FAQs

Hey, I've split the "help-faq" page in two. For more detailed site navigation info, please see the HELP page.

Q: WTF? Where's the Search section in this redesign?
A:
To make things simpler I no longer have that multi-field search page. There is now a single Search field at the top of every page (look for the Magnifying Glass). This field will search all the content on the site. If you're looking for a specific phrase, enclose it in double-quotes otherwise it will search for each word individually instead of both words together.

Also, don't forget to look in the Archives! Instead of using the Search feature to look for a specific movie or TV show, just go to the Alphabetical Archives and see all shows that start with that letter. For example, go to the S Archives and you'll see all the Star Trek shows there or Star Wars movies or the H Archives for all of the Harry Potter movies.

Q: You used to take requests. Do you still take requests?
A:
Well, that kind of depends, you know, a "definite maybe." I did try to let people know via Twitter what I was working on, but that didn't really work out well. While I do still have a Twitter account, I am honestly not that active on it. You can still send a request via Twitter if you'd like. With this new "version of the site (as of September 2013) I am going to try to be a bit more "bloggy" in terms of what I might be grabbing sounds from and other thoughts.

If I have the DVD of the film/TV show you're wanting a clip from in my library, then yeah, I'll take the request (also if it is something that Netflix streams). If I don't have the show, you're always welcome to donate the DVD to the site. However, you need to supply the timecode when the bit happens. I.e., something like 1:12:30 (one hour, twelve minutes, thirty seconds). I do realize this will not be all that exact, but it'll help a great deal. It's rather unrealistic to ask for a 3-second bit somewhere within a 2.5 hour movie and not give any clue to where it might be within the show. As much as I enjoy doing stuff for the site, I do have a life outside of this. :) I can't justify going through any show for a specific quote without having a clue as to when it happens.

Q: Whenever I click on a link to a .WAV I get an error message that says something like it can't find the file, make sure the path and filename are correct. What's up with that?
A:
This could be due to a number of things. You may be clicking on a link from another site that is trying to link to the file directly. Um, yeah, that's not really going to work. This is a free site, but I still have to pay for hosting and bandwidth. To cut down on costs like that, I really can't allow direct linking to the sound clips. You are, however, welcome to download the clips from my site and host them on your own site if you so choose. A credit saying you got the clip from my site would be appreciated, however that is not required. You are, however, welcome to link to the "page" of the clip in question and/or share that link via social networking.

Q: I really want whatever that .WAV was that you played in the background. How the hell do I find it?
A:
Well, this is something I no longer do. For many, many years, I did put some background audio on the site... both WAV files as well as MIDI files. The MIDI files were stopped long ago (it was a bit of cheesy fun, but pretty tacky after a while). The WAV files ended a year or two ago. Technically, at that time, I was really just posting a hidden file. I still put the same amount of files online, it's just that I no longer "hide" the file or "surprise" people with audio they may not want to hear.

Q: How do I subscribe to The Daily .WAV?
A:
I've never really offered a "subscription", per se. However, with this new iteration of the site (September 2013) I do offer an RSS file showing what is new on the site.

Q: I don't want to have to come to the website all the time. I want you to email the files to me. How do I sign up for that?
A:
I do not offer an email service. You'll have to come to the website to get the files. I do now offer an RSS feed that will show you what is new on the site.

Q: How do I save these files?
A:
It's been the same way since the site went online in '95. If you're a Windows user using Netscape, Internet Explorer, Opera, Mozilla, etc, right-click on the link to the file and choose the "save" or "save target as" option. If you're on a Macintosh, and you've actually got a two- or three-button mouse, you can right-click, too. Otherwise, Ctrl-click the link and choose the "save" option.

Q: I use MusicMatch (or other players I may not be aware of) to play my .WAV files, but some of yours just won't play. What's up with that?
A:
Most of the .WAV files have been compressed using a form of MP3 compression. Most current audio applications should play these compressed files with no problem... except MusicMatch. It used to be that the problem was that you may not have the correct audio codec installed on your computer. The easiest way to update your audio codecs was to install newer versions of your audio software. The interesting thing is that current versions of WinAmp, Quicktime, MS MediaPlayer, etc. will play MP3-compressed .WAV files just fine. Even if these applications are installed on the same computer that you have MusicMatch installed on, MM will still refuse to play the file(s). Your only work-arounds for this at the moment are: replace the .WAV extension on those problem files with .MP3 or use another program to play these .WAV files (these options are direct from MM tech support – I was told that MM has no plans to offer this functionality).

Q: I know you use MP3 compression on your WAV files. I tried to do that, but my system won't let me do that. What's wrong?
A:
Unfortunately, many applications overwrite this setting (Windows Media Player is one culprit, PowerDVD is another). So at one point you may be able to MP3-compress your WAVs and then you can't. Here's what you need to do to fix it. First, look in your Windows\System or Windows\System32 folder for the file "l3codeca.acm". If you don't have this file, there's not much you can do. If you do have the file, perform the folowing:

Under Windows 95/98:

  1. Make sure that L3codeca.acm is in the System Directory (C:\Windows\System).
  2. Add the string in your System.ini - Section drivers32: msacm.l3acm=l3codeca.acm.

Under Windows NT/2000/and above:

  1. Make sure that L3codeca.acm in the System Directory (C:\Windows\System32).
  2. Launch regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32, then change the key with the name msacm.l3acm and update the value to L3codeca.acm