CartChunk Tip

[Charlie]

There doesn't seem to much interest in the CartChunk format (according to a forum search), but I thought I'd share a programming tip - mainly for Torben's benefit but I know a few others dabble in Delphi+VB. The excellent AudioGenie DLL now supports CartChunk in WAV files. A few tests found a bug within the VB6 wrapper but the rest of it works well: Artist, Title, Outcue, UserDef, PostTimer0-7 which you can label in your own order or read the string and decipher the tag yourself if it's from another system.

This util also handles APE tags (those found in StationPlaylist) including the custom ones so if you ever need to do any "one-time" conversions for a mass-import, this is the DLL to use 

The site is available in both English and German with wrappers for C#, C++, Delphi, VB6, VB.NET
http://www.audiogenie.net/en/index.htm

[Torben]

An interesting library, I hadn't heard of that one. However, I try to avoid using external DLLs whenever possible. Fortunately, most header formats can be read "natively" with BASS.DLL now (which is included for playback anyway), including "cart chunk" data.

BWF support ("cart chunks" are an extension of BWF, aren't they?) is definitely on my to-do list.

[Charlie]

I had heard about BASS doing it, but for some reason I didn't carry it further due to some limitation (it was so much of a limitation that I have forgotten it!). The so-called "ISO spec" of CartChunk is bit of an issue as certain systems use the tags in their own way - taking the vocal ramp as an example: is it INT or INTe ? It's a pain to have to deal with the variations.

[Cad]

"cart chunks" are an extension of BWF, aren't they?

Yes and no.

The EBU's BWF uses BroadcastExtension (or 'bext') 'chunks.'  Full details of this spec. are here:
http://www.ebu.ch/en/technical/trev/trev_274-chalmers.pdf?display=EN

CartChunks are an American 'standard,' which was ratified by the AES as AES standard AES46-2002.
To obtain a copy of that AES standard, you have to pay the AES US$30, or be an AES member (maybe streamer knows a member of the AES?):
http://www.aes.org/publications/standards/search.cfm?docID=41

I have no idea how compatible the two competing standards are, nor whether they are now one and the same.
--
BFN
CAD