Importing .wav files into new project - but no audio???

[thunderbroom]

I was sent a project to mix yesterday. It's all raw audio tracks copied from older ADAT tapes (inconsequential). So the tracks transferred over as standard .wav files. I've been able to play them within the folder itself if I use WMA or similar, but when I import them into a new session, there is no audio present with any of the 24 audio tracks.

I've already attempted re-downloading all the files, experimenting with converting one file to an mp3, even imported some test wav files from another folder, and they work perfectly. I even scoured each wav files properties and found nothing unusual. I've never experienced anything like this before. Am I missing something?

My system set-up for reference:
Windows 10; Intel 3.4GHz CPU, 16GB RAM. Reaper 6.19.

I'd be thankful for any guidance or help you can provide. Thanks in advance!

[jrk]

Maybe upload one of those files so other folks can have a look?

[thunderbroom]

Originally Posted by jrk

Maybe upload one of those files so other folks can have a look?

Good idea - here's a link to check out one of the audio files. As mentioned, it seems to work playing as regular audio with WMA player, but not within Reaper after importing. I've also found out it works on my friend's Mac system (in Reaper).

Link: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?c...Hqc2BsMFcYW4wk

[jrk]

plays fine for me (reaper 6.19 / windows 7) Drum overheads is it? It's got 2 minutes of silence at the start. Are you certain that's not the issue?

It's usual to have a fair bit of blank "leader" on digital tapes, that's where it's more likely to get "chewed". Ah, this takes me back.

[solger]

Originally Posted by jrk

plays fine for me (reaper 6.19 / windows 7) Drum overheads is it? It's got 2 minutes of silence at the start. Are you certain that's not the issue?

Plays fine here, as well (Windows 10, Reaper 6.19/x64).

[thunderbroom]

Originally Posted by jrk

plays fine for me (reaper 6.19 / windows 7) Drum overheads is it? It's got 2 minutes of silence at the start. Are you certain that's not the issue?

It's usual to have a fair bit of blank "leader" on digital tapes, that's where it's more likely to get "chewed". Ah, this takes me back.

It's not silence. When I import the tracks into a session, the tracks have no audio after they are imported. Completely straight line start to finish, no waves at all. I can play the tracks in WMA or any other audio player. I can convert them to mp3 and they still will not play audio in Reaper. I can also import other audio into the same session, and those tracks import and play fine within the session.

[jrk]

Well, 2 other people have successfully imported and played one of your files in Reaper, so I guess it's something specific to your setup. Try creating a portable install and seeing if they play in that?

FWIW This is the info I see in "Source Properties":

Length: 39:25.465
Sample rate: 44100
Channels: 1
Bits/sample: 24 (int)
Total samples: 104,317,025
Blockalign: 3
Datablock start: 16384
Metadata:
    Date: 2020-10-04
BWF tags:
    OriginationDate: 2020-10-04
    OriginationTime: 18:45:43
    Originator: Pro Tools
    OriginatorReference: HgwSgUnObCbaaaGk
    TimeReference: 0
Other file sections:
    DGDA
    elm1
    minf
    regn
    umid

How about you?

[thunderbroom]

Originally Posted by jrk

Well, 2 other people have successfully imported and played one of your files in Reaper, so I guess it's something specific to your setup. Try creating a portable install and seeing if they play in that?

FWIW This is the info I see in "Source Properties":

Length: 39:25.465
Sample rate: 44100
Channels: 1
Bits/sample: 24 (int)
Total samples: 104,317,025
Blockalign: 3
Datablock start: 16384
Metadata:
    Date: 2020-10-04
BWF tags:
    OriginationDate: 2020-10-04
    OriginationTime: 18:45:43
    Originator: Pro Tools
    OriginatorReference: HgwSgUnObCbaaaGk
    TimeReference: 0
Other file sections:
    DGDA
    elm1
    minf
    regn
    umid

How about you?

So what I ended up doing was sending the session to another engineer. He was working in Reaper on Mac. He imported the tracks and built a session, sent it to me, and it now works perfectly in my setup. It was the first time I've ever experienced this so not sure what the breakdown was, but I was able to solve it for this particular instance. I appreciate everyone's help. Thank you all!