I have 2 versions of audacity on two computers: 3.2.5 running under Manjaro, and 2.4.2 under Ubuntu 22.04. Now I want to import a .aup3 file into the 2.4.2 version on Ubuntu. If I try to open it I get an error message saying that the file type is not recognized. If I import the file as ‘raw data’ I only get a lot of noise.
That’s correct - you can import the old AUP projects in to 3.x Audacity versions .
But you cannot open new AUP3 projects from 3.0.0 onwards in 2.x or 1.x Audacity versions.
Apart from the change in project format to an integrated database the 3.x versions have additional data stored as a result of increased functionality - so that backwards transition is not possible.
Peter.
Thanks for your fast reply. So I’ll have to export the file as .wav and open that on Ubuntu I guess.
Yes, you can export a WAV or WAVs from an AUP3 project and then open them in 2.x Audacity.
This is relatively straightforward for a single track project - but note that you lose any pan/gain or envelope settings as these are rendered when the WAV is produced.
It’s more like hard work when you have a project with multiple tracks many of which don’t start at T=0 as you have to export and import each track separately (but you can use Export Multiple by track).
Peter.
Note that in addition to the repository version, you can also install newer versions from snapcraft, flathub and Download | Audacity ®