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1.3.9 can't select some regions of MP3

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:26 am
by asloane
I can't select some regions of 320kpbs MP3 since upgrading to Audacity 1.3.9 in XP SP3.

Same problem when reverting back to 1.3.7. I can't select certain areas of the MP3 - exactly the same sections, one of which is a section where the amplitude goes unacceptably high when a mic was bumped during recording. The extreme amplitude should not cause that problem.

Now I have a problem - halfway into an edit but I can't finish it.

Is there some kind of setting that has changed?

I did completely uninstall 1.3.7 and 1.2.6 because I wanted to be sure that the Lame standalone upgrade had impacted on my Audacity configuration - I still don't know how to determine if it actually has.

Re: 1.3.9 can't select some regions of MP3

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:58 am
by steve
Audacity does not process MP3s. Audacity "Imports" files and un-compresses the audio data and then works with this uncompressed copy of the file. Lame is not used in this process - Lame is only used for Exporting MP3s (Importing is supported natively within Audacity).

So you have a track in Audacity and you can't edit part of it - why not? What's happening?
asloane wrote:I wanted to be sure that the Lame standalone upgrade had impacted on my Audacity configuration - I still don't know how to determine if it actually has.
Try exporting a file as an MP3. If it works then everything is OK.

Re: 1.3.9 can't select some regions of MP3

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 5:54 pm
by Storer
At the bottom of the Audacity screen, you'll probably see the Snap To box checked and the Selection Start listed in seconds. With this setup, once you zoom in so that one second or less are on the screen, you can't select anything. Just un-check the Snap-To box and you can select anything at any zoom. If you click the down-pointing triangle at the right of any of Selection Start, End/Length, or Audio Position, you can select what units the Snap To feature will align with. There are many units listed smaller than seconds, and more convenient for certain editing tasks.

Re: 1.3.9 can't select some regions of MP3

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:20 pm
by asloane
Thanks!

Yes that's the solution disabling "snap to".

I don't know how it got to be enabled.

Wonderful, now I can use Audacity again!