Audacity Forum

I did try finding a solution to this here before posting, but as a novice user, I wasn't sure what I was reading.

I'm in the midst of transferring old audio tapes (of live recordings) to my hd & for storage on disc.

I read that I ought to export to WAV.
Ultimately, if I can, I'd like to put them all on a single dvd for storage/future use. Is that do-able or can I only use CDs w/ Audacity?

Is exporting to WAV (as opposed to Mp3) the way to go?

Thanks!

When you use Export in Audacity, Audacity makes a file for you, just a plain old file like any other. You can put files of any kind on CDs or DVDs, so you can use either. MP3 is lossy, which means you lose some quality. So it's not good for archival purposes, even though you could cram a lot more audio on fewer DVDs that way. WAV is good. You could also use FLAC (that's what I use for the kind of thing you're doing). It's lossless, so even though it makes somewhat smaller files, you don't lose any quality. The downside is that it takes longer to import when you want to use them again, and also not as many programs besides Audacity know what to do with FLAC as with WAV. --Allen

Thanks Allen!

Is FLAC something I'd need to download elsewhere?

Also, since the recordings I'm doing are live, is it tougher to "mark" the songs? The music is more or less continuous on live stuff.

Lastly, maybe you can help w/ the other question I posted-- regarding freezing when I try adding effects. (in this case, EQ)

Thanks so much again.

Is FLAC something I'd need to download elsewhere?

I don't think so. I think you can just click "Export" under "File", then enter any metadata you might want (you don't have to), click "Okay", and then select "FLAC Files" from the "Format:" drop-down menu at the bottom of the Save As window. If "FLAC" isn't one of the options, you might have to go to "Import / Export" in the preferences, and click the "Download" button next to "FFmpeg library" before doing the other stuff. But I don't think you need to do that for FLAC.

Also, since the recordings I'm doing are live, is it tougher to "mark" the songs?

You can always select each song and click "Export Selection" under File (instead of Export). That way you'd get separate files for each song. Within an Audacity project, you can create a "label track" that marks each song, but I'm not sure if there's any way to embed that into an exported file. I'll leave that question for others on the forum.

Lastly, maybe you can help w/ the other question I posted-- regarding freezing when I try adding effects. (in this case, EQ)

This is Audacity's standard, built-in EQ effect? If so, I don't think I have the knowledge to help; you'll have to wait for someone else. If it's a nyquist plug-in you're using, though, I'd recommend selecting shorter bits at a time.

--Allen