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Topic: Editing mp3s without re-encoding? (Read 7331 times) previous topic - next topic
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Editing mp3s without re-encoding?

Is there any software for Mac that will let you edit mp3 files without de- and re-encoding them?

Addition. It looks like Rogue Amoeba's Fission does this – any opinions on this app?


Re: Editing mp3s without re-encoding?

Reply #2
BTW, for future seekers of this info, report back on what you used and how good it is.

Re: Editing mp3s without re-encoding?

Reply #3
Have a gander at these: http://alternativeto.net/software/mp3directcut/?platform=mac

No idea how good they are, as the last Mac I owned had a black'n'white screen. But some options worth exploring, anyhoo.
Thanks for the link – I didn't know about that site.
I wrote Rogue Amoeba, and it turns out that what I wanted to do – phase correction – isn't possible with lossless editing anyway.

Re: Editing mp3s without re-encoding?

Reply #4
Have a gander at these: http://alternativeto.net/software/mp3directcut/?platform=mac

No idea how good they are, as the last Mac I owned had a black'n'white screen. But some options worth exploring, anyhoo.
Thanks for the link – I didn't know about that site.
I wrote Rogue Amoeba, and it turns out that what I wanted to do – phase correction – isn't possible with lossless editing anyway.

Editing the sound isn't possible without re-encoding. Only solution to edit non destructive is to save this lossless for example with FLAC. The file will be a lot bigger, but no additional quality is lost. I highly recommend to mark your files as lossless so they don't get mixed up with real lossless files. "song.mp3.flac" for example, or "song.192kmp3.flac".

Doing phase corrections after it has been compressed in a lossy manner wil get you strange artifacts though, like "underwater" sound. Isn't there a lossless version available?

 

Re: Editing mp3s without re-encoding?

Reply #5
Doing phase corrections after it has been compressed in a lossy manner wil get you strange artifacts though, like "underwater" sound. Isn't there a lossless version available?
Will you also get artifacts if it's a simple phase change of one channel – to correct an out of phase stereo file. (Unfortunately, there's no lossless version.)

Re: Editing mp3s without re-encoding?

Reply #6
Yes!

MP3 Direct Cut (previously mentioned) can edit an .mp3 file directly without decoding/encoding.  And it's free.

I've been using it for years to trim the ends of some radio broadcasts I capture.  You can also split an .mp3 into multiple files and other things like fading in/out.

BUT, it's only Windows software.  I'm not sure how you can run it on a Mac.

Re: Editing mp3s without re-encoding?

Reply #7
Yes!

MP3 Direct Cut (previously mentioned) can edit an .mp3 file directly without decoding/encoding.  And it's free.

I've been using it for years to trim the ends of some radio broadcasts I capture.  You can also split an .mp3 into multiple files and other things like fading in/out.

BUT, it's only Windows software.  I'm not sure how you can run it on a Mac.

Yep, I use MP3DirectCut mostly for radio broadcasts (downloads from get_iplayer, mostly). Fade in and out is very useful, when continuity announcers insist on talking all over the start or (more often) the end of a programme. The BBC's Neil Nunes (the guy with the huge, resonant Caribbean voice) is very respectful of the fade-out, but a lot of others aren't.