Supported file formats for sound generation

This section references the file formats supported as input for sound generation methods.

Audio Files

This type of file is intended to contain time data: samples vs regularly spaced time intervals.

Format

Description

WAV (.wav)

Standard WAV format and Sound: Analysis and Specification WAV proprietary format including specific proprietary information (calibration channel, physical unit, etc.).

*.UFF, *.UNV

The Universal File Format as specified by SDRL at The University of Cincinnati (www.uc.edu). Only UFF types 58 and 58b are supported. Additionally, Sound: Analysis and Specification only supports the following settings:

  • Record 6 Field 1 (DOF Identification Function Type) must be set to either 0 (General or Unknown) or 1 (Time Response)
  • Record 7 Field 3 (Abscissa Spacing) must be set to 1 (even)

*.d7d, *.dxd

Audio file produced by an acquisition front-end of the DEWESOFT company.

Time sample (*.txt, *.csv)

The data may be a generic file that lacks the header lines. When importing a generic file, you will need to select a 'time' column or enter a sampling frequency.

The data may also be in the Sound: Analysis and Specification proprietary format for time samples (samples vs time). This file contains one or more series of samples.

A proprietary *.txt file will include the following content:

  • on line 1, the header: AnsysSound_SoundSamples 1
  • on line 2, the sampling frequency of the samples contained in the file, set in Hz, preceded by FS and a tab spacing character (for instance FS 100000)
  • on lines 3 to N, one or several columns can be specified. Each column is a series of samples.
AnsysSound_SoundSamples 1
FS  100000
0.000000000000e+000 0.000000000000e+000
1.000000000000e-005 0.000000000000e+000
2.000000000000e-005 0.000000000000e+000
3.000000000000e-005 0.000000000000e+000
4.000000000000e-005 0.000000000000e+000
5.000000000000e-005 0.000000000000e+000
6.000000000000e-005 0.000000000000e+000
7.000000000000e-005 0.000000000000e+000

Harmonics Data Files (Orders)

This type of file is intended to contain data related to the level of orders vs RPM (What Order Analysis Is).

Format

Description

Order (*.ord)

The Sound: Analysis and Specification proprietary format for orders.

Harmonics (orders)

(*.txt, *.csv)

The Sound: Analysis and Specification proprietary format for level of orders vs rpm. The text file includes the levels of one or more orders as a function of RPM.

The *.txt file must include the following content:

  • on line 1: AnsysSound_Orders 1
  • the unit is defined on line 2: dBSPL, dBA, Pa, or Pa2
  • on line 3, the text string RPM followed by the order numbers (usually, but not necessarily, in ascending order)
  • on lines 4 to N:
    • the first column contains the RPM value,
    • columns 2 to N are the levels (in Pa, Pa2 or dB according to the unit defined on line 2) of the orders corresponding to the RPM specified in the first column.
AnsysSound_Orders 1
Pa
RPM 12  24  36  48  60
500 0.00230055  0.00475752  0.00127085  0.00389983  0.00098248
510 0.00280545  0.0045141   0.00171955  0.00473541  0.00159459

You can also use Ansys Sound: Analysis and Specification to create a Harmonics model with two control parameters, see Creating a Harmonics Model (2 Parameters) for more information.

Harmonics (orders)

(*.xml)

Harmonics file coming from Ansys Mechanical simulation.

Spectrum Files

This type of file is intended to contain spectral data (usually level vs frequency), for the Power Spectral Density (PSD) and Autospectrum types.

Format

Description

Spectrum (*.spectre)

The Sound: Analysis and Specification proprietary format for spectrum storage.

Spectrum (*.xml)

Spectrum file coming from Ansys Mechanical simulation.

Spectrum (*.txt, *.csv)

The data may be a generic file that lacks the header lines. The generic file is composed of two columns: the first is the frequency, the second is the levels in dB. The columns may have a header, but if it does not correspond to the Sound: Analysis and Specification proprietary format, the header will be skipped and only the two numerical columns will be read. When importing a generic file, you will need to specify whether it is in Autospectrum or PSD format. In either case, only Level in dB is supported.

The data may also be in the Sound: Analysis and Specification proprietary format for spectrum defining the frequency and amplitude of a spectrum.

