dBWav
dBWav provides a suite of analysis functions for investigating data-heavy audio files.
Whether the files are from long-term recordings or have very high sample rates, or both, dBWav offers a powerful set of tools to provide one-third octave band sound level processing, calculation of RMS and percentile levels, FFT display, spectrograms, exposure charts and more. The software has been specifically tailored for hydrophone recordings and is compatible with Ocean Instruments SoundTrap hydrophones.
Underwater acoustic measurements from deployed hydrophones typically generate large amounts of data in the form of raw audio files that are potentially recorded over many months. The use of traditional software to open, navigate and analyse these large files is a cumbersome process due to the consumption of vast amounts of PC processing and memory resources. To enable efficient and effective processing of these files, we developed our own software tool and dBWav was born.
Analysis Software for Hydrophone Recordings
The heart of dBWav is a stream-based file handler which can process multi-GB audio files from a standard desktop PC or laptop.
dBWav converts the high-resolution audio data set to short term energy levels to simplify your analysis and investigation.
Process multiple audio files from multiple transducers in a single run
Calculate broadband levels: RMS, Min, Max, Peak, SEL, percentiles
Calculate 1/3 octave band levels
Tag key events and time periods
Playback audio and display spectra
Apply marine weightings for assessment to NOAA criteria, or customise your own set of weightings to represent hearing groups or species of interest
Bands Module
The Bands module allows the user to investigate the frequency distribution of part or all of the data set with ease.
The module presents Sound Pressure Levels and Probability Density across 1/3 octave bands along with the frequency-dependent percentile levels. The display can be toggled to view a simplified spectrogram with 1/3 octave band frequency resolution and marine weightings can also be applied to simulate loudness.
FFT Module
The FFT module enables detailed analysis of shorter data samples, presenting Sound Power Density, Empirical Probability Density and percentile levels across narrow frequency bands.
Analyses can be refined by configuring the window type, length and overlap rate. Assess the detailed frequency-dependent time history from the spectrogram view.
Exposure Module
With the exposure module, users can evaluate cumulative exposure over a specified time period.
The exposure module also presents time stamps for the 90% energy interval (that is, between 5% and 95%) and marine weightings can be applied to enable direct comparison with relevant cumulative exposure criteria. The ‘Exposure’ module is particularly useful for evaluating cumulative exposure from activities such as multiple strikes during pile driving.
Technical Details
Input: 16, 24 or 32 bit PCM .wav files with sample rates from 48 kHz to 576 kHz
Outputs:
Broadband average (RMS) levels
1/3 octave band average levels from 12.5 Hz to 200 kHz (sample rate dependent)
Class ratings:
1/3 octave band filter frequency responses to IEC 61260 standard Class 1 for sample rates above 96 kHz
1/3 octave band filter frequency responses to IEC 61260 standard Class 2 for sample rates between 48 kHz and 96 kHz
Overall percentile levels are calculated in accordance with ISO 1996-2 2017 (Section 9.3.2.4) for averaging times of one second and below
Operating system: Windows 7 and above (64 bit only)
Tutorials
Get up to speed quickly with our 6-part tutorial series, covering:
Processing
Navigating
Time Selection
Advanced Analysis
Tags
Playing Audio
Get in touch
dBWav is available commercially, and requires a current, registered licence key. It is currently used by consultants and researchers worldwide. We’d love to hear from you with any feedback, feature requests or queries related to dBWav and how it works.
Contact us if you would like more details about licencing and pricing.