1.2.6 is the official "stable" version - but on most modern platforms the latest Beta 1.3.12 is much more stable and richer in functionality. 1.2.6 is no longer maintained and has known bugs which will never be fixed. Most (all?) of the forum elves have been using 1.3 versions for a while now as their standard production version.. IMHO 1.3.12 is the best Audacity yet.
WC
changing play speed (audible quality loss ?)
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For help with current Audacity, please post to the 2.x. board for your operating system.
Please post feedback about the current 2.x version on the 2.x.feedback board.
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waxcylinder
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Re: changing play speed (audible quality loss ?)
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bomber1978
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Re: changing play speed (audible quality loss ?)
OK I did a little test, I took a nice crystal clear live recording of a track I'm very familiar with, I changed the speed of it back and forth 9 times (which is ludicrous !), and at least with my computer speakers I'm having trouble deciding whether I can really hear a difference or not, sometimes I think there is a very subtle difference, but I'm not even sure if my mind is just fooling me... So if that's the result I get from 9 changes I guess I don't really have to worry about 2 changes !
Will check first though on my stereo system.
Will check first though on my stereo system.
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bomber1978
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Re: changing play speed (audible quality loss ?)
I'm very surprised how well Audacity seems to have stood up to this test........
I ended up mixing up the Audacity file (which has the speed changed 9 times) with the lossless original, so I didn't know which ones they were. I listened to one part of the song for 5 seconds (repeated listening a few times) and decided which I felt was the lower quality sounding one. I mixed them up 10 different times and listened to a different part of the song each of the 10 times (about 5 listens lasting 5-10secs to each part) and only 5/10 times I correctly chose the Audacity speed changed file as the file which sounded lower quality.
However when I did the same test with the lossless original and 128kbps CBR MP3 created with dBpoweramp the test only took me less than half as long (though I still did have to concentrate carefully), and I chose the MP3 as being the lower quality file 9/10 times.
So it seems Audacity speed change is doing a decent job, especially considering a file speed changed 9 times seems better quality than a 128kbps CBR MP3 of the original lossless file!
I ended up mixing up the Audacity file (which has the speed changed 9 times) with the lossless original, so I didn't know which ones they were. I listened to one part of the song for 5 seconds (repeated listening a few times) and decided which I felt was the lower quality sounding one. I mixed them up 10 different times and listened to a different part of the song each of the 10 times (about 5 listens lasting 5-10secs to each part) and only 5/10 times I correctly chose the Audacity speed changed file as the file which sounded lower quality.
However when I did the same test with the lossless original and 128kbps CBR MP3 created with dBpoweramp the test only took me less than half as long (though I still did have to concentrate carefully), and I chose the MP3 as being the lower quality file 9/10 times.
So it seems Audacity speed change is doing a decent job, especially considering a file speed changed 9 times seems better quality than a 128kbps CBR MP3 of the original lossless file!