It has come to my attention, that in a recent Audacity version (not sure, which one, since I can’t see it anywhere) the design of the tracks seem to have an overhaul. However they seem to lack their information about their sample rate and bit depth.I made a red outline for clarity:
As far, as I know, there used to be the info on every track, there.
I can’t seem to find setting, to turn the info back on, either.
I wanted to know, if anyone else is experiencing that.
If this isn’t a bug, I can’t really see, why one would remove vital information, like that.
Also… this is my first post, so it may not fit into a potential conventional post style.
Replies are appreciated!
Note that all the time the work is inside Audacity, the Format will be 32-Float (unless you change it). 32-Float doesn’t overload.
To take Audiobook Mastering as an example. Boost the voice volume until it passes Audiobook Loudness Standards. Then run a gentle peak limiter until the peaks pass volume standards—and it doesn’t matter if the peaks are overloaded. In 32-float, the peaks are waiting up there for you to decide what to do. If you were doing this job in any regular format, any overloaded peaks would be permanently damaged and distorted.
I understand that was done to “clean up” the time line format.
As I understand it, that info was considered clutter.
Why is it vital to you?
Audacity now has a Setting for Project Sample Rate. The project is played back at that rate and any tracks (or clips within tracks) that are not at the project sample rate are resampled on the fly to play back at the project rate.
I haven’t played with this in years, so I may be wrong, but … as I recall, a track can contain clips that have different sample rates. In that case, what does it mean for a track to have a sample rate?
Indeedy, I remember that too - but personally I have no use for it (so for me it is unnecessary clutter).
But having said that rather than just removing it, as Muse did, I would have preferred to have a preference or an option in the TCP context menu to turn on that data display for those who need or want it (off by default though).
Whereas for users that use multiple tracks, and import files from multiple sources (which may have different sample rates), the track sample rate is vital information.
Let’s not forget that Audacity was advertised for many years as a multi-track audio editor and recorder,
But it is meaningless if the track contains clips with different sample rates.
I was an advocate of converting all imported files to the project sample rate. Since the project rate is the playback rate, those clips are converted on the fly anyway.
Yes it would be, but that never happens. All clips in a track have the same sample rate.
The case is different regarding the sample format, as tracks may contain clips with different sample formats. However, there is still a “default format” for the track, which determines the sample format when audio data is returned to the track after processing.
Steve:
I see that you are right about a track not containing clips with different sample rates.
Set default project rate to 44100 Hz
Import a high-quality audio clip, say a WAV, 16-bit, 44100 Hz.
Export it at 8000 Hz sample rate
Export it at 48000 Hz sample rate.
Delete the tracks
Import the 8000 Hz sample rate file . A new track is created with that sample rate.
Import the 48000 Hz same rate file. A new track is created with that sample rate
Drag the contents of the second track into the first.
Drag that clip back into track 2.
Using the solo buttons, listen to each track.
Do a Plot Spectrum on a portion of each track.
You will hear, and see, that the clip in track 2 (that started out at 48000 Hz sample rate) is band limited to 4k. Apparently it was re-sampled when dragged into the 8k sample rate track.
To me this is both a bear-trap and an edge case.
A bear-trap for the unwary who may lose audio quality.
An edge case in that not many will actually want tracks with different sample rates.
You may argue that showing the track sample rate mitigates the bear-trap. Maybe so, for those that are aware of it.
I still don’t see any need to have tracks in a project with different sample rates. Since everything will be converted to one sample rate on export (in almost all cases the project rate), just convert all files to the project rate when they are imported.
It is vital to me, since I often have tracks, whose sample rates aren’t matching the project’s sample rate.
Combining said tracks with other ones automatically resamples them to the project’s sampling rate… without any confirmation, or notification, which is a big deal for me.
