Can/How do I get selection toolbar to show higher resolution

[jimmydee]

Hi

I use audacity for all kinds in things to help teach physics here in the Uk running courses for training and in-service teachers.
Essentially we use Audacity as a data-logger for experiments that make a sound (or we wiggle a magnet near a wire to make a ‘pseudosound’)

In the new version 2 on the Selection Tool-bar the highest resolution you seem to be able to set is when you right click on it is hh:mm:ss + milliseconds when you go to a higher resolution this shifts things into samples and so an actual clock time is not shown.
we often measure quite short times (you can measure the speed of sound in a lab with a pair of headphones and a loud clap, it’s really cool (http://audacityphysics.pbworks.com/w/page/41219781/Speed%20of%20sound%20in%20air)

Whilst we could convert the samples back to timings is there a way to get the program to give a timing for a selected waveform (or highlighted subset of waveform) to a higher direct time than hh:mm:ss + milliseconds as is had done in previous versions.

If there is a way can someone let me know how to do it, this is just magical as a software tool for physics teachers and always goes down really well on the courses I run
if any teachers are lurking my proto audacity physcis wiki is here http://audacityphysics.pbworks.com

Thanks

james

[waxcylinder]

@jimmydee

… is there a way to get the program to give a timing for a selected waveform (or highlighted subset of waveform) to a higher direct time than hh:mm:ss + milliseconds as is had done in previous versions.

You should be able to do this using the drop-down selector (little-black-downward-pointing-triangle) in the time boxes in the Audacity Selection Toolbar.

See this article from the manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/help/manual/man/audacity_selection.html#Selection_Toolbar

WC

[jimmydee]

@waxcylinder

@jimmydee

… is there a way to get the program to give a timing for a selected waveform (or highlighted subset of waveform) to a higher direct time than hh:mm:ss + milliseconds as is had done in previous versions.

You should be able to do this using the drop-down selector (little-black-downward-pointing-triangle) in the time boxes in the Audacity Selection Toolbar.

See this article from the manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/help/manual/man/audacity_selection.html#Selection_Toolbar

WC

Thanks for this, I’ve been playing with this and cannot seem to get a better direct time reading than one in miliseconds - this is fine for most of the uses for physics but when we measure the speed of sound in the lab, the distance between the headphones is often limited to 30cm and so the time between the two sounds is around 0.001s and so really I need at least one more decimal point (and ideally two or three) to give a meaningful number especially when the students need to consider rounding errors in their analysis of the data.

[steve]

Try setting the sample rate to 100 kHz and then set the time scale to hh:mm:ss + samples. As a bonus you can explain to your students how that converts easily into SI accepted units. To set the sample rate, type the required sample rate into the Project Rate box in the bottom left corner of the main Audacity window. To set the sample rate as the default, go to “Edit > Preferences > Quality”.

[jimmydee]

@steve

Try setting the sample rate to 100 kHz and then set the time scale to hh:mm:ss + samples. As a bonus you can explain to your students how that converts easily into SI accepted units. To set the sample rate, type the required sample rate into the Project Rate box in the bottom left corner of the main Audacity window. To set the sample rate as the default, go to “Edit > Preferences > Quality”.

marvellous,many thanks.