Which is best for audio tracks

Ian26

Senior Member Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Joined: May 17, 2014 08:08 Messages: 188 Offline

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Jun 28, 2014 08:30

Hi there,

Which format is recommended for audio tracks - mp3 or wav?

Thanks

PS. In my previous authoring program I converted the sound track to AC3.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jun 28. 2014 09:23

IanB
PowerDirector Ultimate 18.0.3801.0 (64bit)
Dell XPS 8700, Win 8.1
4th generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 processor (6M Cache, up to 3.4 GHz)
Nividia GeForce 720 Version 372.54 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz (4GB x 2)
2 x 1TB 7200RPM SATA Hard D

stevek

Senior Contributor Location: Houston, Texas USA Joined: Jan 25, 2011 12:18 Messages: 4663 Offline

Jun 28, 2014 09:46

I have used both with good success. Remember that wav files are uncompressed so they take more room but should sound slightly better. There as many mp3 audio file formats; some of which may cause issues (due to bit rate, codec, etc.)

If you are starting with wav, keep it. There is no benefit to converting mp3 to wav because the decompression doesn't add those missing bits of information back in.

The program will determine the final audio format depending on your final output of the video file. .
.
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Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Jun 28, 2014 10:01

Quote: Hi there,

Which format is recommended for audio tracks - mp3 or wav?

Thanks

PS. In my previous authoring program I converted the sound track to AC3.

WAV files are the safest and problem free.

MP3 is known to sometimes cause strange in Powerdirector.
Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Ian26

Senior Member Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Joined: May 17, 2014 08:08 Messages: 188 Offline

Jun 28, 2014 10:12

Ok thanks Stevek & Carl.

Looks like I might have to compromise and use both, as I have a lot of tracks from Freeplay Music, which are mp3, so going on what Stevek said it may not be worth converting them to wave.

Thanks again IanB
PowerDirector Ultimate 18.0.3801.0 (64bit)
Dell XPS 8700, Win 8.1
4th generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 processor (6M Cache, up to 3.4 GHz)
Nividia GeForce 720 Version 372.54 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz (4GB x 2)
2 x 1TB 7200RPM SATA Hard D

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Jun 28, 2014 12:39

Quote: Ok thanks Stevek & Carl.

Looks like I might have to compromise and use both, as I have a lot of tracks from Freeplay Music, which are mp3, so going on what Stevek said it may not be worth converting them to wave.

Thanks again

MP3 files are a try it and see what happens.

If you do not have a problem with a MP3 file, use it. MP3 is fine if no problem.

If a particular MP3 has a problem, just convert to WAV and move on.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.