Difference between revisions of "Pending Feature Requests"

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**Steve: I think you're probably right, and I also think that it would be a good feature to be a able to tick an option in "Export Multiple" to "pad leading silence" when exporting multiple tracks.  I know that this has come up before (in discussions about exporting tracks for use in other multi-track programs), but I don't see it listed in the wiki "Feature Requests"
 
**Steve: I think you're probably right, and I also think that it would be a good feature to be a able to tick an option in "Export Multiple" to "pad leading silence" when exporting multiple tracks.  I know that this has come up before (in discussions about exporting tracks for use in other multi-track programs), but I don't see it listed in the wiki "Feature Requests"
 
**Koz(OP): Broadcast WAV? I know regular WAV supports multi-track, but nothing else does.  Supporting Broadcast WAV isn't a bad idea. I considered recommending that format.
 
**Koz(OP): Broadcast WAV? I know regular WAV supports multi-track, but nothing else does.  Supporting Broadcast WAV isn't a bad idea. I considered recommending that format.
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*'''Aligning music to a specific beat:'''  I’d like to use Audacity to record backing tracks (individual instruments, one at a time). Is there a way of accurately aligning passages that have been recorded and copied to another location in the same track?  Say for example I had a 4 bar verse of guitar recorded at 80 beats per minute. I would then add a chorus part and then need to insert another 4 bar verse. Copying and pasting the first verse would save time but it needs to be accurately placed to line up with the end of the chorus and all other subsequent tracks. As an example, in Mixcraft 5 you can change the carriage to show beat lines instead of the elapsed time. I don’t think the shift tool in Audacity would work as it would also move the first verse piece as well.
 
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**Steve: Don't put it in the same track. Put it in a new track, then you can adjust the pieces independently using the Time Shift tool.  I do appreciate your point about showing bars and beats rather than time. There is a brief mention of this in the "Feature Request" section of the Audacity wiki.  I don't feel that this feature request is very clearly defined as yet - perhaps you would like to say a bit more about Aligning music to a specific beat so that we can get a more clear description of what this feature would entail and how it would be useful.
 
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**OP: So we’re going at 80 bpm (beats per minute) - Here comes the guitar part of 4 bars: 1234 1234 1234 1234 - General laws of music, the beat is on the “1” - ONE two, three four, ONE two, three four etc - I need to land that paste exactly on the ONE (not the 234.
 
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**Edgar: I have this same problem, my situation is a bit different...  I record a 50+ piece community band's rehearsal. Given issues with mics, it is impossible to get a recording of the conductor's vocal "two bars for nothing" lead-in setting the tempo. What I need is a measure or two of intro so that the player may be ready to start reading/playing when the band starts--as a home practice aid.  If I was doing this in the studio I would create a click track ( menu Generate > Click Track... set for the appropriate tempo then record in a separate track. In practice, I create a pseudo-click track by listening to the first few seconds at slow speed. If I were more accomplished in using all the tools I might dupe the music track, mute one version and use a filter to just hear the bass drum.  The real problem is that of "exactly on the ONE", given the fact we are sampling at many tens of thousands per second, it is hard to precisely spot any given "one" and in live music they will never be "exactly" the same time apart. For what I am doing "close" is good enough; for inserting short clips "real close" is probably good enough, combining longer passages may require real precision and drift is likely.
 
  
 
*'''Meta Data Possibilities:''' It would be excellent to allow one to have full controll of the Metadata Data tags where all of the initial tag field titles could be either deleted and replaced or edited to relect the the users' needs. Importing a user-created template from an .xls or .xlsx would be preferred. There would be a need to make this the default once imported. There also could be a tool to pick and choose from five or more different templates allowing flexibility between different types of projects and their respective data needs.  Along these lines, it would be nice to have an additional commenting feature, where as an analysis function, clicking on a location on a track and allowing the analyst to make a comment; then, allowing multiple comments about multiple descete locations, exporting the time and date stamp to the meta table. Lastly, I would like to export this to a .csv of Excel file format.  Now the tall order: It would alos be nice to have a url link to the sound file in a Meta data field.
 
*'''Meta Data Possibilities:''' It would be excellent to allow one to have full controll of the Metadata Data tags where all of the initial tag field titles could be either deleted and replaced or edited to relect the the users' needs. Importing a user-created template from an .xls or .xlsx would be preferred. There would be a need to make this the default once imported. There also could be a tool to pick and choose from five or more different templates allowing flexibility between different types of projects and their respective data needs.  Along these lines, it would be nice to have an additional commenting feature, where as an analysis function, clicking on a location on a track and allowing the analyst to make a comment; then, allowing multiple comments about multiple descete locations, exporting the time and date stamp to the meta table. Lastly, I would like to export this to a .csv of Excel file format.  Now the tall order: It would alos be nice to have a url link to the sound file in a Meta data field.
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*'''Kontakt NCW File support:'''It would be nice to have support for Native Instrument's Kontakt's NCW file format. Any thoughts?
 
*'''Kontakt NCW File support:'''It would be nice to have support for Native Instrument's Kontakt's NCW file format. Any thoughts?
 
**'''Steve:''' That will probably never happen as the NCW file format is a proprietary format and probably not allowed by Kontakt's license conditions. However, Kontakt does allow you to save NCW files in WAV format.
 
