CRATE
A 68 gigabyte session uploads in 18. Same audio, every file checked, nothing lost. That one number is the difference between making a deadline and writing an apology email, so I want to talk about why size is the thing I obsess over and why I refuse to trade it for quality.
Size is the whole ballgame
When you move work for a living, the size of the file decides almost everything downstream. How long the upload takes. Whether it finishes before checkout. What it costs on a metered plan. Whether a flaky connection can hold it together long enough to arrive. Make the file smaller and all of those problems shrink with it.
So I built Crate to do one thing extremely well. It makes your session 59 to 89 percent smaller, completely lossless. A 68 gigabyte session becomes about 18. A 2.13 gigabyte session becomes about 489 megabytes. The audio that comes out is identical to the audio that went in.
Picture the part of the job this fixes. The progress bar says 3 percent, eight hours and twelve minutes remaining, hotel Wi-Fi. That is a session you are not sending tonight. Cut it to a third of the size and that same upload becomes something you can actually finish before you have to leave.
Not just smaller, exactly the same
Smaller is only useful if it is still your work. This is the line I will not cross. Crate is lossless, which means it never throws away a sample to win on size. It is not "transparent" or "good enough." It is the same file.
And I do not ask you to take my word for it. Crate runs a SHA-256 checksum over every file when it packs and again when the recipient opens it. When a session restores, the screen tells you plainly. 58 of 58 files verified, byte for byte identical. Integrity, SHA-256, all matched. Signature, verified and authentic. Every file, every sample, checked on both ends. You do not hope. You know.
That last word matters to me more than any size figure. The whole reason people are nervous about compressing masters is the fear of silent loss, the click or the truncated sample you only find later. Verification on both ends removes the fear. The tool shows you the proof.
What you get without thinking about it
A few things happen automatically, because the road is no place for a fussy tool.
Your DAW relinks the restored session, so the person on the other end opens it and starts working. It is secure and reliable, with optional encryption and recovery data for rough transfers. And it is bit for bit verified end to end, so the integrity is not a claim you trust, it is a result you read off the screen.
Bit for bit verified. 59 to 89 percent smaller. DAW relinks. Secure and reliable. That is the short version of the entire pitch.
Frequently asked questions
Does making the file smaller reduce the audio quality? No. Crate is lossless. The output is identical to the input, verified with a SHA-256 checksum at pack time and again when the file is opened.
How small does a session actually get? Usually 59 to 89 percent smaller. A 68 gigabyte session in this post comes out around 18 gigabytes.
Can I really send big sessions on bad Wi-Fi? A smaller file is the only thing that reliably helps a weak connection. Cutting a session to a third of its size turns an impossible upload into a manageable one.
How do I know nothing got corrupted? Crate verifies every file on both ends and shows you the count, for example 58 of 58 files verified, byte for byte identical, with the checksums matched and the signature confirmed.
What does it cost? Free to download and receive, first pack free, then a one time 25 dollars for unlimited packing. No subscription.
Send huge sessions even when the internet is bad
The work keeps getting bigger. The connections do not keep up. I cannot give you faster internet, but I can give you a smaller file that is provably the same as the one you started with.
Size matters. So I make yours smaller, and I prove it stayed exactly the same. Your first pack is on me.
Crate is a lossless session compression tool for music and audio. Bit for bit verified. 59 to 89 percent smaller. DAW relinks. Secure and reliable.