MP3 Exporting

[grebseirnek]

I am unable to "Export as MP3." When I try to do so, the message I receive is "Could not open MP3 encoding library." Audacity version 1.2.6 and Lame for Audacity are installed on my Windows XP system. I am trying to save music from Audicity as an MP3 file to Documents / My Music. What can I do to solve the problem?

[kozikowski]

Since you're going to be messing with software, patches, and downloads anyway, this is a delightful time to upgrade to Audacity 1.3. You can leave your old install right there.


Audacity 1.2 is very old and no longer supported,
patched, corrected, or updated. Audacity 1.2 can
be unstable on newer computers.

Download and install the latest Audacity 1.3 from here...

http://audacityteam.org/download/

You can install both audacity 1.2 and Audacity 1.3 on
the same computer, but only use one at a time.

Audacity 1.2 will not open projects made on Audacity 1.3.

If you use MP3 or some of the more modern audio
compression formats, get Lame and FFMpeg software
from the same web site. Do not use older software
or software from other web sites, even though they
may have the same names.


That may solve the problem right there. If it doesn't, write back.

Koz

[grebseirnek]

Thank you for your response, Koz. I am a brand-new user of Audacity, and in fact, this is my first project with the software. When I downloaded version 1.2.6, I considered the later version (1.3.x), but I rejected it because it was presented as an experimental/developmental application that was better for Vista and Windows 7, but not for Windows XP. Anyhow, I will try It! Thanks, again.

[kozikowski]

One of the little idiosyncrasies of Audacity. There is a new version coming out shortly and the whole distribution thing will be revamped. In any event, Audacity 1.2 -- even though it's the flagship product -- hasn't been supported in a while, so you have very little choice if you run into problems. It's a good chance we're going to tell you almost immediately to make adjustments that just aren't available in 1.2.

Koz

[grebseirnek]

Okay, Koz, allow me to present a plan and then let me know what you think about it. I know that you said I could have both versions installed at the same time, i.e. 1.2.x and 1.3.x, but I don't see any reason to retain both versions. I am a new user of Audacity, so I do not have a lot of files to worry about. Therefore, my plan is to uninstall Audacity 1.2.6 and Lame for Audacity, and hopefully wipe out all the files associated with them, and start from scratch. If I do that properly and then install Audacity 1.3.x, will I need another (different) Lame MP3 encoder to "Export" or "Save" music as an MP3 or WMA file to Documents / My Music?
grebseirnek.

[kozikowski]

Like it said in the pre-packaged block, older and foreign lame and FFMpeg won't do. You need to install the ones that come with Audacity 1.3.13 in the download page. They're somewhat customized for version.

Audacity 1.2 Projects will open in 1.3. Actual sound files, WAV and AIFF open across versions either direction.

Never do production in a compressed format -- ACC, MP3, WMA, etc.

Koz

[grebseirnek]

Koz, I am very frustrated. I did what I said I was going to do, but I still get the same result. When I try to "Export as MP3" or "Save as MP3" I still get the same message, namely "Could not open MP3 encoding library."

Here is what I did (after uninstalling Audacity version 1.2.6 and Lame for Audacity): I went to the website http://audacityteam.org, selected the "Download" tab, clicked on "Windows 1.3.13 Series (Beta), latest version," scrolled down to "Recommended Download" for Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 and clicked on "Audacity 1.3.13 Installer" that was located there. After that was downloaded and installed, I scrolled down just a little bit more on that same web page to find "Lame MP3 Encoder," clicked on it, and then after a new page emerged, I clicked on "Lame Download Page" and followed the directions to install Lame for Audacity.

I have no idea what the problem is. I am still unable to "Export" or "Save" music as an MP3 file to Documents / My Music !!

grebseirnek

[kozikowski]

We may need to wait for one of the Windows Elves. The different computer families have different problems with extra software.

We're doing this little dance because MPEG1-Layer 3 (MP3) is a paid, licensed product of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft company. It's not free.

Little known facts.

Koz

[steve]

Use Audacity 1.3.13.

Uninstall any existing versions of Lame that you may have, then download the ZIP option (libmp3lame-win-3.98.2.zip ) from here: http://lame.buanzo.com.ar/

"Extract" the contents of the ZIP file into the Audacity Program folder (note that as you previously had Audacity 1.2 installed you will probably have 2 Audacity folders. Be sure to select the Audacity 1.3 (Unicode) beta folder - it should be inside the "Program Files" folder).

Restart Audacity.

Go to "Edit menu > Preferences > Libraries".

If Lame is not automatically detected, click on the "Locate" button and navigate to the lame_enc.dll file that you have just copied into the Audacity program folder.

Once Lame has been detected, restart Audacity. If it still says that Lame cannot be found, let us know.
If all goes well you will now be able to Export as MP3 files.

[grebseirnek]

Thank you for the tip, Steve. I will try your suggestion. However, I am unsure about how to ""Extract" the contents of the zip file into the Audacity program folder." Grebseirnek