Help !
I’m trying to convert an MP3 file that is supposedly in 48kHz (32-bit float?) to a 44.1kHz file. Unfortunately, after I choose TRACKS > RESAMPLE… > 44.1 kHz and then export the file as WAV, it still sounds exactly the same. What am I doing wrong?
The sample rate of exported files comes from the “Project Rate” (lower left corner of the main Audacity window).
No need to resample - just set the Project Rate to 44100 and export, and Audacity will take care of it.
(Note that every time an audio file is encoded to MP3, there will be a small loss in sound quality. When possible, it is highly recommended to use uncompressed formats (such as WAV) throughout the production process, and only encode to MP3 once at the end.)
it still sounds exactly the same. What am I doing wrong?
It should sound the same. Are you trying to change the sound?
“CD quality” (16-bit, 44.1kHz) is generally better than human hearing so as long as you stick to 16/44.1 or better, re-sampling shouldn’t affect sound quality.
MP3 is lossy so you MIGHT hear some quality loss when you convert to MP3, especially at low bitrate/quality settings. There is additional loss if you re-compress MP3. Data is thrown-away to compress the file but there is no additional damage if the file is _de_compressed to WAV. And, it’s going to be decompressed when you play it anyway.
I’m sorry I’m not as audio savy as most of you. Clearly I’m still doing something wrong. Let me walk through what I’m doing.
I have an old video file that plays at the correct speed, but the sound is stretched so that my wife’s voice sounds deeper than it actually is and the audio becomes more and more out of sync as I watch the video. I converted a saved copy of the video into MP3 format (sound only) so that I can load it into Audacity. My hope is that I can correct the sound and then add it to the video so that it all lines up correctly.
Here’s the steps I’m following in Audacity:
I click FILE, choose OPEN…, then select the MP3 file. After it loads into Audacity I see two identical waveforms on the screen (one above the other) with a message that says “STEREO, 48000 Hz, 32-FLOAT” on the left side of the top waveform.
In the PROJECT RATE (Hz) field at the bottom left, I choose 44100 Hz.
I then click FILE, choose EXPORT, select EXPORT AS WAVE, and then save the resulting file on my desktop.
After this I play the WAV file and I hear no difference. What am I doing wrong?
OK, so that’s quite different from what you initially asked 
Are you able to extract the audio as WAV rather than MP3 (so avoiding the MP3 encoding losses)?
Are you able to determine the exact length of the video (so that we can stretch the audio to match)?
Yes, I believe I can convert the file to WAV format.
The video appears to be 2 minutes, 31 seconds.
The [u]Change Speed Effect[/u] allows you to enter the current length (in time) and the desired new length. This is similar to speeding-up or slowing-down an analog tape or record and the speed and pitch change together.
The “deep sounding” voice is probably a different issue because it’s unlikely the speed is off by that much. Try using the Graphic EQ effect to reduce the bass.
…I don’t know if this is what happened but speaking very-close to a directional mic creates the “proximity effect” which boosts the bass and sometimes male announcers like to take advantage of this.
FYI - “Resampling” doesn’t just change the sample rate… It moves the samples around and interpolates, etc., so the pitch & timing aren’t affected.
If you can convert from the video to WAV, do that.
(not from the MP3 - there’s no point doing that as the MP3 encoding losses have already happened)
Is this a video tape, or DVD, or a video file?
If it’s a file, you may be able to import the audio directly from the file (requires FFmpeg for Audacity to be installed).
Brilliant!
Thank you everyone. I think I can take it from here.
Super. Please do let us know how it goes.
Yes, your suggestions fixed my video. Thanks again everyone.