Undo effects in an already saved file?

Mojave 10.14.6
Audacity 2.4.2

I have an edited file with effects that I have already saved. Now I want to open that saved file and undo some of the effects I used (e.g. Reverb, Noise Gate, Limiter) Is there a way I can do this?

Thanks!

Sorry, no.

The undo stack is discarded on exit from Audacity.

WC

That is really unfortunate!! What is the best forum/email to bring up ideas for new plug-ins? I bet there would be a lot of really happy Audacity users if there was a “undo stack retrieval” plug in.

It couldn’t be done with a “plug-in”, but we do have a logged “feature request” for saving a project with it’s undo stack. I’ll log your support for that feature request.

The main downside of saving the undo stack is that it can make projects enormous. For example, a 1 hour, single stereo track project with a dozen “undo” step could be more than 15 GB (by way of comparison, a normal CD quality 1 hour WAV file is about 0.65 GB).

Done.

There was another audio editor a while back which had a project format that never forgot. As you found, it was insanely handy, but the almost universal complaint was that the projects were enormous.

Audacity Projects do not save UNDO and the instant you close Audacity it starts over.

Echo and reverb are on the list of permanent errors that can kill your show.

The Four Horsemen of Audio Recording (reliable, time-tested ways to kill your show)
– 1. Echoes and room reverberation (Don’t record the show in your mum’s kitchen.)
– 2. Overload and Clipping (Sound that’s recorded too loud is permanently trashed.)
– 3. Compression Damage (Never do production in MP3.)
– 4. Background Sound (Don’t leave the TV on in the next room.)

It’s good practice to save a clean copy of the work before you do anything to it.

Koz