Choosing a wavetable frame size

The two numbers that shape a table

Every packed wavetable WAV is described by two numbers: samples per frame (the length of each single cycle) and frame count, how many cycles are stacked. Frame size sets spectral resolution, because a frame of N samples holds N/2 harmonics; frame count sets how much timbral motion the table can carry.

In Hyperwave, the live table runs from 8 to 8,192 samples per frame and 8 to 1024 frames, all powers of two, defaulting to 2,048 × 256.

In practice you rarely set those numbers by hand: pick an export target from the preset list and the frame size and frame count come out sized for that device.

Why 2048 × 256 is the default

The default is not arbitrary; it is the layout the most popular software wavetable synths expect. A table exported at the default drops into both of the big names without conversion:

• Serum (Xfer Records): Packed mono WAV, 2,048 samples per frame, up to 256 frames (~11.9 s at 44.1 kHz); Serum's own wavetable exports are 44.1 kHz mono in 16- or 32-bit, and the sample-rate header doesn't affect frame layout. An optional 'clm ' metadata chunk records frame size and morph mode.
• Vital (Matt Tytel): Packed WAV (FLAC loads too when dragged in) imported frame-by-frame; Vital assumes 2,048 samples per frame and reads the left channel of stereo files. Its own wavetable exports are 256-frame, 2,048-sample WAVs.

The resolution argument on its own

Even ignoring compatibility, 2,048 samples per frame is a sensible size: 1,024 harmonics per frame is far more top end than musical tables need at playable pitches, while a 2,048 × 256 table stays a small file to move around. Halve the frame size and you halve the harmonics; double it and you double a file size most destinations did not ask for.

When to go smaller

Smaller frames trade brightness for compactness. A 256-sample frame holds 128 harmonics, plenty for classic bass tables, and it drops the fizz that fixed-layout hardware engines cannot reproduce anyway. The hard reason to go small is hardware geometry: several targets are built around 256- or 512-sample waves, and both sizes sit inside Hyperwave's live range (8–8,192 samples per frame, powers of two).

• E352 Cloud Terrarium / E370 Quad VCO (Synthesis Technology): WAV banks loaded from microSD: 256 samples per wave, 16-bit, 64 wavetables per bank in an 8×8 array; WaveEdit is the official editor and the module holds 26 user banks.
• Peak / Summit (Novation): The Components Wavetable Editor (browser) imports audio files or third-party wavetables such as Serum's, as a single waveform (512 cycles) or a wavetable (2,560 cycles); each user wavetable has 5 wave slots and the synth stores 10 user wavetable slots (Peak firmware 1.3+ / Summit 1.1+).
• modwave (Korg): The Editor/Librarian imports packed WAV in two formats: 32-bit float with 2,048-sample waves (the Serum-style layout) or 16-bit with 256-sample waves — up to 64 waves per file in either mode. Longer float tables are assumed to be generated crossfades and thinned to 64. The software modwave native shares both formats, with its own Librarian-page 'Import WAV As Wavetable' route.

When to go larger

Larger frames buy harmonic headroom: 4,096 samples per frame holds 2,048 harmonics, useful for additive tables with real high-frequency detail. The cost is compatibility: plenty of importers quietly assume 2,048 and misread anything else. Tolerant destinations exist: Surge XT (Surge Synth Team) loads Loads packed mono WAV — 16-bit PCM or 32-bit float — with power-of-two frame sizes from 2 up to 4,096 samples, plus its native .wt format. Its exporter can also write Serum-style 'clm ' metadata.

Bit depth: float32 by default, 16-bit for hardware

Hyperwave writes float32 mono WAVs by default (the interchange format the Serum and Vital generation of tools grew up with), and 16-bit WAV is a direct export option because 16-bit PCM is what many hardware and Eurorack wavetable engines actually load. No frame-size choice changes which bit depth a target wants.

When a table is exported as 16-bit the exporter rescales and quantizes it for you. Quantization still adds a low-level noise floor. Normalize before the export, never after: boosting a quiet 16-bit table boosts the quantization noise with it.

The practical rule: export float32 for software targets, and pick 16-bit (or the device's preset, which sets the frame size, frame count, and bit depth together) for the hardware targets that load integer banks. The hardware tutorial covers what each vendor's tools still handle.

Choosing quickly

A short decision list that covers most cases:

• Serum, Vital, and most software: 2,048 × 256. It is the default for a reason.
• Eurorack WAV banks and 16-bit hardware tables: pick the device's export preset, which sets the frame size, frame count, and 16-bit depth together.
• Additive detail or very bright software tables: 4,096 samples per frame, only where the destination accepts it.
• Unsure: start at the default and let the destination tell you.