Unpack X32 X-LIVE SD Card Recordings into Individual Tracks

Caleb McElroy — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:09:37 +0000

If you're someone who has recorded on the Behringer X32 X-LIVE to an SD Card, you’ve probably ran into that they are 32-channel WAV files broken up into 4 GB files. So you end up with a bunch of separate 32-channel files, which is difficult to manage. Drew Brashler has a good article explaining why that format is necessary. At my church we use this every week so extracting and seaming together these tracks for editing can be time-consuming.

That’s why I built a tool called wav-extract. This tool simplifies the process, taking multi-channel WAV files from your X32 X-LIVE recordings and unpacking them into individual mono or stereo tracks. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to use it. This article will be geared towards Mac because that's what I'm using but Windows is also supported.

Step 1: Install

Install the tool using the instructions on this page: github.com/calebmcelroy/wav-extract

Open you're Terminal app. And copy and paste the command that matches the type of mac you have. If you have a mac with M-series CPU use the Apple Silicon command.

macOS (Apple Silicon):

sudo curl -L -o /usr/local/bin/wav-extract https://raw.githubusercontent.com/calebmcelroy/wav-extract/master/bin/darwin/arm64/wav-extract && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/wav-extract

macOS (Intel):

sudo curl -L -o /usr/local/bin/wav-extract https://raw.githubusercontent.com/calebmcelroy/wav-extract/master/bin/darwin/amd64/wav-extract && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/wav-extract

Windows:
If you're on windows follow these instructions: github.com/calebmcelroy/wav-extract?tab=readme-ov-file#windows-1

Step 2: Verify Install

Within your Terminal app run:

wav-extract

You should see this output.

Yay! You successfully installed it.

Step 3: How to Use

Here's some examples of commands to run in your Terminal app run. I'll example each one.

Tip: if you copy a folder in finder on mac you can paste the path into the Terminal

Export all channels as mono:
wav-extract --in /path/to/x-live-session --out /path/to/output

Export all channels and extract certain tracks as stereo:
wav-extract --in /path/to/x-live-session --out /path/to/output --stereo "1/2,5/6"

The --stereo parameter accepts comma-separated pairs, with the number before the slash representing the left channel and the number after the slash representing the right channel.

Export only certain channels:
wav-extract --in /path/to/x-live-session --out /path/to/output --channels "1/2,3"

The --channels parameter allows you to specify either stereo pairs or mono channels to extract. Only these channels will be extracted. For stereo pairs, use two numbers separated by a slash like "1/2", where the first number is the left channel and the second is the right channel. Mono channels are specified by a single number like "3". You can separate multiple channels with commas, such as "1/2,3/4,5,6".

Running:

Output:

Feedback & Contribution

This tool is open source and continuously evolving. If you run into any issues, feel free to open an issue on GitHub or contribute to the project. I’m always open to feedback and suggestions for improving the tool! If this helps you, shoot me a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

I built this tool to save time and make the X32 recording process easier for myself and others. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me! Let me know if you have any questions or ideas for improvement. Happy mixing!

GitHub Link:
github.com/calebmcelroy/wav-extract

DEV Community: Caleb McElroy

Unpack X32 X-LIVE SD Card Recordings into Individual Tracks

Step 1: Install

Step 2: Verify Install

Step 3: How to Use

Feedback & Contribution