MP3 music

Hi,
I remember that in the first post I wrote in this section kozikowski said me to work with .WAV and not to convert an MP3 in another MP3.
He said not more than 3 time, but now I have a doubt, 3 time do he means that for 3 episodes you convert an mp3 to another mp3, or for the same episode you convert 3 times in mp3? :unamused:
However I record with Audacity so the audio is not an MP3, but the music I use yes. When I export the project in MP3, the music already in this format decrease his quality? Is that a problem?

MP3 gets its small, efficient sound files by carefully moving music tones around a little so they’re more efficient and then leaving some of them out. If you do this once from a perfect recording, then nobody can tell what happened.

If you edit an MP3 and then make it into a new MP3, it shifts tones around again and leaves even more of them out. By the third time there can be a lot of sound damage—and it’s permanent.

You can help this a little by editing your MP3 and then making a perfect quality sound file such as WAV or Flac. It’s still has MP3 sound damage, but it doesn’t get any worse.

You can help a little less by making your edit into a super high quality MP3. That will produce a much larger file. Most people want the same size file they started with, so nobody likes that one.

There was a classic music review show in Maine that was produced in a house in the woods. The producer downloaded MP3 music, created the review comments, made a new MP3 and shipped shipped the show off to the broadcast station. Everything was super until the station wanted to make their podcast. Too Many MP3s. His voice was OK, but the music turned to weird trash.

We told him to deliver the show to the station on an Audio CD (perfect quality WAV files) instead of MP3.

Apparently, it worked. Nobody complained again.

Koz

MP3 can be a time bomb.

Say you use up your two MP3 layers while making your show, and then make a WAV file for delivery to a client. The WAV file has all the multi-pass MP3 damage in it, but it’s not very bad yet. The first time the client wants to listen to your show while running on the beach, they’re stuck. They can’t make the third MP3.

Of course, they don’t know it’s the third MP3. All they know is they can’t go running on the beach with your show.

Never do production in MP3.

Koz

I use the music along my trailer (the episode 0) and for some second as a intro music in my episodes.
The song are from Youtube Audio Library, so it is in MP3.
Let me get this straight, is your suggestion to convert the .MP3 song in a .WAV (I guess simply exporting it as a .WAV), add to the episode project and then convert the entire episode in MP3?

You don’t need the WAV step in the middle. Import (or open) the Youtube Libray MP3 and use it in your show. Make the show into MP3 for posting on-line. That’s two. What you can’t do is change your mind later, open the show MP3, make a correction and then make a new MP3 for posting. That posting is going to sound funny. That’s the third conversion.

Putting the WAV step in the middle doesn’t fix anything.

The audiobook people get stuck with this. They read a chapter and save it as an Audacity Project or export a perfect quality Microsoft WAV file. Open that and correct the mouth noises, script mistakes, and volume problems. Save a new Project or Export WAV. The ACX Company wants the actual chapter in MP3 for publication, so the reader makes the MP3. The Edit Master and Archive for the chapter is the last WAV, not the submitted MP3.

In your case, get to the end of editing so you’re happy with the work and File > Export the work as perfect quality WAV (Microsoft) 16-bit sound file. That WAV is your Edit Master and Archive. Then make the MP3 for posting. Just know that there’s one MP3 worth of sound damage built-in to the WAV from the Youtube music, and two MP3s worth of damage in the on-line posting. The only way to stop that is stop using the YouTube MP3s.

Koz

Ok clear , I generally save the project and export the mp3 from the project. The project is my archive not the WAV, because the WAV mixed the track music and voice in a stereo file and I cannot edit further.