**'''Steve:''' That will probably never happen as the NCW file format is a proprietary format and probably not allowed by Kontakt's license conditions. However, Kontakt does allow you to save NCW files in WAV format.
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*'''adding tempo in Audacity:''' What I mean is that Audacity should have the tempo function, since so what it is like. For example in other audio editors like Audition (I didn't want to name it for avoiding to spam the forum) if you get into the multitrack view and you press CTRL+P to see the properties of the project, there is a tab named "tempo". You also can set the number of beats per bar and take advantage of a metronome. This tempo function also exists in Sonar or even in SoundForge. And keeping this in mind, it's possible to navigate in the whole project fixing up a specific tempo, for example to use it with musical purposes. And let's say, if you want to repeat some vocal portion for a chorus in a song, you have only to copy it depending in the lenght of it in bars, and paste it in another section in the song, without typing in the standar time measures. That's something very common in the actual music.
 
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**'''Steve:'''For Audacity, the key feature would be the ability to show bars and beats to the Timeline, though I understand that your suggestion goes further than that. Some features would be an automatic consquence of adding bars and beats to the Timeline. For example: if we had bars and beats in the Timeline, then we would also have "snapping to beats" (easy selection to exact beat positions), because we already have "snapping" to Timeline ticks. To add bars and beats to the timeline would require that the tempo (bpm) and the number of "beats per bar", can be set. I would also want the ability to add "tempo changes" that affect the Timeline markings because music is often not at one fixed tempo throughout. So we might also need a "tempo map" of some kind. This would be different from the "Time Track" because we wouldn't want tempo changes to affect pitch. Other features, though not a direct consequence, would be obvious extensions to adding bars and beats to the Timeline. For example: If we had bars and beats in the Timeline, then an obvious additional enhancement would be for the Click Track effect to be able to automatically synchronise with the Timeline beats. A real-time "metronome" would also be a nice addition, though that could be implemented independently of other enhancements. It would clearly be a benefit to enable "snap guides" (http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/boundary_snap_guides.html) from the start/end of audio clips when dragging audio clips, so that audio clips can be easily and accurately dragged to align with beat positions. As we don't currently have these features, there is a plug-in that you may find useful. It creates labels (http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/label_tracks.html) that mark bars and beats. Audacity shows yellow "snap guides" (http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/boundary_snap_guides.html) when dragging a selection or dragging a clip aligns with a label position. The plug-in is here: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?p=155621#p155621
 
  
 
*'''Fourier: musical spectrum:'''  I would like to propose the feature of adding a fourier analysis that shows the musical notes in the spectrum. See the attached picture as an example of another software doing that.
 
*'''Fourier: musical spectrum:'''  I would like to propose the feature of adding a fourier analysis that shows the musical notes in the spectrum. See the attached picture as an example of another software doing that.

Revision as of 15:51, 7 May 2016

This locked page is for the use of sysops to transfer feature requests from the Audacity Forum and other sources. They will be reviewed and where appropriate transferred to the Wiki Feature Requests page.
For this page, it is best not to summarise, but paste in verbatim, so the context of the suggestion can be understood.



Not yet reviewed

  • Under Edit > Select, I would like to see more choices than just 'All' or everything fore or aft of the cursor. It would be neat if in that same area a list of all my markers came up so I could also choose something like 'Cursor to Markername'. And/or select Cursor to ... then flyouts to Label Track(s) > Markername(s). This would really help when recording albums and you now want to split the songs quickly. Other selection features maybe cursor to allow more than one cursor? Or something like 'splices'. Splices could be set in just like markers? Then a script could run for batch exports. I'm just thinking I could set all these splice markers, then click Export > Splices, then either one dialog for batch naming the files (I would edit the tags later individually later) or the dialog comes up with each splice and I edit all names and tags as processes.
  • Default Sample Rate: At present, if Audacity opens or imports, into a new project, an audio file that is at a different sample rate to the default (as set in Preferences), then the project rate will change to that of the imported audio. However, this is only true for the first file that is opened or imported. All subsequent files will leave the project rate unchanged. I find this behaviour to be both confusing and inconvenient. If I have the default sample rate set to 44100, that is because I want my project to use 44100. On more than one occasion I have opened a bunch of files, and only after noticing that the sound quality of the whole project was rubbish, realized that the project rate was set to an unacceptably low rate simply because the first audio clip that I imported was at a low rate. This behaviour can also cause problems for users that have soundcards that only support, or only play back at the correct speed, projects at specific sample rate settings. I would like Audacity to use the default sample rate for projects unless I explicitly change the project rate to another value (for example by using the "project rate" setting in the lower left corner of the main Audacity window).stevethefiddle
    • Gale Andrews responds: The switching of project rate to that of the first imported file (if different from the current rate) wasn't actually working on Mac/Linux if the rate of the file was unsupported, and one of the "fixes" in 1.3.7 is to make that switch always happen. The rationale is that there would have to be resampling if the project rate differed from the rate of the file; but that subsequent files should not change the rate again so that there would be a mix of rates. As you know, all resampling is lossy, and resampling has to be done somewhere if files at different rates are involved, in spite of the general recommendation to keep the project rate at a rate supported by the device. It was the best compromise we could come up with. Current Audacity should if necessary always resample playback from the project rate to the next highest supported rate, so that the soundcard is sent a *supported* rate. You can see the rate it's actually playing (or recording) at in the far right of the Status Bar. The Vista Default Format Issue using MME is the exception that proves the rule, where the system is resampling (badly), instead of Audacity doing it. I can't help thinking If the (Windows) world had better device drivers we wouldn't get half the reported problems with speed difference when recording and playing at the same time, and devices that cannot cope with resampling. I agree there is a weak case for not changing the project rate upon file import given how a minority of devices behave in the real world, and your point about project playback quality being destroyed by import of a low rate file is valid. I think a much stronger use case for not changing the rate is presented by people who want a fixed rate for export to CD or DVD. Anyway, the plan is to leave default rate behaviour when importing files as it is, but add a preference (probably after 1.4) to let the project rate remain fixed until the user changes it.
    • STF replies: That would solve the issue nicely, but I think that the default should be to not change the project rate.