The *.txt file must include the following content:

Version 3 (recommended format) - supports Power Spectral Density (PSD) input as well as Autospectrum, depending on the unit.

  • on line 1, the header: AnsysSound_Spectrum 3
  • on line 2: the unit of measurement used. This can be:
    • PSD: dBSPL/Hz, Pa/Hz, Pa2/Hz
    • Autospectrum: dBSPL, Pa, Pa2
  • on line 2 to N: 2 columns separated with a tab spacing character. The first column is the frequency, in Hz, and the second column is the spectrum level in the defined unit.

Version 2 (deprecated format) - supports Autospectrum only.

  • on line 1, the header: AnsysSound_Spectrum 2
  • on line 2: the unit of measurement used. This can be dBSPL, Pa, or Pa2.
  • on line 3 to N: 2 columns separated with a tab spacing character. The first column is the frequency, in Hz, and the second column is the spectrum level in the defined unit.

Version 1 (deprecated format) - supports Autospectrum only.

  • on line 1, the header: AnsysSound_Spectrum 1
  • on line 2 to N: 2 columns separated with a tab spacing character. The first column is the frequency, in Hz, and the second column is the spectrum level in dB. 
AnsysSound_Spectrum 3
dBSPL/Hz
00000.00       11.15
00007.81       8.32
00015.63       5.93
00023.44       3.41
00031.25       6.02
00039.06       10.29
00046.88       12.72
00054.69       14.62
00062.50       15.22

Broadband Noise – 1 parameter files

This type of file is intended to contain the spectral data (usually level vs frequency) that describes an evolving broadband noise signal, as a function of a control parameter. It contains a spectrum (Power Spectral Density (PSD) or Autospectrum) for each control parameter point.

Format

Description

Broadband Noise (*.txt, *.csv)

The Sound: Analysis and Specification proprietary format for spectrum defining the frequency and amplitude of a broadband noise source as a function of a control parameter.

The *.txt file must include the following content:

  • on line 1: the header specifying the input file format - AnsysSound_BBN 2 (recommended) or AnsysSound_BBN 1 (deprecated).
  • on line 2: the unit of measurement used, followed by the type of data which will be given in the columns below.
    • For the AnsysSound_BBN 1 format, the unit can be dBSPL, dBA, Pa, or Pa2
    • For the AnsysSound_BBN 2 format, the unit can be:
      • For PSD: dBSPL/Hz, dBA/Hz, Pa/Hz, Pa2/Hz
      • For Autospectrum: dBSPL, dBA, Pa, Pa2
    Data type can be NARROWBAND, OCTAVE1:1, or OCTAVE1:3 corresponding respectively to narrow band, octave, or third octave frequency bands
  • on line 3: quoted text describing the control parameter whose unit and values are on line 4. The quotes (" ") surrounding the text are mandatory.
  • on line 4: 2 or more column headers separated by tab spacing characters:
    • The first column is the unit used for the controlling parameter of the model (such as "m/s" for meters per second).
    • Columns 2 to N are the values of the control parameter that are matched to the noise levels in the column below.
  • on line 5 to N: 2 or more columns separated by tab spacing characters
    • The first column is the frequency, in Hz. Based on the data type in line 2, it can be frequencies of a narrow band spectrum, center frequencies of the octave, or center frequencies of the 1/3 octave respectively.
    • Columns 2 to N are the noise level in dB, Pa, or Pa² (based on the unit of measurement in line 2).
AnsysSound_BBN 1
dBSPL    NARROWBAND
"Speed of wind"
"m/s"   1   2   5.3 10.5    27.778
0  41.21603362 47.52701254 36.06128555 45.8003136 45.8003136
10 42.93945075 47.0708236 38.68765626 47.48655183 47.48655183
20 44.82645585 47.56715844 41.35835452 45.32085886 45.32085886
30 46.8652157 45.32860282 44.16070715 51.31474522 51.31474522
40 45.33045728 52.25354777 47.25466204 53.67350055 53.67350055

You can also use Ansys Sound: Analysis and Specification to create a Broadband Noise model with two control parameters, see Creating a Broadband Noise Model (2 Parameters) for more information.

Tip: You can refer to File Formats for more details about the file formats.