Old 05-11-2020, 03:13 PM   #1
geezer
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Naperville IL USA
Posts: 10
Default Wav file to mp3 conversion question

I have a situation where 2 Wav tracks have been converted to 1 MP3 track for limited transfer ease via email. The song is 3 minutes long in Wav but 2:50 in mp3 (rough timing for demostration). The timing of the parts has been changed.

I know there is significant loss moving from WAV to MP3 but I assumed the timing would be static.

Am I missing something.
geezer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2020, 05:51 PM   #2
clepsydrae
Human being with feelings
 
clepsydrae's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,409
Default

I'm confused about the "2 wav tracks converted to 1 mp3 track". Do you mean that you rendered a project that had two tracks to an mp3? Or do you mean that you converted (with what utility?) two separate WAV files, both three minutes long, into a single stereo mp3? Or something else?

Timing differences can happen when/if media player programs make estimates of an mp3 file's length. If you want to know the length of the mp3 for sure, bring it in to reaper and compare it with the wav file on a separate track. For the same reason, timestamps in an mp3 file (or any other media file with a variable bitrate) are sometimes approximate.
clepsydrae is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2020, 06:16 PM   #3
geezer
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Naperville IL USA
Posts: 10
Default Wav file to mp3 conversion question

Originally, we did two live wav tracks inreaper which I bounced to one MP3 track as a scratch track for the other musicians. The scratch track (mp3) does not mirror the original wav tracks. There is a timing difference which is irreconcilable. As I noted in the original post, they are not the same length.

This is the last time I will use MP3's for anything than the posting of the mastered project to web sites. I have just found a transfer site that will move the larger WAV files to my minstrels.

Thank you to anyone who gave this a second's thought. Appreciated.

Enjoy life,
bw
geezer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-11-2020, 08:11 PM   #4
vdubreeze
Human being with feelings
 
vdubreeze's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 2,613
Default

That's an issue I've never run into, and I use mp3 all the time from Reaper. I just did a handful of mp3 tests converting in Reaper from an assortment of formats, bit rates and sample rates and they all ended up with no time difference from the originals.
__________________
The reason rain dances work is because they don't stop dancing until it rains.
vdubreeze is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-15-2020, 09:11 AM   #5
Reason
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 976
Default

Did the pitch change also? Could be a sample rate conversion issue.
Reason is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-16-2020, 07:55 PM   #6
Colox
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,206
Default

You probably encoded your MP3 as VBR. That messes up the time indication ans seek precision. All of your material is probably there in the MP3 file, but the time indication and seek precision will be real funky.

Use CBR instead, it removes this problem.
__________________
There are only two kinds of people in the world: those who entertain, and those who are absurd.
- Britney Spears
Colox is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 06:02 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.