How to detect real sample size and number of channels in WAV file?
As pointed out in this question, an excellent utility for this task is MediaInfo.
MediaInfo is a convenient unified display of the most relevant technical and tag data for video and audio files.
geek@liv-inspiron:~$ mediainfo file.wav
General
Complete name : file.wav
Format : Wave
File size : 33.6 MiB
Duration : 3mn 19s
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 1 411 Kbps
Audio
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Mode : 14
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Codec ID : 1
Duration : 3mn 19s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 411.2 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 33.6 MiB (100%)
This would confirm that the specific file is DTS with 6 channels, but interestingly that the sample size is actually 24 bits and strangely that the compression mode is lossy.
One can also use this utility via a GUI: mediainfo-gui
.