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WAV File Input Signal Generator in Multisim 14

Hello,

 

I would like to input a music waveform into my Multisim 14 circuit to test its function. It is intended to illuminate different LEDs depending on the input frequencies.

 

I found WAV File Input Signal Generator, which seems like it should do the job. However, having copied it to the Multisim folder that holds the llb files for the standard LabVIEW instruments, it does not appear in the list to be selected.

 

I have tried modifying the LabVIEW configuration file by copying the contents of a standard instrument and amending it to point to the WAV File Input Signal Generator llb file. This hasn't worked. I amended the configuration file again to use the 1200 file rather than the 1500 default file but that hasn't helped.

 

Clearly, it's my lack of knowledge or understanding here that is presenting this problem.

 

Can anyone assist me to get this working, please? 

 

Many thanks

Joe.

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Hey Joe,

 

Unfortunately it seems that you can't play WAV files in Multisim as per this KB:

Can I Play .WAV files in Multisim

 

If you are able to convert your music waveform to CSV data then there is something which may be of help:

Importing VirtualBench Measured Data Into a Multisim Circuit Simulation

 

If you skip past the VirtualBench section you'll find that it comes down to importing a CSV file into Multisim. I haven't had a chance to test this myself, however it seems like it might answer your question.

 

Let me know how you get on!

 

Mitch

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Hi Mitch,

 

Many thanks for your response.

 

In the Knowledge Base link that you provided, there is a link in the final paragraph. If you follow that link, it takes you to the WAV File Input Signal Generator that I have downloaded and am trying to use in Multisim 14 although it was written for Multisim 11 and 12.

 

However, your second link looks interesting - I infer that it involves using a Comma Separated Variable (CSV) file to insert the waveform into Multisim and that VirtualBench is used to generate that CSV file from the waveform. I shall have to investigate what is involved in using VirtualBench further.

 

I haven't marked this as an answer because I think that there ought to be an answer to using WAV File Input Signal Generator in Multisim 14.

 

Thanks again for providing a different potential avenue to a solution.

 

Best regards

Joe. 

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Hey Joe,

 

I did see that link, however the download links on the page it sent me to were both dead. Can I ask if you have seen this NI Tutorial on setting up custom virtual instruments in Multisim? It seems like it's a step by step guide on how to add the llb file you have.

 

I think you may still encounter issues though as the addon you have was written for Multisim 12, and may not be forward compatible.

 

You are correct, the second link does involve importing from a CSV file, however from looking at it it appears you do not need to have VirtualBench to generate the CSV file.

 

Best of luck,

Mitch

 

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Hi Mitch,

 

Many thanks for your response and your continued interest in my issue.

 

I had responded to this earlier but National Instruments appears to have mislaid my update so I'm trying again.

 

Thanks for the link to the tutorial - I had seen it earlier but, following your update, I did go through it step-by-step - regrettably, there was no change - the Custom LabVIEW instrument does not appear.

 

It does seem that National Instruments have configured Multisim 14.1 such that any Custom LabVIEW instrument from earlier LabVIEW versions will not install and run. This is crazy because it requires the good people, who have created these highly useful Customer LabVIEW instruments and made them available to others, to have to rework them again in LabVIEW 2018. Seems as though National Instruments are attempting to garner more profit by forcing these people to purchase licenses for LabVIEW 2018.

 

In my view; this makes Multisim 14.1 unfit for purpose because it imposes unnecessary restrictions on the use of Custom LabVIEW instruments. For this reason, I will not be considering purchasing a license for NI Multisim 14.1!

 

I have raised a Support ticket with NI but have received no response despite their claim to respond within 48 hours. If I get a reasonable response from NI Support, I shall let you know by updating this. Meanwhile, I suspect that your conclusion that NI Multisim 14.1 does not support Custom LabVIEW instruments from versions of NI LabVIEW earlier than 2018, is correct.

 

Thanks and best regards

Joe. 

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Hi Mitch,

 

I forgot to mention that I have been unable to find any product (other than VirtualBench, I guess) that will produce a CSV file from a WAV file (or any other sound file, for that matter).

 

Best regards

 

Joe.

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Hi Joe,

 

I'm sorry to hear that you were unable to import the Custom LabVIEW Instrument, however I did suspect it may be a compatibility issue.

 

Regarding creating the CSV file, you can use a piece of software called Audacity. This can export an audio file to a CSV file using this inbuilt function.

 

The one limitation I can see is that this functionality can export a maximum of 1 million samples, which at 44100 Hz sample rate is 22.68 seconds of audio. To get around this you would need to join consecutive files together which would be too large a task for Excel, if you have access to a Linux machine then there are command line tools that can do this, and I am sure there are equivalents in Windows.

 

Hopefully this helps!

Mitch

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