Looking at the pros and cons:

Reasons why the project rate should change if the first (and only the first) file loaded is at a different sample rate:

  1. There would have to be resampling if the project rate differed from the rate of the file.
  2. .... I can't think of another.

Reasons why the project rate should remain at the default project rate setting, unless changed by the user:

  1. Changing the rate on account of the first, and only the first file opened is inconsistent with all other situations.
  2. Audacity is designed for high quality audio production and is, in the vast majority of situations, set to a default of 44100Hz (CD standard) or 48000Hz (DVD standard). Up-sampling a file from a low sample rate to either of these rates incurs negligible losses, but down-sampling a project to a low sample rate produces significant losses. Failure to notice that the import of one low quality audio clip has changed the sample rate for the entire project will result in the Exported audio all being resampled to the low rate, causing significant damage to the sound quality, whereas up-sampling a low bit rate sample into a higher bit rate project will result in a larger file size and insignificant loss in sound quality.
  3. A file that has been imported, then exported at a higher bit rate may later be down-sampled to a lower bit rate. Up-sampling a low quality audio clip, and then down-sampling it again will produce a very small degrading of the sound quality. The reverse of this (down-sampling a file then up-sampling it) will produce a large and irreversible degrading of the sound quality.
  4. Many users use Audacity for CD or DVD production, in which case it is an unnecessary inconvenience for Audacity to change the project rate from the default values, forcing the user to manually change it back again. This is also a behaviour that users need to be aware of (and they only become aware of it when they get caught out and ruin a project).
  5. Some soundcards do not handle re-sampling properly, and in these cases the project rate needs to be set and stay set. This may be the "fault" of the manufacturer, but this situation exists for a significant proportion of users.
  6. Vista (sometimes?) has problems resampling audio. Does this issue disappear if the project rate is set to a "compatible" setting?
  7. Since the sample rate switching was not previously working on Mac/Linux, I guess that it would be no great challenge to make it "not work" by design.
  8. The argument regarding "avoiding resampling" does not hold very well, since most/all of the processing in Audacity is done in 32bit, thus necessitating resampling (and dither) for any audio that is at a lower bit depth.
  9. In an open project that has, for example, one track with a sample rate of 44.1 and the project rate is 44.1, if a second track with a sample rate of 16kHz is imported, then the original track is deleted, the project rate will remain at 44.1 (and so when Exported will be at 44.1). However, if the original track is deleted and then the second track imported, the project rate will change to 16kHz. It does not seem logical that in this case the outcome should vary according to the sequential order, since in both cases we are just replacing one track with another.
  10. The bit depth of imported audio is always changed to the default project setting, whether it is the first file to be opened or not.

I agree that some (all) Save Sound File As, of the arguments lack much weight, but on balance I would find the arguments for not changing the project rate to be more persuasive.

  • Ability to use Audacity as a simple WAV editor, or other imported format: Given that 4 out of the 5 primary features of audacity[1] involve editing a single file, would it not be worth making that process easier? e.g. if you load a file, modify something, and press control-S, it should save the file, instead of prompting you to create a project?
  • Auto Complete Equalizer Graph: I created a simple equalizer graph to get somebody out of trouble recently. I think it was a lot more bother than it needed to be. Here's an illustration of an Adobe Photoshop tool. See: http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php?title=Image:Curves2.jpg Note that there's only one new data point on the right-hand brightness curve, and yet Photoshop automatically produced a graceful, gentle, useful curve typical of a picture whose natural lighting had actually changed. It did not produce two straight lines and depend on me to painstakingly calculate the new points and put the rest of the curve in by hand. I want the equalizer work window to run like that.
    • SteveTF responds: Since Audacity does not currently support graphical interfaces for effects (which rules out the "CoolEdit Pro FFT filter" type GUI), could this be done using a bunch of sliders?
    • Koz responds: It could, but to figure out where the sliders go, I'd be curled up on the living room floor with my Toshiba adding machine, my Terman's book of six place log tables, number two lead pencil, and nice legal pad. If only we could make a machine to do these laborious calculations for us....
  • More transparent "Sample format" display to left of track: This might be implicit in some questions I've asked before, but I thought I'd say it explicitly: I think it would be helpful if the "Sample format" displayed at the left of each track reflected the actual current bit depth of the audio in that track. What it displays now seems to have some obscure relation to either one's default settings or to the type of audio imported.
    • SteveTF comments: In most situations the "Sample format" displayed at the left of each track does reflect the actual sample format. However, you have noticed that when opening an Audacity project, the bit depth of existing tracks is (incorrectly) displayed as the default bit depth and not the actual bit depth of the track. You suggested previously that you thought this was a bug, and Gale agreed with you. For what it's worth, I also agree. At present, the developers are looking into another issue concerning bit depth and I would hope that when they have fixed that, this issue will also be addressed.
    • Allen McBride responds: You're right... I only decided to make a formal suggestion when I discovered that the actual behavior was more complex still when it comes to imports (the other thread I linked to). I know it's not the biggest deal.
  • Frequency values without selection: I am now developing a plug-in for Audacity. My problem now is on how to automatically get the values on the input or recorded medium without highlighting a portion of it. I mean...is it possible to get the frequency values even if the user will not be able to highlight a portion of the wave?
  • Long duration recording and auto saving: I need to record audio for days for a project I am working on. I would like to be able to save the audio automatically every hour to WAV file. Is it possible to make Audacity do this???
    • Koz comments: Audacity is a pretty simple program so Exporting and Capturing at the same time can't happen. It's already writing to the hard drive during Capture, so it would have to suspend that process in order to write the Project.
    • Plus one vote from Jaws78: I would like to second this. I want to record long sessions 6hours + and would like to break them up automatically in to smaller segments, so I can just press record and forget about it until i am done.
    • SteveTF comments: I doubt that Audacity would be able to continue recording smoothly while simultaneously writing a 600MB file to disk. Would it be acceptable for the recording to be automatically paused while the file was being saved?
  1. Alternatively:

How about if Audacity just started a new project file each hour, so that when you have "Split long recording projects" selected, it will create a new .aup file each hour? (myshow001.aup, myshow002.aup. myshow003.aup ...) I don't know if this is technically possible either, but it seems more likely than trying to dump 600MB of data to disk at the same time as recording.

