I feel like I’m missing something basic. I am moving Audacity files to external drive as I need hard drive space. Question I can’t find answer for: is it necessary to retain the _data folders or is the aup3 file enough? The folders are significant in size.
To my knowledge, an .aup3 file contains everything needed. There is no _data folder.
But an .aup file definitely needs the corresponding _data folder in the same directory.
However, it is probably a better idea to export everything as .aiff, .wav or another lossless format before. It might be that your .aup/.aup3 files won’t survive the transfer.
2 Likes
Gotcha. I think I was missing the distinction between aup vs aup3.
Thanks!
If all I’m trying to retain is audio from a streaming twitch program, is exporting as .aiff or .wav the universal files of choice?
You can export your audio in whatever format you like. While .aiff and .wav are “lossless” formats, .mp3, for example, is “compressed” and the files are much smaller. If you do not need to work on the audio in future, you can export to .mp3. I bet, if you chose a decent quality in the export dialog (minimum 128 kbps, better 192 kbps) you won’t hear the difference.
The Audacity files (.aup/.aup3) are no real audio files and they can only be used by Audacity. .aiff, .wav, .mp3, etc. can be used by most (if not all) audio programs. And they tend to grow every time you use them because they save all your actions to make undoing them possible.
If you have been using Audacity for a very long time, there used to be data folders that had to be saved with the data. That is no longer the case, so as long as you don’t want to save really, really old stuff, don’t worry about it.
Just note that you can’t work “live” from an external or network/cloud drive (at least not reliably). So save to your internal dive and copy it to the other drive and copy it back before opening (if you haven’t already saved a copy there).
And it strongly agree with the suggestion to export to AIFF or WAV, whether you make a project file or not. These “standard” audio formats are simpler and more robust than AUP3 files.
MP3’s full family name is MPEG One, Layer Three. It’s part of a very old video format. It gets its tiny files by re-arranging musical tones, and leaving some of them out. If you use an MP3 for production, it will leave more tones out. It’s permanent and you can’t stop it.
It’s fine if all you ever want to do is listen while you’re running on the beach.
But, I hear you say, ACX requires MP3 submission for audiobook publication. True, but it’s 192 Constant Bitrate or Higher. That’s good enough quality for them to edit and create all their products and services with no audible damage.
When you buy your audiobook it’s not 192 any more. If you decide to cut, edit, or rearrange your book chapters, you may be able to hear the tonal damage. MP3 is evil/sneaky.
I’ve been using Audacity for billions of years. I use WAV (Microsoft) format because I didn’t understand or trust Audacity Projects. I have never damaged or lost a paid job.
That’s not perfect, either. WAV is good for mono or stereo, Full Stop. At 44100, 16 bit, Stereo (Audio CD) there is a time limit. I figured it out once and now I can’t find it. It’s many hours. Looking.
Koz
Here’s a piece from the Audacity Manual.
Koz
I have a very good quality portable sound (not voice) recorder that can be set to 44100, 16-bit Stereo WAV. Sometimes I forget and leave it recording after the goal was achieved. It will record out to 3 hrs, 22 minutes and then automatically (and seamlessly) start a new file.
That works out to 2.15GB of data. Someone will always say that’s the old data format, you can go higher now. I like it covering all the bases, even the older ones. See: Never lost a gig.
`
I do have an Obsessive Engineer thing you can try. Take the _data folder of one of your questionable shows, move it to your external drive, and then disconnect the drive. Make sure the aup3 file opens and works without it.
Koz
This topic was automatically closed after 30 days. New replies are no longer allowed.