The Audacity Tutorial - Convert your music into WAV!

[Kurtis]

I have attached a freshly compiled binary from CVS of LAME 3.98 alpha 3, including lame.exe and lame_enc.dll. Remember that Alpha versions are likely unstable. I have tested lame.exe with the RazorLame 1.1.5a frontend. It encoded the MP3 with no audible errors, but the frontend displayed that an error was encountered and did not show percent complete of progress.

I have also attached a compiled binary of the latest stable release, LAME 3.96.1, including lame.exe and lame_enc.dll. This was compiled February 12, 2006. No errors should arise.

RazorLame 1.1.5a was released in February, 2006 and works with no errors that I have encountered with LAME 3.97 beta 2. It can be obtained at the RazorLame homepage.

Sources:
LAME: http://lame.sourceforge.net/
RazorLame: http://www.dors.de/razorlame/index.php

Disclaimer: Though the software is unlikely to damage your system, VGMusic, the developers of LAME, the developers of RazorLame, Microsoft, AMD, and I cannot be held liable for any damages encountered through use of this software. Use at your own risk.

[mudlord]

Wow, Hunter-Zero, that was quick! I was going to compile a CVS build for you guys, but you bet me to it!


Anyway, this is just out of plain curiosity, but what compiler did you use?
I usually use MSVC.NET 2003 OR MSVC.NET 2005 to compile my Ogg Vorbis CVS binaries.

[Kurtis]

I used the copy of MSVC from the command prompt of the Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition SDK, so I'd say it would likely be the latter of the two you mentioned.

[mudlord]

I see...

Thanks for the answer.

[Nova]

...you know, the original WAV Lame_enc works fine for MP3 for me.

[mudlord]

But, generally LAME CVS builds contain newer code, so there might be optimizations to the psychoacoustic and ATH models, which means better quality might be experienced to the encoded MP3's.... Also, CVS builds are the very latest possible versions... But if you like the stable releases, feel free to keep using them.

[sealion]

This whole process worked great for me. Thanks alot for taking the time to put all of this info up here. Now I can put all of that great VG Music on to my iPod.

[Cragoe]

convert, haha. i usually just connect my speaker out to my line in and hit record, then playback the midi. i'm cheap like that

[sealion]

haha, well, this is pretty easy too. And if you're cheap, this is free, eh?

I've converted 4 songs now, and I've only noticed one problem. On some of the songs, they get staticy at parts, mainly at the louder parts. Is there anyway to fix/prevent this?

[Mark7]

You might want to go to http://rarewares.org/mp3.html for the latest LAME builds.

[latios_of_altomare]

I noticed that when you're recording, a message at the bottom says Recording Time Remaining: blah. (Mine says 45 hours, 13 minutes). Is this a doomsday countdown to the day when this program will no longer work?

[mudlord]

Nah, its not a doomsday counter at all. Its probably just a counter for how long the WAV can be.

On another note, I whipped up a simple recorder app that can be used to convert MIDI's to WAV/MP3/OGG/whatever files, if you don't want to download Audacity. The program itself is only around 9.50KBs, and it supports directly recording to MP3 or OGG without going through the encoding process. You need the LAME binary and OGGENC binary if you want to record to MP3 or OGG. WAV conversions don't require any additional files. WAV conversions are performed via ACM codecs, which are installed with WMP.

EDIT: Created a update for this last night. Small fixes were made to it, the really noticable difference now is the reduction in file size, which was attained by optimization of the code and by the use of a alternate method to encrypt the main executable. The executable now also has a built-in CRC checking method on itself, to reduce the chances of viruses being carried with it. Not that there is any viruses in this, of course.

[deadlymind]

Instead of changing all the mumbo jumbo around to make it so that it'll accept What You Hear, instead, using an external cord, you could just wire your Stereo Input to your Stereo Output. Then, just open up Audacity, open up the Midi, and record from there.

[Kurtis]

Instead of changing all the mumbo jumbo around to make it so that it'll accept What You Hear, instead, using an external cord, you could just wire your Stereo Input to your Stereo Output. Then, just open up Audacity, open up the Midi, and record from there.

The problem with that is that the method you describe would add unnecessary analog distortion to the recording.

[SH&E]

No offence 2 anyone, but... there's such a more easy way to convert them.

1. First open iTunes 7 (If you don't have it, download it here).
2. Drag the midi(s) you want to convert into the iTunes Library.
3. Go to 'Preferences>Advanced>Importing', and then change the import format to whatever you want. In this case, 'WAV'.
4. Close the Preferences window, then select the midi(s) you want to convert, right-click, and click on 'Convert to (WAV, MP3, AAC etc...)'.
5. Do whatever you want with the result.

Simple.