  1. Another alternative:

After completing a long recording, how about an option to "Split project to multiple projects"? So you start with a 3 hour recording and instead of: "Save As..." > myproject.aup you select: "Split Save As..." > "Options = split after 60 minutes" > myproject001.aup, myproject002.aup, myproject003.aup Where "myproject001.aup" contains the first hour, "myproject002.aup" contains the second hour, and so on.

  • Need longer file names: I would like for Audacity to be able to use long (up to 255 characters) file names

without adding in its own arbitrary codes. I also checked it on a file name that doesn't contain parenthesis, and the same problem still occurs. I start up Audacity and it has a blank project window. Then I import my first audio. file. The name of the input file is "RAH 08 Out On the Edge (itunes)". However, once it's done importing, both the project window and the tracks within it are named something like "RAH 08 Out On the Ed#4330D7". Currently using Audacity 1.2.5 on Mac OS X (10.4), with Intel processor. Update: In a previous session of Audacity, I had saved the project. Then after quitting Audacity, I had renamed both the .aup file and the _data directory to be my "correct" file names (and matching each other). Today I tried to reopen that project, and it was unable to. Then I renamed the _data directory back to its old name, and the project opened OK.

  • Rename-able and movable projects:It should be possible for Audacity to find the _data directory based on the current name of the .aup file. It should be possible for people to rename both of these and have the project still usable.
  • Several ideas for navigation features: Currently using Audacity 1.2.5 on Mac OS X. I've only been using it a short while, so my experience with it is pretty limited so far. The other audio editor that I've been using is Sound Studio, and some of the navigation features in that program would be nice to also have in Audacity. The following would be nice additions:
  1. Need better control over the vertical zooming of each track. Need it to be easy to keep the zero line centered within the track. Need it to be easy to set several tracks to the exact same zoom amount
  • Frequency band splitter: I find this feature in Fscape (an xplatform app similar to Soundhack) http://www.sciss.de/fscape/ - to be very useful and would like to see it or a Nyquist script written to do something similar: a panel would appear when Band Splitting function is selected and would allow the user to
  1. define bands as freq/bandwidth -or- crossover freqs
  2. add new bands/crossovers as needed
  3. processes the bands or crossover parameters on a soundfile or a selection of a soundfile
  4. output these as separate files into a selected directory -- similar to splitting soundfiles according to label regions
    • STEVETF comments: Unfortunately this is not possible with Nyquist in Audacity, at least not a one-click automated method, because Nyquist in Audacity can only access one track at a time. It is however possible to make multiple copies of a track (Ctrl+D) and then apply band-pass filters to each track.
    • Anechoic responds: you only need to access one track. How it could work: create a multi bandpass run the track through it and split out the results (ind bands) into n-number of separate tracks.
    • SteveTF adds: That's the bit Nyquist in Audacity can not do - it can only access (reading or writing) one track. If you process multiple tracks (select several tracks and apply a Nyquist effect), each track is processed in Nyquist independently of other tracks. The audio data is passed to Nyquist in a single variable ("s") and the result that is returned by Nyquist is written back to that track. Audacity currently supports single channel (mono) and 2 channel (stereo) tracks. In the case of multi-channel sounds, the "s" parameter is a vector with two elements (aref s 0) and (aref s 1) which contain the data from left and right channels respectively. You could write a Nyquist script that would split a track into 2 frequency bands by processing a stereo track and returning one band to the left channel and the other band to the right channel. If Audacity supported tracks with more than 2 channels then you would be able to write each frequency band to an available channel, but currently Audacity only supports mono and stereo tracks. Creating multiple duplicates of a track and then extracting a frequency band from each track is a bit tedious to do, but it does work.
    • Anechoic responds: sorry I meant that it created 'n' number of FILES not tracks so it would behave much like how split function works
    • SteveTF adds later: However, due to Nyquist being upgraded, it is now possible.(I have tested this and it does work).


