hundreds just to get the music.

This is from my original Wavepack support feature request…
It would be REALLY nice to be able to save up to 50% of my hard drive space as I play mostly (90+%) DSF files from SACD’s. Wavpack is the only real multibit opensource compression for this and other high bit formats. (I’m not a programmer or CPU wiz)

2 Likes
42

Another bump and +1 for WavPack support.

A growing niche of audiophile nerds are upscaling their redbook files to 32-bit 705/768k, and WavPack is probably the best file format for handling this need.

It would be nice for Roon to be ahead of the curve, rather than grudgingly accommodating to user demand after the fact.

1 Like
43

Whoa, why would you do this on disk? Instead, use Roon to do that upscaling without any storage required.

2 Likes
44

Lol who is upscaling w/ Roon though? If Roon upscaling were any good, it wouldn’t need a ‘Add HQPlayer’ button.