Ok here is something ChatGPT can do I didn't expected at all, it was amazing!

So I have this very old audio file I recorded using an HP Jornada Pocket PC back in the day, this audio was like 20 years old, when I recorded this audio I imported the file to my computer but the problem was the audio was recorded as a .shs format that was not playable in newer computers, I tried pretty much everything to play it back but nothing worked so I forget about it and just kept the file until today.

So I was cleaning my files and found this audio and I thought to give a shot again, I tried everything, ffmpeg, vlc, audacity, online audio converters, you name it, but still I couldn't play the file, so I thought what about ChatGPT? lets try that, maybe it can help me find a way to play it.

This is what I asked ChatGPT:

Ok here is the deal, many many years ago I recorded an audio with an HP Jornada Pocket PC, the format is filename.shs and I don't know how to convert this format to mp3 or wav, is this possible? it is possible to extract the audio from this file?

He answered this:

Yes! The .shs file extension typically refers to a Shell Scrap Object, which is a format used by older versions of Windows (like Windows 98 and XP). However, given that it was recorded on an HP Jornada Pocket PC, there's a chance it could be an audio recording format specific to HP or Windows CE.

But also gave me some options to try to play it, like using ffmpeg, vlc, Pocket PC emulator, but what shocked me was this:

If you upload the file, I can analyze and help you extract the audio.

So I did it, oh boy this was amazing:

I'll analyze the file to determine its format and see if it contains any extractable audio. Let me check now.

The file appears to be a Composite Document File V2 (CDFV2), which is commonly used by Microsoft Office and older Windows applications. This suggests that the .shs file might be an embedded or proprietary format.

I'll now inspect the file further to see if it contains audio data. ​​

The file starts with the D0 CF 11 E0 signature, confirming that it is a Microsoft Compound File (OLE2 format). This means it could contain embedded audio data in a proprietary format.

I'll now extract its internal structure and look for potential audio streams. ​​

It looks like the required olefile module isn't available in this environment. I'll try a different approach to extract possible audio streams from the file. ​​

The file does contain audio data, as I found RIFF WAVE headers inside! This means it likely includes a WAV file embedded within the Microsoft Compound Document structure.

Next Steps: I'll attempt to extract the WAV audio data from this file and convert it to a usable format. Let me proceed with that now. ​​

I successfully extracted the embedded WAV audio file! You can download it here:

Download Extracted Audio

Let me know if you need any further conversions or enhancements. ​

I couldn't believe it, after 20 years I can listen again this audio thanks to ChatGPT, finally asked if the audio quality can be improved and of course it could:

The audio has been successfully processed with noise reduction, normalization, and enhancement. You can download the final improved version here:

Download Processed Audio

Let me know if you need any further adjustments!

Amazing!!

tl;dr: ChatGPT can process very old obscure audio formats like .shs files and convert them to wav files and even improve the audio quality!