chriswareham Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 [quote name='Gottastopbuyinggear' timestamp='1472492770' post='3121559'] I may be wrong but I think the issue with MP3 encoders being bundled with software is that there's a licence fee to be paid for the encoder. If you're buying software then the provider is paying a small amount on to whoever holds the rights for the MP3 technology. If you're going for free or open source then, assuming the provider wants to stay on the right side of the law, they can't bundle the encoder. [/quote] There are dubious patent issues with MP3 encoding. This doesn't apply in all countries, but a lot of software makes you download an encoder separately to cover themselves. On Linux, the installation is normally a single click, with the onus for getting a license technically down to the user. Since software patents arguably shouldn't be valid in the first place, the patent holders aren't able to do anything about it when no individual users get a license. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I use Goldwave. https://www.goldwave.com I paid (the $15, now $45) to get the additional features. Well worth it. Of course if you want to save to MP3 you have to install the LAME encoder. But that's extremely easy and free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 (edited) Just for fun Jack - install LAME for Audacity in one click via this URL: [url="http://tinyurl.com/makejackhappy"]http://tinyurl.com/makejackhappy[/url] You'll have to do use IE or Edge though unless you have a ClickOnce extension installed for Firefox or Chrome. (btw if you don't have Audacity installed it will try to install it and fail as the package in the repository for it is currently broken, just ignore the errors!) (for anyone interested in how this works, check out [url="https://chocolatey.org/"]Chocolatey [/url]and [url="http://boxstarter.org/"]Boxstarter[/url]) Edited August 30, 2016 by dannybuoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 30, 2016 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 Ta Danny, I'll give it a go ... the Basschat massive has spoken! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1472468123' post='3121272'] Please DON'T immediately jump in and tell me I need Audacity. I already tried it. Twice. I have no interest in an editor that omits vital files & plug-ins due to "copyright issues" and invites me to source them elsewhere and plug them in. So, once we step away from the Audacity base-camp, what's out there? My needs are VERY simple ... take a WAV file from a rehearsal or a gig (perhaps 2Gb, usually less), save individual tracks as mp3 files, maybe apply some amplification, maybe opt for a fade-in & fade-out, erm, that's about it. Free would be nice but NOT essential. I've spent far too long looking through obviously fake 5-star reviews of crap features and virus-ridden malware, and I'm well aware that almost all of the 'free' downloads are a disaster waiting to happen. I just don't know which ones (if any) are safe to use. I'm talking Windows here, not Mac. [/quote] Reaper! Not free anymore, but only $60 and it's very very good. You can download and try for 60 days without feature limitations: [url="http://www.reaper.fm/download.php"]http://www.reaper.fm/download.php[/url] It does a lot more than you say you need... but it's really simple to use. There may still be places where you can get their older 'free' version before they went fully commercial. I used to have version 0.999 or something like that, the last one before going commercial, which already was stable, takes up next to no space, light in resources usage, and does all the basic editing already. If interested I'll look for it and I can send it over, but you will probably find it online still. If you like it, the $60 is worth paying, in my opinion. They did a great job and provided a serious DAW for almost no money compared to what other bigger names wanted. I like supporting that if I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 [quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1472489047' post='3121514'] If you want to convert a WAV file into MP3 in Reaper you simply choose one of the variations of 'render to MP3'. At this point a window will open in Reaper saying 'mp3 encoder not loaded'. Then you go to lame and download the codec and stick it in the appropriate directory. It's dead easy; if you've used Audacity you'll have no problem. [/quote] Really? It's been so long I forgot I had to do that! ah well... it is really easy and a one-time operation, which is why I must have forgotten I did it... but if not downloading additional software is a must, then that rules out Reaper too I suppose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 Even Cakewalk Sonar used to be the same and you had to buy an mp3 add-on (not sure if that still applies today though)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 [quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1472549555' post='3121950'] Just for fun Jack - install LAME for Audacity in one click via this URL: [url="http://tinyurl.com/makejackhappy"]http://tinyurl.com/makejackhappy[/url] You'll have to do use IE or Edge though unless you have a ClickOnce extension installed for Firefox or Chrome. (btw if you don't have Audacity installed it will try to install it and fail as the package in the repository for it is currently broken, just ignore the errors!) [b](for anyone interested in how this works, check out [url="https://chocolatey.org/"]Chocolatey [/url]and [url="http://boxstarter.org/"]Boxstarter[/url])[/b] [/quote] oh, pretty cool, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottastopbuyinggear Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 Something I found out recently when I asked for suggestions for a similar purpose (splitting up a single MP3 file of a rehearsal into individual songs) is that you can label a bunch of selections in Audacity (just click and drag to select a portion of the file and then Ctrl-B, or Cmd-B on a Mac, and type in a label) and then do a batch export of them using File - Export Multiple, with each file named according to the label. You can definitely adjust the overall volume and do a fade out, but I can't remember off the top of my head how you do that - Google will tell you pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 +1 for Goldwave. I've got Reaper as well, just not got around to using it much yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1472497537' post='3121616'] You bastard! You complete and utter bastard!!! [/quote] You're entirely welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 I record all our rehearsals and gigs with a digital recorder strapped to the singers mic stand. Ive been using Adobe Audition for years to edit, Eq and cut these recordings. Ive got Sonar/Wavelab etc, and most of the other programs mentioned here, but i keep going back to Audition. I also use the Ozone mastering plug-in and that makes a huge difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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