W64

W64 is a term that can refer to several distinct concepts in computing and digital media, and there is no single official definition. The most widely recognized use is in relation to Wave64, a variant of the WAV audio file format designed to support very large audio files.

Wave64 extends the standard WAV container by using 64-bit fields for sizes and offsets, enabling files larger than the 4 GB limit inherent to the traditional RIFF-based WAV format. Wave64 files are typically identified by the .w64 extension and are intended for professional audio workflows that require long recordings or high-resolution data. Several audio software tools and libraries, such as libsndfile, support reading and writing Wave64, but compatibility can vary between applications. Some programs that only understand standard WAV files may not handle Wave64 correctly without explicit support or conversion.

Aside from Wave64, the letters and numerals in w64 are sometimes used informally to indicate 64-bit word size or 64-bit architecture in documentation, discussions, or project naming. In these contexts, w64 is not a formal standard or specification, but a shorthand descriptor for 64-bit computing concepts.

In summary, w64 most prominently denotes Wave64, the 64-bit-extension variant of WAV designed to accommodate large audio data files. In other situations, it may appear as an informal reference to 64-bit data width, but such usage is not standardized and depends on context.