AUP and DATA - Save or delete?

[John B.]

When I download songs I export to .wav and .mp3 and I save the .aup but I delete the .data. Must I keep the .aup and .data files?

John B.

[Edgar]

When I download songs I export to .wav and .mp3 and I save the .aup but I delete the .data. Must I keep the .aup and .data files?

John B.

If you save either you must save both. One without the other is useless. On the other hand if you've already exported your project and are happy with it there may be no reason to keep the Audacity project around. The Audacity project is composed of both the AUP file and the data folder. A more in-depth discussion may be found here:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Audacity_Projects

[John B.]

When I SAVE PROJECT I immediately Export to .wav and .mp3 and then delete .data but for some reason I kept .aup but now I think I'll delete the .aup's because I can edit the .wav's and .mp3's without it. Thanks for reassuring me.

John B.

[Edgar]

Exactly right--I do the same. After I get my final WAV or MP3 I delete both the AUP file and the _data folder. One may always start a new project with the WAV or MP3. What I do NOT do is delete the original raw data. So, for instance, if I start Audacity and record something, the very first thing I do is save just as-is, NOT as an Audacity Project but as a WAV (or choose your favorite uncompressed format)--and I'm really paranoid so I then make an archival copy of the WAV on CD or an external drive! Then, very shortly after making my first edit I save as an Audacity Project; thereafter at fairly short intervals I again Save As (not just Save) using an "incremental" name. So, my first Project might be "Song" and then I Save As "Song1" then "Song2" etc. If disk space is at a premium I might eventually go back and clean out every other Project.

[John B.]

What I do NOT do is delete the original raw data.

What is the original raw data if it isn't .aup and .data? When I record a song I cannot save as .wav because I only have .aup as a choice so I save as .aup and then Export to .wav and .mp3. Anyway, it's working for me and I have about 350 mp3's on a flash drive and hook it to my fm transmitter in my car and I don't listen to commercials anymore. I also have an ac adapter for my fm transmitter so I can use it in my home. Always remembering more songs from the 50's thru now that I like much. The .data files are huge and I just don't need them.

then make an archival copy of the WAV on CD or an external drive!

A lot of mp3's could be stored on a dvd.

John B.

[kozikowski]

A lot of mp3's could be stored on a dvd.

MP3 creates damage. Always, and you can't stop it. You can approach perfect quality, but MP3 does not have provision for perfect bit-for-bit reproduction -- and the damage is cumulative. If you edit an MP3 file and export a new one, the gargly, bubbly, honky damage doubles and you can't stop that, either.

Audacity will not Save a sound file. Audacity is a show manager and likes to save Projects. The project manager is the AUP file (you can open it in a text editor and read it. It's in XML programming language. It's not music).

The actual music data is in the /DATA folder and other folders if you like to edit complex shows. That's why one without the other is useless.

I do a "show" live capture and immediately Export as a WAV file. Those files are backed up, never modified and live forever on backup media. I copy them into Audacity and process, filter, etc. etc to the final work and produce the final format, Music CD, WAV file, MP3, AAC, etc.

There should be no reason for a "reshoot" other than you didn't get the required live performance in the first place -- like the singer left out a song.

Koz

[Edgar]

What I do NOT do is delete the original raw data.

What is the original raw data if it isn't .aup and .data?

A thousand pardons, please! When I said "Save As" I really meant "Export"! As Koz says, Audacity does not "Save As" except for Projects. After all this time and even I get bitten by that!

[John B.]

gargly, bubbly, honky damage

Sometimes I need to delete one or two seconds of a mp3 or add a couple of seconds at the start. If I copy a mp3 over and over again will it become corrupt? I have a folder of mp3's that I add to and when I get thirty or forty extras I send them through MP3Gain and make a folder on my desktop to copy to and then drag and drop to my flash drive. Will playing the mp3 on my computer over and over again corrupt them? Would I be able to make new mp3's from the .wav files?

John B.

[steve]

Sometimes I need to delete one or two seconds of a mp3

There's a free open source tool that's specifically designed to do this without causing additional damage: http://mp3splt.sourceforge.net/mp3splt_page/home.php

Copying and playing do not damage the sound quality of audio files. It is the encoding that causes the damage because MP3 is a lossy format. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossy_compression Audicity can only work with uncompressed audio, so when you Export as an MP3 the audio must be (re)compressed, and that's when the sound quality loss occurs.

[John B.]

There's a free open source tool that's specifically designed to do this without causing additional damage: http://mp3splt.sourceforge.net/mp3splt_page/home.php

I downloaded it and it will be helpful when I start in on cd's and vinyl albums. Good reading at wikipedia.

Thanks,

John B.