mp3 exporting problem

[webmailusr-msn]

Hi:
I am trying audacity 1.3.3 beta and I realized that when I export a wave into mp3 using the suggested lame encoder, small empty trails are added at both extremes of the wave. This is a problem, since I wanted to create a music cd, in which a full long song would be segmented into 10 tracks, and I wanted to listen them without "cuts" (I mean, the burner was set to burn without the 2 seconds gap). The problem is that the exported mp3 files had those small empty holes and that made very noticeable the track change. This doesn't happen if I save the wave as wav format.

Also I have realized that there are problems with the progress dialog when I have more than 1 instance of audacity importing/exporting simultaneously. The dialogs get freezed, despite the fact the read/write operations are properly done.

[waxcylinder]

This is a known "feature" of working with MP3. For making a CD, unless you are deliberately trying to make a music CD with more that the standard 74/80 minutes playing time - then you are much better off working with WAVS to make your CDs for a couple of reasons:
1) WAV is lossloss ans suffers no loss of audio quality, unlike MP3 which is compressed
2) not all CD players (in fact not many) will play a music CD with MP3 files on it - so you get much greater portability with WAVs

WC

[webmailusr-msn]

Humm, I didn't know that kind of "feature". The point is that I wanted to use mp3 just for storing the temporary files. The burner anyway would convert them back to wave.

Would you talk me a little bit more about that known "feature" you said of mp3s? (the trailing silences?) why would I need it for?

Also, about the freezed process dialogs, that is a bug, isn't it?

Thanks, wc

[waxcylinder]

The point is you don't need that "feature" - for most of us it is a pain in the ass - most of us are quite capable of putting our own starting/trailing gaps on our recordings before exporting to MP3.

More to the point re your post - if your burner application really is converting MP3s back to WAV (are you using iTunes to burn the CD perchance?) - then you are much better off sticking with WAV exported to Audacity and burning directly to CD - otherwise it's like taking real chicken soup dehydrating it and then adding back the water. It'll sort of taste like chicken soup - but not like the real thing. Similarly if you go WAV=>MP3=>WAV or Audacity=>MP3=>WAV you will suffer loss of audio quality.

WC

[webmailusr-msn]

Yeah, I understand that "chicken soup", as I told you, it was just for storage purposes that I used mp3. But about the freezed dialogs, is that a bug or just I shouldn't have more than 1 instance of audacity working at the same time?

[waxcylinder]

I do note that with 1.3 I can appear to have more than one instantiation of Audacity running (which you can't in 1.2). Personally I've never been brave enough to try - nor had the need to. So I suspect that what you're experiencing is indeed a bug.

WC

[alatham]

This is a known bug in 1.3.3.

If you attempt to minimize, change the window size, or switch the focus to different programs, the progress bar gets stuck. This occurs in 1.3.3, but not 1.2.6.

And you can have more than one instance open, but you can only open a second instance by selecting File -> New or File -> Open. You can't open a second instance by starting the program from scratch again. I'm not sure why this is.

[waxcylinder]

And you can have more than one instance open, but you can only open a second instance by selecting File -> New or File -> Open. You can't open a second instance by starting the program from scratch again.

Actually Andy, with my 1.3.3 I can click on the desktop icon (using Windows XP home) to open up several instances of Audacity. Intriguingly the first one openms in my normal sized reduced window, but subsequent instances open in a very much reduced window - odd.....

WC

[alatham]

You're right, WC.

That's good to know, I never knew that. I guess I've never tried to open up two different instances of 1.3.3. But 1.2.6 definitely doesn't work.

You also can't have 1.2.6 and 1.3.3 open at the same time.