How To: Install + Setup Audacity 2.0 (Mac OS X)

Here at AudioAcrobat, we are often asked which software should be used to perform basic audio editing functions. Well it just so happens that in the past month our favorite free, open-source audio editing software for Mac OS X (Lion, Snow Leopard + More!) aka Audacity made a major update to their software … which not only sees Audacity continuing its reign as our #1 recommendation, but sees this powerful application, much like a fine wine, getting even better with time.

In today’s post we will walk our readers through the process of installing and setting up Audacity 2.0 in Mac OS X (Snow Leopard). After our quick installation + setup walkthrough, readers will also find a quick process for setting up the ability to export MP3 files using Lame.

Where to get it … for FREE!

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/.

Once the page has loaded, our readers will want to click the link for Mac OS X, as shown here:

After clicking, a pop-up window should appear asking where to save the audacity-macosx-yb2.0.0 file. Make your selection and confirm by clicking Save.

After the download completes, go ahead and launch the dmg file you’ve just downloaded to begin setup. A Finder window should appear looking like this:

If the Install.txt file is opened, there is a simple instruction prompting the user to copy the Audacity folder to /Applications.

To perform this action, simply copy the Audacity folder (right-click, command + c or Edit >> Copy “Audacity”) and navigate to your Applications folder in Finder and paste (right-click, command + v or Edit >> Paste “Audacity”) the copied folder and its contents.

A simple drag + drop of the Audacity folder into the Applications folder will also perform this same function.

A finished copy / paste into the Applications folder should look like this:

Basic Setup

Begin by opening Audacity from the Applications folder. At this point, Audacity should launch and our readers would then see the open application, which should look like this:

Audacity 2.0.0 for Mac >> Installed and Launched

Click to Enlarge

To recap, Audacity has now been installed and is setup to perform a variety of audio editing tasks. However, a very common question will arise when new Audacity users are ready to output their 1st edited file in the MP3 format.

For training purposes, we’ll skip ahead to setting up Lame within Audacity, thus allowing for MP3 output from the software. Here are some quick steps to follow along with:

Note: Make sure to have an audio file open before starting this walk-through; otherwise ‘Export’ will not be an available selection.

1. File >> Export

2. Save As (File Name) >> Where (Location) >> Format (MP3) >> Save

3. Edit Metadata >> OK

4. Pat yourself on the back >> Job well done!

If for any reason a pop-up appears mentioning that Audacity requires a file (lame) to create MP3s, please skip to step 4 in our previous Audacity for Mac OS X installation tutorial.

Now, for each further export of an MP3 file, Lame is in place to make your request possible!

Did you find the above process helpful? Were you able to follow-along? Did you get stopped along the way?

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