MP3 Editor
 

I'm looking for an application that will solve an audio cassette to mp3 issue I have.

During one of our business functions we have to import audio conversations from mini-cassettes to MP3. Generally, the tapes are 30 minutes long, but the actual interview is shorter than that. Often, the audio is only 5 to 7 minutes.

We have two options:
Employees can put a tape in, hit play, click record, and the entire tape gets recorded to mp3.

Employees (and this is what we do) have to keep half an ear on the tape and manually stop the mp3 recorder/converter software when the audio runs out. This avoids several mb per recording of silence.

For example: an 8 minute conversation recording takes approx. 8mb. Letting the tape run past that and record silence ends up taking 18mb. It's about 16kB/s. We don't want to burn 10mB per recording on silence.

I suppose an option is to reduce the bitrate. I'll be lookign into that. However, the business unit is pretty happy with the conversation voice quality, so bitrate may not be somthing I can play with much.

What I am looking for is either an mp3 editor that will very simply let users edit out the silent part of an mp3, or an mp3 recorder/converter that will automatically cut a recording when there's no more audio.

Our goal is to eliminate the time our associates spend listening to audio cassettes in real time, just so they can hit "stop" when the audio stops. I want them to be able to hit "play" and walk away until it's done, then cut out the minutes of silence at the end.

Use a laptop, and a microphone. Record as MP3.

I'm not sure what you mean. We have tape players output to the PCs input, recording as an MP3. The recording software isn't smart enough to figure out when the 5 minute conversation on a 30 minute tape is over, and stop recording. I'm looking either for a recorder that is smart enough to do that, or a very easy way to record the mp3 with the unwanted silence then trim it out. Right now, I'm playing with Audacity learning how that might work.

I was moving fast before, so I only gave the URL.

Audacity is definitely what you want. You can import your MP3 into it, then select the silence (which will be prominently flat on the waveform view) and hit "delete", then export to MP3, and you're golden.

Yessir, that's what I did last night. It works pretty darn well, and I thank youse for the suggestion. Now I'm looking for a way to automate that, if I can.

so with this unit.........can i come right outta my 4 track recorder,with my 1/8 inch jack,and load right into audacity then?

see my soundcard is shit and will only let me import 60 fuckin' seconds.

Sure thing. You might want to record individual tracks to Audacity, then mix them there, though. Lots of good effects in Audacity that you're likely to want to apply on a track-by-track basis.

kay.........4 track is hooked up but.........i can't seem to be able to import tracks......

i'm quite computer illiterate so..it is a slow process for me.


i knew i shoulda paid more attention in class.

fuck sakes........still havin' problems importing from the 4 track.......


is it an easy deal that i'm just not getting?


thanks for the help anyways guys.......i'll keep tryin'.

Hello,

One idea would be to encode the mp3s using VBR, and set the lower end to a very low value.

That way when the encoder encounters an area that is silence, it drops down to nearly nothing, taking up little space. When it comes across more audio, it increases the bitrate to ensure quality.

Just a thought.