Mike, any chance there's a codec pack called K-Lite installed on your machine? There's talk that Windows Media Player doesn't like it and throws this error when its around. But it comes with its own Media Player Classic which is much better anyway.

Howard

Or switch to Firefox. IE is so far behind it isn't funny.

While I don't know what a Zoom H2 is, I believe the PCM codec is one of the standard wav codecs that should be on all PC's running XP, Vista, or Win7. I'm assuming Windows Media Player gave you the error, though, which is unhelpful.

Have you tried updating to the latest version of Windows Media Player? Failing that, google for a free codec bundle on the net.

Monica & Dennis: I can use Google Chrome and it doesn't have that particular problem. And, while we are getting off topic here, I may well be interested in switching browsers, Dennis. What are Firefox' strengths and issues? Why change?

hv & Jim2112: I think that ROB got me on the right track. Apparently WMP (even version-11, which is what I'm now up to)will not process recordings with data formats like I tried to use (48/24). The bit depth can't exceed 16. So long as I don't exceed that I can record and play back just fine.

And, in the mean time I got hold of LAME. I made a very rough recording, chopped off the messy ends in Audacity, normalized, and converted to MP3. I guess now I can go back and practice piano till I get something worth sharing.

note: At Monica's suggestion I did post this issue on the Zoom forum. Someone did respond there, and helpfully. But the overall response was nothing remotely as quick or as thorough as my question received here.

Thank you all, again, very much.

I don't know the technical reasons for this, but most computer IT people I know recommend Firefox. My vague memory is that it is better at screening out viruses and the like. I have it set up as my default browser at home, and I use it whenever possible. Of course, because it IS the better browser, my university naturally refuses to adopt it (I believe that my administrators have a secret policy against adopting anything that is cheaper and more efficient), so at work I am forced to use Internet Explorer. You can download it free, Mike, so you might as well give it a try.

Congrats on getting your first mp3 file ready! The hard part of the learning curve is over. Of course, you do realize that we will now expect you to submit a recording for our next online recital, don't you? (Deadline is Feb. 14, rapidly looming.)

p.s. It does not surprise me at all to hear that this forum was more helpful than the Zoom forum. AB forum rocks!!

That's surprising, Monica. Because most universities go the other way. Prefer Firefox because its more configurable. Particularly its security features. Could be they've wired their own web site with non-portable features that only work with IE.

Howard

Mike, I was able to duplicate the problem with MS Win Media Player on my system last night. Installed K-lite and wam... it wouldn't play wav files. None of the other players on my system had the problem, though. And I got a bunch of them. I suspect it's not K-lite specific though. My guess is the presence of any wav-codec confuses MS. Traditionally, audio players didn't use codecs to play a wav files. They only started showing up to support wav soundtracks for video where codec usage originated.

Dithering aside, if you record in such a way that you do not need to do any editing except trimming, 16-bit recording should be fine. But if you need to raise the volume level, eq, or mix after the fact, you'll get much better results with 24-bit. Even if you make 16-bit audio CDs.

Howard

Mike, Firefox is better than IE for many reasons. First, it is much faster at rendering pages. That is to say, the pages appear faster on your screen. Don't confuse this with downloading faster. That is a function of your internet connection, web traffic, etc. The difference, though great, is in fractions of seconds and probably not that significant. Second, Firefox is MUCH more configurable. There are literally hundreds of Add-Ons that one can download to extend the abilities of Firefox. I use Flashblock which blocks all Flash elements until I click them, and Blocksite which can block selected sites. It is useful for those that generate popups that aren't stopped by the built-in popup blocker. You can check out the addons here. Another advantage of Firefox is that in the rare event that it crashes, one does not have to restart the computer as one generally does with IE crashes.

I have used Firefox since it first came out, and I rarely use IE. Like Monica, I have to use IE at work and there are a couple of work-related sites that I access at home that also require IE. That is literally the only time I open it.