Comments on: Those MP3 Recorders

By: Tom Betz

Tom Betz — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 05:28:20 +0000

I use a quick little MP3 editor called MP3DirectCut every day. It edits the MP3 file directly, without any transcoding. I recommend it highly — I’ve never noted the slightest degradation in audio quality from using it, though it has had some difficulty re-syncing on write some 24 kbps MP3 files generated by Inet Stream Archiver for Mac OS X. Those I re-encode through Audacity into higher-bitrate files before editing.

Download MP3DirectCut at http://www.mpesch3.de/

Also be on the lookout for MP3Gain, a handy utility for adjusting the replay gain of an MP3 file without recoding it. It’s great for setting the gain level on a batch of files you want to play as part of a single playlist.

Download MP3Gain at http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/

By: Doug Kaye

Doug Kaye — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 02:39:14 +0000

Thanks, Radu. Yes, there are also applications called Joiners and Splitters that will perform operations on MP3 files without the decode/re-encode problems. As you suggest, there are no changes in quality. One restriction is that edits resolve to the nearest MP3-frame boundaries — at least I think so; I could be wrong on this — which means the granularity of edits is limited. Does anyone know for sure?

By: Radu

Radu — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 02:33:27 +0000

There is this small program that should allow limited editing on mp3 files without reencoding:

http://mpesch3.de1.cc/#mp3dc

I have used it a few times, but never really tested the difference in quality (in theory there should be none). It can also do more things, like changing the gain on the mp3.

Hope this helps.