Bulk Normalize

[Irish]

Tried exporting, and no matter what I do, I am not allowed to save to
any format other than as an Audacity project.

Arre you sure you are using the "Export" command in the File menu and not "Save"?
"Save" or "Save as" will only allow you to save as an Audacity project.

File > Export

When you click on Export, you will get an Edit Metadata window with a lot of boxes to fill in. You can click on OK without filling anything in (this just gives you the option to add data to your WAV or MP3 file that iPods or MP3 players can read). Then you will get a window where you select the type of file you want to save as, and where.

That's the first time I've heard that MP3 causes some file damage or quality loss
Is Wav a better format?

If you are exporting in order to listen on an Ipod or MP3 player, MP3 is fine. Every time you export as MP3, the file gets put through the MP3 compression process and the quality suffers, but for everyday listening, most people can't hear the difference.
If you intend to import the file again into Audacity and work on it, export as WAV.

To make a CD, export as WAV signed 16 bit PCM. You will need to bring the WAV files into a CD burning program to burn the CD.

PO'L

[steve]

That's the first time I've heard that MP3 causes some file damage or quality loss

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossy_compression

Is Wav a better format?

It's lossless, so it's better in that way. however, the file size is considerably bigger.

Any suggestions welcomed

FLAC is a lossless compression format - providing that you use the same sample rate and bit depth, a flac compressed file should be identical to the original data.
Flac can not compress as much as MP3 (because it keeps all of the data while MP3 format throws away some of the data).
Flac will give approx 2:1 compression whereas MP3 will give up to around 8:1 compression.
Ogg is another "lossy" compression format. At high quality settings you will get around 5:1 compression with very good (but still not perfect) sound quality.
Ogg and FLAC are open source formats. Unfortunately they are currently less widely adopted than MP3.

Tried exporting, and no matter what I do, I am not allowed to save to
any format other than as an Audacity project.

"Save" always produces an Audacity Project - that is what it is supposed to do. Audacity projects keep the tracks separate and save various other project related information such as track names, envelopes, pan and volume settings...
To get a "normal audio file" (WAV, MP3, FLAC, Ogg,...) you must "Export".
(You "Export" to non-native formats, and "Save" to the native Audacity Project format).

Read this about files and projects (very important): http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php? ... ement_Tips

But to take the project into a recorded cd seems impossible.

You cannot take an Audacity Project to an audio CD. It's not audio!

Smack me with a lead pipe if you must, but please first try to help me comprehend what I am stumbling over or missing.

Never mind the lead pipe, just read it http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php? ... ement_Tips
(if you still have questions, feel free to ask).

[Edit] Apologies for the repeated info - Irish posted while I was still typing

[Irish]

How's that for timing?

PO'L

[kozikowski]

This is an extreme example of what you can do by taking MP3 too far. MP3 always does a little bit of this to your show more or less depending on settings and filesize. The damage is cumulative. Every time you edit an MP3 file in Audacity, it gets worse.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/WAV-MP3.wav

Koz

[trahcwolf]

Awesome
I put away my redman suit and am satisfied now
Thanks a bunch for the patience
It works very well.
I am going to make a point next week of reading the linked articles