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EDITING MUSIC MP3 PODCAST

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 3:17 am
by Gali Z
Hello, I always use GoldWave to edit my mp3 music. I have an MP3 file that is 169 MB (about an hour long) - converted from podcast and downloaded to mp3.

When I ope the file in GoldWave it says:
"Cannot determine format or file: .[file name]. Please specify a format below".
Then I get to pick Raw or Dialogic, both have different attributes, such as PCM and ASCII but I've tried some and I couldn't play the actual file (it's either silent or full of noise and quick, non playable and non editabale).
How can I make GoldWave "get" that it's mp3? or which atrributes should I choose? Perhaps a plugin?

Thanks!!!

Re: EDITING MUSIC MP3 PODCAST

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:06 pm
by DougDbug
It's probably not really an MP3, or it could be a corrupt/invalid MP3.
Then I get to pick Raw or Dialogic, both have different attributes, such as PCM and ASCII
None of that will work... It has to be decompressed with the correct CODEC (and assume GoldWave uses the MP3 decoder that comes with Windows). The raw compressed data sounds like noise (and you'll notice that the playing time is too short). Compression is a lot like encryption and if it's not decoded it's garbage.

I assume it plays on Windows Media Player, or whatever player you normally use?
converted from podcast and downloaded to mp3.
How did you do that? Do you have an option of a different format?

Some things you can try -
Load the file into MediaInfo. If it's an MP3, the "stream" information should include "MPEG Audio (Layer 1) (Version 3)"

Try converting the file to WAV with TAudioConverter.

Try opening it in Audacity, and then saving-as ("exporting to") WAV. You'll probably need to install the optional FFmpeg Import/Export Library. With FFmpeg, Audacity can open almost any audio format.


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BTW - As you probably know, MP3 is lossy compression. When you open an MP in any "regular" audio editor it gets decompressed (hopefully ;) ). If you re-save as MP3 you are going-through another generation of lossy compression, and the "damage" does accumulate. You may not notice any quality loss, but ideally you should compress ONCE as the LAST step. Or if you're stuck with an MP3 original, try to minimize the number of times it's compressed.

Or mp3DirectCut can do some limited editing without decompressing.

Re: EDITING MUSIC MP3 PODCAST

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 3:12 pm
by GoldWave Inc.
If other MP3 files are working fine in GoldWave, then most likely the file doesn't actually contain MP3 audio (could be MP2 or something else) or there is a problem with the decoders on your computer. If you have a recent version of GoldWave, you could try Options | Plug-ins | File | GoldWave* and check the "Use ACM MP3 decoder" box, but I doubt that will help. The Media Foundation decoder tends to work better in most cases.