  • Track hover help hovering the mouse over a track should give the file name (going to Track | Name... is less convenient) (Plus 1 Vote)
  • It would be nice if scaling multiple tracks vertically could be achieved without the need for additional controls. Perhaps one way this could be done would be if manual vertical size adjustment affected all selected tracks. This way, if you want to zoom vertically on tracks 1,2 and 4, you just need to select those tracks and as you adjust the vertical height of one, the vertical height of the other selected tracks would follow suit. What do you think - would that do it? (perhaps with an option in Preferences to switch this behaviour on or off).
  • Embedding controls in a (any) presentation document: I made a PDF of a song book with Acrobat and added a play button to one of the songs which played a recording of that song on my default player (Media Player). I thought how cool would it be if I could add bars that ran the length of the piece of music to pause, stop and play. Then I thought about how if Audacity could be embedded, the tempo of the song could be changed which would really be helpful in trying learn music. Is there any chance of Audacity teaming up with Open Office to provide something like this? Perhaps with Open Office PDF Editor which I hear is in the works?
  • Online (web-based) Audacity: Is there any way that someone can make a version of Audacity that can be used on my website (or here). You see last year my phyics teacher had my class do podcasts (fun right). Of course we had to edit it so we all got audacity. Most of the class had no idea how to install a program onto a computer much less how to use it. I think I can teach them how to use it because I am doing a few demonstrations on how to use forums, wikis, etc. and one more couldn't hurt. I think the problem was that people did not want to install a program that they would use once (or twice) at most. So I think having the program on a website would be more efficient. I think it could work with licencing because you could make people accept a terms of service before loading the program. If someone could make this, give me a link if its already made, how to do it myself, or tell me why this can't be done that would be awesome (well not all the options).
    • SteveTF comments: Audacity is a Desktop application and will not run on a web server. However, you can run it fromm a USB stick
  • Noise Renoval UI" when I want to do noise removal, the window asks me to select the section of noise. when I click on get noise profile, the window closes and then I have to open the noise removal window again. Is that the way it is supposed to work?
    • Koz comments: Yes, but that doesn't mean it's desirable.
    • SteveTF comments: Adobe Audition has a nice feature in their Noise reduction effect - after grabbing the noise profile the window stays open and you can click on a button to "Select all of track". This allows both stages of Noise Reduction to be performed without having to close/reopen the effect. Audacity has the ability to "Repeat Last Effect", but I would like the facility to "Recall Last Effect". (Perhaps Ctrl+SHIFT+R). When using Noise reduction, one could then recall the Noise reduction effect in order to apply it without having to go through the full list of effects to find it. "Recall Last Effect" would also be useful in many other situations - for example, you apply Equalization, but on listening back you decide that it is not quite right, so you Ctrl+Z to undo then "Recall Last Effect" and make a slight change to the setting and apply again. I think this would be really useful for many effects where it is not always easy to get the optimum settings just from the "Preview" (and "Preview" is not available for Nyquist effects).
  • real time loop editing: the fact that Audacity has partial functionality in making loops i.e. allow you to select and play a loop but NOT adjust the loop points in real time seems to me a half baked implementation of loop editing. Please - if you are going to allow someone to select and play a loop then go ALL the way and also allow them to edit it in real time?
    • SteveTF comments: but that would still be a half baked loop editor wouldn't it? Would you not then want forward/backward looping, Acidized loop support, Sound Designer, Apple Loop, and CAF loop position marking, simultaneous viewing of start and end points, mouse drag time stretching, auto zero crossing adjustment, real-time editing, beat slicing.....
    • OP replies: YES! Mouse drag time stretching is essential. The rest of that isn't, but mouse drag stretching is an obvious feature that is sorely needed.
    • SteveTF replies: It depend what you are doing. If you want seamless loops for creating continuous pad sounds, then simultaneous viewing of start and end points, and auto zero crossing adjustment are pretty essential. For editing drum loops then beat slicing is pretty important. For exporting into many samplers, Acidized loop support, (or some other format) can be essential.
  • Mouse Drag Time Stretching: Right now my procedure for resampling a particular guitar sample is:
  1. Cut it into little bite size pieces in Audacity, where pretty much each and every strum has it's own file
  2. Make each piece into a track in FL Studio, and use the mouse to stretch/shrink these pieces until they fit the BPM / rhythm I'm lookin for
  3. Drag these samples back out of rhythm so that there is silence at any place where they overlap, keeping the newly stretched tempo of each individual piece
  4. Bring the resulting wave back into Audacity, where I again separate all these into separate tracks, and shift and trim until they match up with a click track in my new desired BPM.
    • OP adds: It's really annoying to have to go out of Audacity to complete steps 2 and 3 ... it would be nice if I could do all this in Audacity because then FL Studio would become just a source of synth sounds rather than an audio editor, and I could do sampling in all Free Software. Also, this takes hours when it should take minutes. So I want Mouse Drag Time Stretching, like Adobe Audition has, in Audacity. There should be two varieties - one that simply stretches the waveform and another that, like "Change Tempo", stays in the same pitch. (The same pitch one is the most important one) Could someone give me a basic idea (since I don't know much about the programming involved) how hard this would be to implement? What are the challenges preventing this from being done?
