problem with audacity cross-platform sound editor

Dear community
I have a reocurring issue with Audacity 2.4.1 when I try to import MP3 audio files. I always get a message that my cross-platform sound editor doesn’t work and then the programme is closed automatically. Before that happened, I had received a message, that I need to download the FFmpeg file. I downloaded it, saved it in my programmes folder and in Audacity located the library under preferences.

Could you please help? What else can I do?

Thank you and best regards
Andrea

Audacity 2.4.1 does not require FFmpeg to import MP3 files. Perhaps there’s something wrong with those files.
Try uploading one of them to this page for analysis: https://mediaarea.net/MediaInfoOnline
What does that webpage say about the file?

Dear Steve

Thank you for your reply. I have used the file in the past in Audacity and it always worked. Please find the report from the website you mentioned below:

General
Complete name : Daydreams 60min.mp3
Format : MPEG Audio
File size : 140 MiB
Duration : 1 h 1 min
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 320 kb/s
Album : Daydreams Royalty Free
Track name : Daydreams 60min
Performer : Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Composer : Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Genre : Royalty Free Meditation Music
Writing library : iTunes 8.2
iTunPGAP : 0

Audio
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Duration : 1 h 1 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 320 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate : 38.281 FPS (1152 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 140 MiB (100%)

It would be great if you could help me. Thank you for your support.

Best regards

Andrea

Everything looks OK, and it IS an MP3 file. (That FFmpeg message usually means that it’s named .MP3 but it’s actually some other format.)

Have you tried any other MP3 files? Can you open a WAV file?

Can you play the file in Windows Media Player (or whatever you normally use)?

If the file is playable and you’re not having problems with WAV files you might try converting the file to WAV with [u]TAudioConverter[/u] (or any converter program of your choice).

As a last resort you can [u]record the file while it’s playing[/u] (if it’s playable).

Or, there is a tool called [u]MP3 Diags[/u] that can sometimes repair MP3 files (if the particular file is the problem).

Thank you for your feedback. I have now tried other files and some work while others don’t. Could it be related to the size of the files? However, in the past I never had such problems with the exact files. That’s why I get the impression that the issue can’t be connected to the file itself.
I can play them normally in the media player.
Do you have any other ideas what I could do? I prefer not to install any further programmes such as converters.

Thank you for your support.

Best regards
Andrea

How many hard drives / SSD has your computer got, and how much free space on each drive?

I have one hard drive with 2.17 GB free space

You’re probably running out of disk space. A 1 hour stereo MP3 file will expand to well over 1GB when decoded on Import.

Thank you Steve, in that case, I’ll check how to expand my disk space. Your support was very much appreciated.