Splitting Large Audio Files

K

KennyFlys

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If an album is recorded to a single MP3 file, what is the best tool for splitting that file back into individual tracks?

I came across Nero Sound Trax but I'm not sure if that's the correct item.
 
Audacity will allow you to do just about whatever you want. Of course you have to do the work, there is no feature to do what you want with the click of a single button.

Best,
 
HPNPilot1200 said:
Audacity will allow you to do just about whatever you want. Of course you have to do the work, there is no feature to do what you want with the click of a single button.

Best,
Click to expand...

A second vote for Audacity.

There is a package out there (and there may be an add-in for Audacity) that will split files based on how long the silence is between sections of audio. I just don't recall.
 
Spike, the package that was originally part of appears to no longer be available. Fortunately, I have the files from the albums. I'd now like to split them down to individual tracks to record on a CD.

Jason, Audacity appears to be freeware. Will it maintain the two channels that were recorded from the albums?
 
KennyFlys said:
Spike, the package that was originally part of appears to no longer be available. Fortunately, I have the files from the albums. I'd now like to split them down to individual tracks to record on a CD.

Jason, Audacity appears to be freeware. Will it maintain the two channels that were recorded from the albums?
Click to expand...

Oops. Sorry (sheepish grin).
 
KennyFlys said:
Jason, Audacity appears to be freeware. Will it maintain the two channels that were recorded from the albums?
Click to expand...

Yes. It'll handle two-track/two-channel audio... whatever is imbedded in the files.

There used to be a product called CoolEdit Pro, but that was bought by a commercial vendor a few years ago and the price was jacked up.
 
KennyFlys said:
Spike, the package that was originally part of appears to no longer be available. Fortunately, I have the files from the albums. I'd now like to split them down to individual tracks to record on a CD.

Jason, Audacity appears to be freeware. Will it maintain the two channels that were recorded from the albums?
Click to expand...

Yep. Audacity even has some pro level filters and effects. You can use a pop and click filter if you need.
 
Audacity is great, I use it for a lot including creating podcasts. It is powerful, and therefore the learning curve is not shallow (though not impossible either.) Might be fun.

But if you want to do a quick split, I use this. Very small program, free. Extract the files to a folder, open the executable file, and begin working. Browse to the source file, set the output target folder, go to the "selection" tab and begin to extract parts by "hh:mm:ss" to "hh:mm:ss" do it multiple times until you've created the clips you want.

You'll have it chopped up this way before you could finish reading the release notes from Audacity :rofl:

Edit: It will preserve two-channel stereo, but will not work with files encoded with variable bit rates. Chances are good that you do not have a VBR file though.
 
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alaskaflyer said:
Edit: It will preserve two-channel stereo, but will not work with files encoded with variable bit rates. Chances are good that you do not have a VBR file though.
Click to expand...
I didn't know that was even possible. Besides, what would be the benefit?

Thanks for the votes. I'll go with Audacity for my attempt. And, the price is pretty dang good along with my desire not to pay taxes! :)
 
KennyFlys said:
I didn't know that was even possible. Besides, what would be the benefit?
Click to expand...
The benefit is decreasing file sizes for storage or more importantly streaming while maintaining audio quality. IOW encode the parts of the song that are complex at 128 or better, but encode less complex parts of the track (such as simple drum beats or silence) at a much lower rate. Less 1's and 0's to clog up your modem :p
 
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