Audacity Mix Perfect but save as Windows 32bit PCM Crackles why?

Dear colleagues I am not sure who else has experienced this problem which i did not have with the 2 series Audacity mixer. (i only yesterday downloaded version 3 and now regret it)

  1. Audacity 3 - Uploads WAV file OK
  2. Edits WAV file OK
  3. Saves MP3 OK and export and plays well without discernible problems on windows media player.
  4. Plays the original Audacity Mix just fine on the Audacity player without problems.
  5. When the Audacity file is exported and saved as Microsoft 32 Bit PCM WAV file is where the problem begins.
  6. The 32 Bit PCM when played through windows player has a number of crackling sounds via headphones and speakers that was not present in the original Audacity mix.
  7. When this saved 32 bit PCM WAV track is uploaded to Audacity the crackling is present through the Audacity.
  8. When i reduce the WAV save to 24 bit PCM the crackling is not discernible in the play through windows player using headphones and or speakers.
  9. I did not have this problem with the older Audacity and i regret now downloading the latest version.

Appreciate any help including gaining a version of the older Audacity just so i can save larger audio files without having crackles through the so called better quality audio file. I note 24 bit PCM is roughly 50-60Meg for a 4 minute song and a 32bit PCM is 70-90Meg.

I am running windows 10 thanks.
Kind Regards. Remorseful version 3 updater.

This may not have anything to do with Audacity.

Item 7 is particularly curious:
“7. When this saved 32 bit PCM WAV track is uploaded to Audacity the crackling is present through the Audacity.”

Audacity does not directly play WAV files, or MP3 files, or any other audio format.
When you import (or “open”) an audio file, Audacity copies the audio data into the Audacity project. Audacity then plays the “project” (NOT the original audio file).



Item 6:
“6. The 32 Bit PCM when played through windows player has a number of crackling sounds via headphones and speakers that was not present in the original Audacity mix.”

This may be a limitation of the Windows player. Have you tried a different media player? (I’d recommend the free “Foobar2000” as an excellent audio player for Windows (it can also do format conversion, which can be useful): https://www.foobar2000.org/



“9. I did not have this problem with the older Audacity and i regret now downloading the latest version.”

If we’re not able to resolve the problems, then there’s always the option to uninstall the current version and re-install the earlier version, though note that Audacity 2.x cannot open projects that were created with Audacity 3.x.

I agree.

However, have you tried looking here: Old Audacity versions download ?

Try loading the 32-bit file into Audacity and see if it plays OK in Audacity. Also, try exporting that file as 24-bits. If the 24-bit version made from the 32-bit file is OK then the 32-bit file is OK and you’ve got a playback problem.



Just FYI - 32-bit PCM (integer) is pretty useless and it’s not a commonly used format. On the other hand, 32-bit floating-point can go over 0dB without clipping (there is virtually no upper or lower limit). You don’t want your final file going over 0dB because you can clip your DAC when you play it but it sometimes be a good temporary format, and Audacity uses 32-bit floating point internally.

And… You probably don’t have a 32-bit DAC (or a 32-bit ADC for recording), and the best DACs are only accurate to about 20-bits. 16-bits is generally considered better than human hearing (In a blind [u]ABX test[/u]. you can’t hear a difference in a high-resolution original and a copy down-sampled to “CD quality”'). Pro studios record at 24/96.