WAV file too large

[Milwauken]

I recorded a one minute phone interview using an Olympus DS-2, which created a .wmv file. Olympus' sound editing software sucks, so I converted the .wmv to .aif, and imported to Audacity.

The .aif file has two tracks, and is 9 megs. I did my edits, and coverted to .wav, but the .wav is now 6 megs, and also has two tracks.

How do I get the .wav file to a manageable size?

[kozikowski]

<<<How do I get the .wav file to a manageable size? >>>

Let's do that one first. You don't. Windows WAV format is a perfect quality, uncompressed format that can be used as archival storage. It doesn't have a "size" or "compression" slider like the other formats do. It just is. Because of its perfection, the files are huge.

You didn't need to convert WAV to AIFF. They're close cousins of each other and Macs get along in WAV just fine.

Windows Media, however is based on MPEG4 compression which can produce extremely small file sizes with reasonable quality, especially if you start out with restricted quality (personal voice recorder) and, we assume, mono.

I would edit in WAV and then use the MP3 tools to produce the final, small, compressed show. Do Not try to edit in MP3. MP3 damages the audio every time you create an edit. Do all the work in mono and that will automatically reduce all your sizes by half.

Koz

[Milwauken]

I had to convert the wmv to aif. Audacity doesn't accept wmv. The Olympus DS-2 only creates wmv

I have another Olympus digital recorder ( not mac compatible) that creates wav files. A one minute wav is only about 500 k. Why is a wav converted from an aif so large?

Why are there two tracks on the converted wav? Can I convert it to one track, and reduce the file size?

[kozikowski]

<<<I had to convert the wmv to aif. >>>

Sorry. Misread your post. Perfectly correct, although Audacity defaults to WAV and you could have stayed there.

<<<A one minute wav is only about 500 k.>>>

You should probably spend some time in QuickTime. Open each of these files in QuickTime (hopefully, Pro, although you don't actually need that for this) and press Apple-I (for INFO).

I bet the wave files from the "other" recorder are mono (not stereo), 8-bit (not 16-bit) and 22050 (instead of 48000). You can set up audacity in the preferences panels to actually open, edit, and export in that format thus keeping everything the same size and quality throughout. Audacity > Preferences > Quality. I don't know that you can hit all those numbers (8-bit is pretty awful), but I guarantee you can get a lot closer than you got so far.

Koz

[Milwauken]

Audacity won't let me import a wma file, and Olympus' sound edit app only lets me convert wma to AIF. The Olympus WMA file is 400 k (45 secs). The AIF that I convert to is over 6 MB. Why so much larger?

I like the idea of converting the 6 mb wav to an MP3, but Audacity asks me to locate the LAME lib. I downloaded the LAME lib, but I can't click on it. The icon is faded out. The instructions say I can put the LAME file anywhere on the computer. I've tried opening it in a desktop folder, and in the Library folder. Any other ideas?

[kozikowski]

<<<The AIF that I convert to is over 6 MB. Why so much larger? >>>

I'll tell you that right after you tell me the numbers you got when you opened it up in QuickTime INFO.

<<<I downloaded the LAME lib, but I can't click on it.>>>

Now you're really confusing the steps. When you downloaded the "lame" package, it should have been either a ZIP or a SIT file. Both of those are protected transmission packages that need to be decompressed and unpacked before the contents can be used.

If you make it through all that and get the final actual "lame" library and Audacity still can't find it, then you either got the wrong lame, or, believe it or not, the wrong Audacity.

I'm going to run out of time right this second, but I need to go back over this and see which version of what you actually need.

Yes, the instructions tell you that you can place all the files anywhere, but I found it very pleasant and convenient to pile everything into an /Audacity folder under /Applications.

Koz