# Can I cut up sound files? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093 "2007-01-07T23:56:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/1 "2007-01-07T23:56:43Z")
I have a few sound files (mostly .mp3, a few more exotic ones) that have sections that I’d like to excise. Is there software available that would allow me to select only a section from, say 1:00 to 2:00 on a five-minute file? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/2 "2007-01-08T00:12:51Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/3 "2007-01-08T00:22:16Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Yes. [/QUOTE] Care to expand a little? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/4 "2007-01-08T00:25:14Z")
I use [Audacity](http://audacity.sourceforge.net/). It’s a free audio editing program. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/5 "2007-01-08T00:25:17Z")
I don’t really do the stuff myself but I have heard that the free and open source program [Audacity](http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is what you want for this and other sound manipulation needs. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/6 "2007-01-08T01:04:45Z")
Be aware that there is no software that will let you edit an mp3 in its native format. You have to convert it to .wav first, and save it as .wav when you’re done. Otherwise, you will be encoding it to mp3 a second time, reducing its already depleted resolution in half. ---
**Author:** ![jormundgondir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@jormundgondir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jormundgondir)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/7 "2007-01-08T01:26:21Z")
I second the recommendation for audacity. it’s free and very intuitive. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/8 "2007-01-08T01:28:43Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] Be aware that there is no software that will let you edit an mp3 in its native format. [/QUOTE] Not true. > **[Introduction](http://www.deepniner.net/mp3trimmer/)** ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/9 "2007-01-08T01:34:13Z")
Editing in the way the OP asks about is not what this software is for. I have it, and it’s good for what it says it does - trimming off the silences at the start and end, fading, truncating, joining, gain changing, etc. But it is not a waveform editor, and it does not edit on sector boundaries like an audio editor. With regard to the seamless removal of a part or parts of an mp3 file in the middle, my statement _is_ true. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/10 "2007-01-08T01:44:09Z")
The OP wants to extract a section of an MP3 file. It is false to say that this is impossible natively in MP3 format - there are quite a number of utilities that allow MP3s to be manipulated in that way (and more) without recompressing. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/11 "2007-01-08T01:52:30Z")
What is with you anyway? I am not playing a semantics game with you. Feel free to discount my 35 years in the audio industry, and name an audio editor that will let you do what I described with compressed audio of any kind. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/12 "2007-01-08T02:04:14Z")
First off, what _you_ described isn’t exactly what the OP asked for - there was no mention of waveform editing, for example, but anyway… [Direct WAV MP3 Splitter](http://www.bluechillies.com/details/30383.html) claims: > [@](#): > > Direct WAV MP3 Splitter is a fast automatic WAV and MP3 cutter. Our Audio Splitter can quickly split larger MP3 or WAV files without re-compression. WAV MP3 Cutter allows you to split, cut or trim MP3 or WAV files and save the results into new files. Direct WAV MP3 Splitter can work as an automatic MP3 splitter. The built-in audio player allows you to listen to the playback with adjustable speed and then split it with automatic track numbering. Also you can automatically split MP3 or WAV files into equal-sized parts using split by time, size or number of parts, or use the automatic pause detection feature in Direct WAV MP3 Splitter. You can use it like an MP3 album splitter and split an MP3 album in a second. Direct WAV MP3 Splitter can split ripped CD audio tracks, audio tapes, etc.You can view an MP3 file using wave graphics and easily set the MP3 cut points. You can save and load MP3 cut points to a file. CUE files are supported as well as our own file format. Features: - New fast engine to split large MP3 and WAV files - MP3 and WAVE files with more then 1Gb file size support - View the MP3 file using wave graphics - Visually drag MP3 cut points as desired - With built-in MP3 and WAV player, you can pre-listen to each section you want to split before actually doing the MP3 splitting - Adjustable playing speed - Provided with a slider bar, you can visually and quickly get to the point where you want to split What is missing from this list of features that is specifically requested by the OP? ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/13 "2007-01-08T03:37:23Z")
What the OP asked for was a way to edit (remove) sections of mp3s of songs to make them shorter. This requires an extremely high degree of precision in the software and much practice. I downloaded the trial version of the above software. While you can set edit points and split mp3s into sections just fine, rejoining them seamelssly, on zero crossings, on sector boundaries, is all but impossible. It leaves a glitch or gap, or worse, a crossfade, at every edit point. It’s great if you have an audio book and want to split it up into chapters, but for the fine editing of music, it’s not even a consideration. Music editing should be performed on a .wav or any other lossless file, and then saved as an .mp3 when it’s done. I edit sound every day of the week, and I am on top of programs used to edit sound. It’s my job. For precision editing of mp3s, there is nothing that will do what the OP requests. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-cut-up-sound-files/387093/14 "2007-01-08T08:21:09Z")
Apologies if I have caused offence. Is it actually technically impossible then, to cut/rejoin Mp3s seamlessly without re-encoding? I wonder if it would be possible to just re-encode the frames adjacent to the cut.