CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED 239Playing audio filesTo play an audio file, click the Play button on the Navigation Bar or click Control:Play [SPACE BAR]. The file starts playing from the current cursor position. Tostop playback, click the Stop button or click Control: Stop [ESC]. The cursorreturns to the beginning of the file.Creating a new audio fileTo record sound, you first need to open a new edit window. If you do not open anew edit window, the sound is recorded into the currently active window using theproperties of that window for the recording.To open a new edit window:1. Click File: New [Ctrl+N] to open the New dialog box.2. Select the sampling rate you want to use from the Sampling rate group box.The sampling rate determines how many portions (samples) of audio dataappear each second and is measured in kilohertz. The more samples a filecontains, the better the audio reproduction; the downside is increased file size.3. Select the number of channels to use from the Channels group box.4. Select the Sample size you want to use from the Sample size group box.The sample size specifies how much memory is allocated to store the audiodata. In most cases 8-bit files produce adequate results without sacrificing toomuch in quality. If you want the best possible audio quality, then choose 16-bit.This does, however, result in a file twice the size of an 8-bit audio.5. To record sound, follow the steps in “Recording sound” on page 243.6. Select File: Save to save the recording as a new audio file.Saving filesSave your audio files using the Save or Save As command. For previously savedfiles, clicking Save instantly overwrites the existing file with the new data. Save• To move the cursor to the start of a file, click Control: Go To Start[CTRL+HOME]. To move it to the end, click Control: Go To End[CTRL+END].• If you have created a selection area you can play the contents of theselection by selecting Control: Play Selection [F2].