    • SteveTF responds: The "time stretch" in Audition is excellent. The algorithm was developed by a couple of very clever chaps that created the company "Syntrillium" (the company that made "Cool Edit"). The code that they used is a closely guarded secret that was sold along with the rest of Cool Edit Pro to Adobe. Time stretch in Audacity uses "soundtouch" which is an open source library that is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux (Audition is Windows only). There is an excellent program that automates most of what you are doing called "ReCycle". Unfortunately it is not freeware. There is an open source clone of ReCycle called "FreeCycle" http://freecycle.redsteamrecords.com/ but it is only available for Linux. However, if you are looking for a free and open source solution, the FreeCycle is the one to go for as it does not require a non-free operating system.
    • OP responds: This isn't a request for a new algorithm though (I don't think) but just mouse control for the existing algorithm. (which currently only accepts control via numbers entered in a text box) As I can figure, this would just be an alternative method of generating the input for the algorithm we've already got.
    • SteveTF replies: It may end up as a request for a new algorithm. I don't know if you have noticed yet, but time stretching in Audacity is not exact. Try time stretching ("Change Tempo" or "Change Pitch") on some very short samples (less than one second). You should notice that the length of the processed audio is often slightly out, or may have a bit of silence on the end. There have been a few requests for various improvements to these features in Audacity, which IMHO would best be served by the developers looking at this from scratch. I'm not a programmer myself, and I think it is extremely unlikely that there will be any significant changes before Audacity 2.0 is released. While I agree that "Mouse Drag Time Stretching" would be a useful feature for many users (+1 from me) I think it will be a while before we see any progress in that direction. While we are waiting - if you know the BPM then you should be able to work out the desired length. For example, at 120 bpm, there are 120/60 beats per second and each beat is 60/120 seconds duration. So if you have a sample that needs to last for 4 beats, the length needs to be 4 x 60/120 = 2 seconds. You can use the "Change Tempo" in Audacity 1.3 to set the target length to 2 seconds and the job is done.
    • OP replies: Oh drat. It's pretty much the short samples that I wanna drag around.
  • Audacity for speech recognition and assimilated: I'm working on semantical tagging of non-words in speech. I did a laugh detector and now I'm on to semantical tagging of hums. I do not mean artificial humming noises, I mean people saying "hum" or "hum hum" either as a way as saying "Wait, I'm searching in my mind for the next word" (fillers) or to express agreement, disagreement, and the neutral "I'm listening, go on". I already have a tool to record, visualize and analyse sound files (coded for the laugh detector) but I'm using Audacity to pre-process audio files so I was wondering about using it for the analysis and displaying the results. This would mean - changing the display mode so that it doesn't jump when the cursor reaches the end of the currently displayed audio section. Instead the cursor would stop in the middle and the audio wave starts scrolling underneath it. - having a new window scrolling in synchronicity where tags could be displayed on demand in text mode. These tags would include the output of speech recognition and additional tags such as "h+" to indicate a agreeing hum. Tongue clicking, lip smacking, laughter, change of speaker, stutter, etc. could also have their tags. This would make it easy for me to check the sound file and see where the tags are correct and where they are not. It could then lead to a tool to clean speech audio files, for example before releasing an interview on the radio. From an AI perspective these tags give indications regarding the mood of the speakers. I work in CADIA (cadia.ru.is), this is part of my work. I'm a researcher there (who else would write a work-related post on a Sunday night?). See this trhread moved to Audio Processing: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=13233&p=50654#p50654
  • Error Opening Sound Device - a tool to help resove it: Given that this will never actually get resolved internally, how about A Tool to help resolve it? There are very nice tools to help you piece your show back together after your Project explodes in a plume of sparkling fragments, how about A Tool that does the same thing you would be doing to resolve a capture problem? Stand behind somebody as they crank through all the variations of all the settings to find one that works. Write down what they did. I like to refer to this as "Work The Computer Should Be Doing While I Make A Nice Cuppa." You can use my silly USB microphone as an example. It runs perfectly and correctly at 44100, 16-bit, Mono. Given that Audacity does not wake up with those settings, how many iterations would you need to try to find that one. That one's simple, but it took me a long time to resolve partly because I wasn't sure what I was doing. Like most of our befuddled posters.
  • Reverse Noise Reduction: I think it was SoundSoap that had an interesting tool. It would let you hear what it took out. If you listen to the reject signal and you heard just the air conditioner rumble, then you did a good job. If you hear the performer's voice in there, you certainly did a bad job. (Plus 2 votes)
    • Waxcylinder comments: Brian Davies' ClickRepair tool lets you do that (and I think his De-Noise has the have the same/similar UI) - It lets you select between raw (noisy) signal, the cleaned up signal without noise, or just the noise. The "noise" option is very useful as it enables you know if you have set the paramemetrs too aggressivley and are taking out too much of the genuine signal.
    • Billw58 adds: Try this:
  1. Duplicate the bit you want to process, to a new track (maybe start with a small selection to experiment)
  2. Apply the noise reduction or de-clicking to one track
  3. Invert the other track
  4. Play the two tracks back together
    • OP - Koz comments: Yes, I could do that, but I can't see trying to explain that to Mrs. Dougherty from the verger's office in Midleton, County Cork while she's trying to get the noise reduction to work, especially since it needs to happen multiple times.
  • Chains enhancement: a shut down program and computer option from chain would be nice for long chains

