I’m brand new to Audacity, downloaded it last week. I am still on Windows XP, so I downloaded V2.1.3 because I read on the web that was the last Audacity version that would work with XP. I did a few simple recording tests – it worked OK.
BUT I cannot export to MP3. I understand I need to install LAME, but try as I might, I cannot get this to work. I have followed You Tube videos etc. I have found a file and put it on my PC called lame_enc.dll. I don’t know if this is the right file or not? And I don’t know which directory this should be in. Can anyone give me guidance please? Many thanks.
To export as MP3 you will need a version of LAME that is compatible with Audacity 2.1.3. I don’t know where you will obtain a suitable version from.
If you are able to obtain and install a suitable version, then you just need to tell Audacity where it is by locating it in “Edit menu > Preferences > Libraries”.
If Audacity does not recognize LAME when you select it, then that’s because the version of LAME is not compatible with Audacity 2.1.3.
If you can’t get it to work you can export to WAV or FLAC and then use a 3rd-party MP3 converter. When I just want to compress/convert a file without editing I use [u]TAudioConverter[/u] but I’m not 100% sure it runs on XP.
Thanks Steve – it doesn’t sound too hopeful. Somewhere on the web I found a file called lame_enc.dll. Is this the file that will do the trick? But where does it have to be located within the Audacity folder structure to work?
It doesn’t matter where LAME is installed. In most cases Audacity will find it if is a compatible version and installed properly. If Audacity doesn’t automatically find it, then use Audacity’s Preference setting to locate it. If Audacity still does not see it, then it’s not a compatible version.
Note that it is extremely risky to download DLLs from the internet unless you are absolutely sure what it is and you trust the website that provides it.
I did what Doug suggested. Installed the LAME files. I am not sure if it worked or not…when I checked on Preferecnes and Library it says at the top of the box: MP3 library version: LAME 3.99.3. The next line says MP3 Library and in the liitle box ‘Locate’.
Next line is LANE MP3 library and in the litle box ‘Download’.
Does this look correct? Or do I have to take action on one of these little boxes?
The next thng I did was try to Export the Audacity project. This had a violin track plus two guitar tracks. I selected MP3 - before it went ahead it gave a warning message saying that the tracks would be mixed down to two stereo tracks. It prodced an MP3 file that plays in VLC. I can only hear the guitar though.
One other point: In the audacity project screen - if I try to mute tracks, I can only have one of the three tracks unmuted, not two. That doesn’t seem correct?
