Have you ever heard the phrase, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat”? We’re not quite sure the exact origin of this saying, but we know now that it can be easily applied to the task of converting MP3s to their larger WAV counterparts. Not that there’s any real ‘skinning’ involved, more so that there are literally thousands of ways to achieve this relatively simple and straight-forward task.
In today’s posting, we will take our readers through the steps of using our favorite free, open-source audio editing software aka Audacity to convert an MP3 file to the WAV format using Mac OS X. Difficulty rating? It’s as easy as A B C!
A: Audacity?
There are plenty of impostors out there on the web pushing their ‘free’ audio editing software. Some may even tell you that it’s Audacity, but don’t be fooled. There is one tried and true location to pick up your free download of Audacity, and that location has been, is and will continue to be in the foreseeable future http://audacity.sourceforge.net/.
B: Basic Setup?
We’ve got you covered! Our recent installation tutorial includes setting up LAME (Mac OS X) too!
C: Convert!
Audacity is capable of performing many tasks, including converting audios from one file type to another. For today’s walk-through, we’ll be converting an MP3 to a WAV file using Audacity 1.3 Beta (Unicode) for Mac OS X.
1. File >> Open
This action will allow the user to select the original MP3 file to be converted to WAV from their computer’s hard drive.
2. Select File >> Open
Here our readers will see we’ve selected the MP3 file we’re choosing to convert to WAV. Even better, it’s a Metallica song remixed by breakbeat / tech funk legend Elite Force — too cool!
3. Make Selection >> OK
Here our readers can make the choice of either having Audacity copy the file to a local location to work from, or read the file from the location we’ve just selected.
Click “OK” once you’ve made your selection in order to continue.
Hint: Check the ‘Don’t warn again and always use my choice above’ box to skip this step in the future.
4. File >> Export
This will begin the process of rendering our project in a user-selected format; which in today’s walk-through will be the WAV file type.
5. Format: WAV >> Save
Here the user is able to select the location in which their newly rendered WAV file will be created.
6. Edit Metadata >> OK.
Here you can add any pertinent metadata to your WAV file. Click “OK” and watch as your new WAV file is created.
7. Pat yourself on the back >> Job well done!
Here we’ve walked through the process of opening our MP3 file and converting it to WAV using Audacity for Mac OS X. Did you get stopped somewhere in the process? Make sure you have LAME correctly setup then shampoo, rinse and repeat the steps listed above. Success will be yours!
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