it would be nice to be able to call another program like a cd burn program and it would also be great if you could Separately pick the mp3 settings in the chain feature

  • Make Plot Spectrum "WINDOW" a real window: The problem:
Got a multi-track project open.
Wanting to compare the spectra of different tracks
Using the Mixer Board to switch between tracks (it can show more tracks at one time than the track window)

Switching between one screen and another is a pain because:

The Spectrum Window is always on top of the main window
The Spectrum window can not be minimized
It can not be reduced in size below a fairly large size
The Spectrum Window does not appear on the Desktop Task Bar

Ideally I would like;

The Spectrum window to be a real window (with a minimize button)
To be able to resize the window like other windows (with scroll bars when reduced below the minimum size)
To see the Spectrum Window on the Desktop Task Bar
A tick box on the Spectrum Window for "always on top"
  • Float control toolbar to be set on top of other apps: This feature was available in 1.2.xx and now is dropped on 1.3.xx . When floating the control tool bar (or any tool bar) it is not on top of other applications. Making it on top of other applications makes it possible to record while Audacity is in the background. That was possible in 1.2.
    • SteveTF comments: You can still record with Audacity in the background - the only difference is that Audacity will come to the foreground when you press record. You can still pull another window in front of it while it is recording. However, if another program grabs exclusive access to the soundcard while Audacity is in the background, then the recording will stop (this is the same for any version of Audacity) so you need to be a bit careful running Audacity in the background. There are also performance considerations - if you are running another program in the foreground and it robs Audacity of the necessary resources or disk access (even for a moment) then it will mess up your recording.
  • Music analyzing features: Have you considered adding musical analyzing features (also useful for speech analysis) like in the following program? Transcribe! http://www.seventhstring.com/ The underlying capacity might by now already be there in Audacity, there would be a difference in acting on and presenting the data. In Audacity, actions are considered for editing and stacked. In musical analyzing, one mostly chooses a different presentation. Also, there are some musically oriented actions, such marking up the piece into sections, measures, and beats, and then one can compute the frequency in beats per minute (for metronome settings). There is a promitive keyboard, for playing pitches. Also, there is this program, which not only presents the spectrum, but one can change it, and listen to it. In a music setting, one would like to be able to compare it against a tuning system. http://www.klingbeil.com/spear/ This program is for no charge, but it does not say if the sources are open.
    • SteveTF responds: Audacity already contains several tools including Spectrum Analyasis, Beatfinder, and support for VAMP plug-ins: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php? ... p_Plug-ins Plugin developers are welcome to make new plug-ins for Audacity, and it is also possible to create add-on "modules" for Audacity, though I believe this is still in its early days. I doubt that Transcribe! will ever be supported as it is a standalone commercial program, so unless the author is prepared to release the source code under a GPL compatible open source license, or create a plug-in for Audacity, then it cannot be used in Audacity. Their software licence does not allow anyone else to modify the program to allow it to work with Audacity, so it's stand-alone or not at all.
    • SteveTF adds further: <there are some musically oriented actions, such marking up the piece into sections, measures, and beats> I would LOVE to see that feature. It would open up the power of Audacity to a whole different type of music production. There are already these features on the "Feature Request" page of the wiki
    • Peter: see the full discussion thread in the forum/Audio Processing: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15608
  • Recording single channels: It would be great if Audacity could record single channels. Right now, if one records in mono, it is the sum of two channels at half volume instead of being real individual channels.
    • SteveTF responds: I can see good reasons for why that would be a nice feature, but also see a lot of users getting upset that they have no input when set to mono (because Audacity is recording the other channel). The simple workaround is to record 2 channels, then use "Split to Mono" and delete the unused channel. (I'm not sure if the behaviour of "1 channel mono = mix of left + right" is actually an Audacity feature, or a soundcard / driver issue)
    • Gale writes: What happens when Audacity requests mono from a stereo source on the sound device depends on the sound device. Using cheap USB soundcards or the inbuilt sound device on a large number of Windows machines over the years, I've never got anything other than a mono mix when Audacity requests mono from a stereo source. I think that higher end soundcards would more typically give you just the left-channel in that scenario, which is what happens on a friend's computer using a PCI soundcard. So it isn't anything that Audacity can control.
    • OP Kizzume responds: I'm simply asking for an option, not a default behavior. Have it default to recording both channels like it normally does, but give an option to record single channels (left OR right) if one wishes. It's still a workaround that wouldn't be necessary if there was an option to record single channels. I don't know either. If Audacity can support VST's, something generally limited to high-end audio programs, it should be able to handle high-end audio devices more appropriately as well.
    • Kizzume adds: Is this card you speak of one that has EAX effects or other options that are solely designed around gaming? If the card in question is a Creative Labs card (no matter how expensive or how "professional" it claims to be) or another card that has EAX and a number of other options related to gaming, those cards may have something built into them that may actually do what you're claiming *because* of their focus on gaming (so a mic in for in-game chat will always be the right volume), but Creative Labs, no matter how expensive the audio device, does NOT make professional high-end audio devices. For anyone to attempt to claim otherwise is like saying that a Crate solid-state amp and cab gives a great, very professional warm and smooth sound for electric guitars. M-Audio and PreSonus audio devices are *not* designed in ANY way around gaming whatsoever, and there are some games in which their devices actually cause a number of issues.
    • SteveTF responds: Most high end audio programs are not open source and so have the luxury of not having to use Windows drivers. Because Audacity is open source it is not able to ship with ASIO support (though if you build Audacity from the source code it is possible to build in ASIO support for your own use. Another alternative is to use Jack http://jackaudio.org/ which is a high performance, low latency audio system. (I don't know how easy/hard it is to get it running on Windows - I use it on Linux). I've heard talk from the developers about looking at channel mapping in the future - primarily for multi-channel support - so the issue is not completely outside the frame. The current priority is the release of Audacity 2.0 and no new features are being added until 2.0 is out.
