# Splitting Audio Files **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653 "2005-07-28T21:41:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/1 "2005-07-28T21:41:35Z")
A friend of mine recently discovered that he had a tape of a live performance from an old band. We’ve got the music on CD now, but it is all in one 42-minute long track. Is there a way that I can break up the track into sections (one for each song, obviously). It’s in wma format now, but I could convert it to RealPlayer or QuickTime. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/2 "2005-07-28T21:51:07Z")
Try [Audacity](http://audacity.sourceforge.net/), a free sound editor. It should be able to do what you want. It can export as .wav and .mp3 files. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/3 "2005-07-28T22:13:46Z")
**mhendo** , unless Audacity’s been updated recently, I don’t think it can read WMA files. Plus, unless I’m missing something (which is certainly possible), Audacity doesn’t have an easy, elegant way of doing what the OP wants to do (splitting one file/track up into several). ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/4 "2005-07-28T22:18:01Z")
My NERO program allows for this kind of thing. I use it to cut short (or out totally) the smetimes-lengthy applause on live albums. You could save the first song and delete the rest and save… then delete the fisrt and after the second… and so on. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/5 "2005-07-28T22:28:20Z")
Well dammit, I just downloaded the thing, along with LAME. Can I use Audacity to convert the file to an mp3? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/6 "2005-07-28T23:15:38Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > **mhendo** , unless Audacity’s been updated recently, I don’t think it can read WMA files. Oops, it appears you’re correct. Sorry. But the OP said that he has the music on CD, which means that he should be able to extract the file as a .wav or .mp3 to his computer. > [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Plus, unless I’m missing something (which is certainly possible), Audacity doesn’t have an easy, elegant way of doing what the OP wants to do (splitting one file/track up into several). Depends what you mean by elegant, i guess. I just imported a long mp3 into Audacity and easily split it into three separate files by selecting the appropriate section of the long file and copying it to a new file in each case. Took about 2 minutes. So, **saoirse** , if you can get you .wma file into .wav or .mp3 format, Audacity should be able to convert it without a problem. Try opening the file direct from the CD in Audacity. Just go File \> Open, and see if you can navigate to the long track on the CD. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/7 "2005-07-28T23:33:36Z")
It says “Audacity does not open this type of file. Try ripping it to a native audio format that Audacity can import.” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/8 "2005-07-29T00:20:39Z")
Try ripping it to your computer using [CDex](http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/). If that doesn’t work, i’m afraid i’m at a loss. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/9 "2005-07-29T02:05:55Z")
If you have a computer that can handle it, Adobe Audition can handle both .wma AND can split tracks. It’s important that your computer have the power because it’s a resource hog. Robin ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/10 "2005-07-29T04:30:16Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > If you have a computer that can handle it, Adobe Audition can handle both .wma AND can split tracks. It’s important that your computer have the power because it’s a resource hog. > > Robin At the bargain price of only $249. 🙂 Actually, if you go [here](http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp#product=92) you can download a free 30-day trial. It looks like the trial version has almost complete functionality, so it should solve your problem. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2005, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/11 "2005-07-29T08:06:01Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > **mhendo** , unless Audacity’s been updated recently, I don’t think it can read WMA files. I think you’re right about this bit. > [@](#): > > Plus, unless I’m missing something (which is certainly possible), Audacity doesn’t have an easy, elegant way of doing what the OP wants to do (splitting one file/track up into several). I think you’re wrong about this bit; you can highlight a selection and export just the selected piece as WAV or MP3 ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/12 "2005-07-29T09:49:38Z")
Windows Movie Maker can split wma files. Start -\> All Programs -\> Accessories ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/13 "2005-07-29T09:53:53Z")
Another good freebie is “mp3 direct cut” Not sure if it can handle \*.wma, but it’s easy enough to convert to mp3 first and then split it. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/14 "2005-07-29T12:07:43Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > At the bargain price of only $249. 🙂 > > Actually, if you go [here](http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp#product=92) you can download a free 30-day trial. It looks like the trial version has almost complete functionality, so it should solve your problem. Damn, the price dropped! And, yes, the trial version has full functionality, or at least enough function that it’ll do about 99% of what I need it to do. Robin ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/15 "2005-07-29T13:25:47Z")
[GoldWave](http://goldwave.com/) is an excellent (uncrippled) shareware audio editor that can handle WMA files. Its install file is also about 25 times smaller than that of Adobe Audition, making it a very quick download. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-audio-files/314653/16 "2005-07-29T14:39:02Z")
> [@neutron star](#): > > [GoldWave](http://goldwave.com/) is an excellent (uncrippled) shareware audio editor that can handle WMA files. Its install file is also about 25 times smaller than that of Adobe Audition, making it a very quick download. Damn. Forgot about Goldwave. If it can indeed handle .wma files, then it should be perfect for the OP.