Importing audio

Hey folks - I’m using Audacity for my podcast. I’ve downloaded compressed music files from
Melodyloop in wav and mp3 format. It won’t let me click and drag the files. When I try import the Audio file it says “audacity did not recognise the type of the file” etc when I try as raw data it imports but all I hear is static. Many thanks in advance for your help. I’ve googled to no avail. T

My guess is those are not “regular” WAV or MP3 files.

If it’s a different format you may have to install the [u]FFmpeg Import/Export Library[/u]. (Download and run ffmpeg-win-2.2.2.exe)

I assume they play OK in Windows Media Player?

Did you try opening some other known-good WAV or MP3 files in Audacity?

If Audacity works with known-good WAVs & MP3s, check those files with [u]MediaInfoOnline[/u].

The WAV files should show Format : Wave in the top section and Format : PCM in the bottom section.

The MP3 should show Format : MPEG Audio in the top section.
In the bottom section you should see
Format : MPEG Audio
Format Version : Version 1
Format Profile : Layer 3

when I try as raw data it imports but all I hear is static.

Right… Compression is a lot like encryption. If you don’t properly decompress it, the raw data is garbage. And with uncompressed files, the bytes have to be correctly re-assembled into samples, so you have to type-in the correct bit depth, sample rate, number of channels, etc.