    • Gale writes: My friend's card is a rather old Turtle Beach - certainly a company that is now gaming oriented. By "higher-end" I'm thinking of anything over say $80 and not commenting on quality - I think not everyone would call m-audio "higher-end". I was only talking about the case where the application asks for a single unspecified mono track when the sound device is sending stereo, where AFAIK Audacity can't control whether the card sends a mono mix, just the left, or is clever enough to send just the right if only the right is connected. Whichever, only the left-channel of the Audacity recording meter will illuminate. This isn't to say at all that some future Audacity can't do what you want, but like Steve suggests I think the first priority will be to get this working in the case where you actually have a multi-channel soundcard in the first place (that the drivers present to Audacity as such). Being able to choose the channels you want from those presented, and being able to allocate them to the channels you want are things Audacity multi-channel support doesn't do yet. Do the applications that do what you want already offer multi-channel support under ASIO? Equally obviously the workarounds for recording a single channel in stereo and deleting the empty track (your case) and recording both channels and splitting them to mono (which others want to do) are purely mechanistic and could be done after the recording if there are reasons why we couldn't do channel mapping with a stereo only device. I'll certainly note this as a Feature Request. But even improving multi-channel recording isn't likely to happen very soon, in my estimation, even though a couple of developers are known to be interested in it. BTW I don't think Jack works well from casual reports I've seen and isn't being actively developed AFAIK.
    • SteveTF responds: Just to clarify: Jack is being actively developed for Linux (http://jackaudio.org/node/28 ) but it looks like development on Windows is currently at a standstill.
  • small adjustment to Tracks menu: In the Track dropdown menu we have a section that includes:
  1. Mono
  2. Left Channel
  3. Right Channel
  4. Make Stereo Track
  5. Split Stereo Track
  6. Split Stereo to Mono
From a user perspective there is one missing - "Stereo Track to Mono"
This option is up in the main menu bar ("Tracks").
I can see a logic to this from a technical point of view (it is a type of "mixing" function, and is in the same section as "Mix and Render"), but from a user point of view it would seem more logical IMHO to have it with the rest of the track channel functions - in the dropdown track menu, instead of up in the main menu all by its lonesome.
Anything look out of place here?
  1. Mono
  2. Left Channel
  3. Right Channel
  4. Make Stereo Track
  5. Split Stereo Track
  6. Split Stereo to Mono
  7. Mix Stereo to Mono
Plus 1 vote
    • whomper responds: if there is a big "tracks" at the top then everything related to tracks should be found there even if you duplicate some of them elsewhere else rename that thing at the top to something else.
    • SteveTF responds: The "Tracks" menu (in the main menu bar) is for items concerning "tracks" in a general way, whereas the dropdown menu on a track relates to that specific track. In the drop down menu it could be read as "split me", "change my sample format", "change my sample rate", "change my name".... These operations refer specifically to the track to which the menu is attached, so in my opinion they belong in the menu that is attached to the track. Putting "Mix Stereo to Mono" in the track dropdown menu is consistent with this logic. Personally I'm not keen on duplication. It would make the "Tracks" menu very long (30 items would require scrolling on computers with small screens) and some of the items would be awkward to implement - for example, naming the track is a "track" operation, but how would it be handled if multiple tracks were selected? Would all selected tracks be given the same name, or would you enter a list of names for each of the selected tracks? How would "Split Stereo Track" be implemented if a mixture of mono and stereo tracks were selected? What would happen if "Move Track Up" were used while tracks 1,3 and 4 were selected? These actions are not at all problematic while they are in a drop down menu for the actual track to which they relate.
    • Whomper adds: name the top : global tracks general - name the left : these specific tracks
    • SteveTF replies: That works for me as a description, but the actual main menu items should ideally be single words. When describing procedures that require the track drop down menu (these specific tracks), we usually say "click on the track name and select ....", which I think is more clear than saying "select from the track drop down menu ....." or "select from the 'these specific tracks' menu ....."
  • control all settings one desparately needed feature is a plug in or stand alone app that will hunt down *all* the places where somebody is diddling the various audio options and allow them to be seen on one screen at the same time so they can be easily aligned for the job to be done. Ideally it would also save the settings under a name in a drop down menu so they can be rest instantly. Once a working combination is stumbled upon Audacity appears to have at least one if not more settings to fix before things can work - windows has at least 7 that i have found:
  1. two under control panels and two under the sound recording ap ---
  2. the soundcard has at least one more control panel
  3. and system hardware devices audio video games has another one
  4. plus at least 2 volume control pages that can reduce/mute sound
  5. i fear that there may be more lurking around
anything to automate and simplify all these choices so they play nice together is a vital feature imho
  • stopping idiots from losing their data: there seems to be an epidemic of people who insist on renaming the data files and or moving them which causes them problems and creates lots of requests for help. Change the name of the data folder to this, or whatever conveys the same idea:
  1. do_NOT_move_this_folder_or_rename_it_or_the_files_in_it
  2. WARNING_leave_this_folder_and_data_untouched
  3. DANGER_do_not_do_anything_to_this_folder_and_files
  • Single-ended Trim functions: I'm currently working my way through ripping a lot of vinyl and would really appreciate some single-ended Trim functions e.g Trim Start and Trim End. For example when cleaning up a vinyl rip you need to trim the lead-in, intermediate track gaps and the lead-out sections (or just the lead in and out if editing individual tracks). Currently you have to select the entire track section(s) i.e. so you have to accurately position both the start and end cursors before you can Trim. This is unwieldy (especially as it usually requires several zooms and track scrolling operations) and so introduces more potential for errors. It would be much easier if you could trim one end at a time up to (or from) the cursor without having to select sections. Thus you could have Trim Start, Trim End and Trim All buttons.
    • STF responds: How about selecting the lead in and deleting it (DEL key), then go to the end and do the same for the lead out? (the keyboard short-cuts for the beginning and the end are the HOME and END keys)
    • OP mr-b responds: Yes this is what I now do currently, but as I mentioned before, having to select a bunch of stuff is something that I want to get away from. Also I prefer not use use keyboard shortcuts as it's just more stuff to remember (or with me, forget)! With a simple Trim Start function, it would just be - position cursor, trim start, and the job is done.
    • STF adds: rather than - position cursor - swipe to the left - delete, and the job is done? Even with a "trim start" function, you'd either have to either navigate to "Edit menu > Trim Start", or remember the shortcut key
    • mr-b adds: Swiping involves having to hold down the mouse button and then possibly scrolling and swiping for a time back to the start (or else remember to use shift |<< ) and then delete. I find it's really much easier to use a single button that is visible on the GUI or browsable in the menu to accomplish all of that. Currently you have to learn all of the steps. It's such a common edit operation, why not make it simple as possible (but no simpler!)
    • STF adds: My concern is not that it would not be convenient, but an equally persuasive case could be made for many other function buttons and soon it would be impossible to find the button you want among a sea of buttons. Personally I'm happy with:
  1. Click > Shift + Home > DEL
  2. Click > Shift + END > DEL
    • mr-b responds: However my point is that for the new user,these operations are more complex, and then finding out these keyboard shortcuts is difficult (e.g. I didn't know about the shift-home etc. one, even after reading through the docs), and then after all that you have to remember them. It's much better for new users to have the most common tasks presented as simple buttons or menu option than are visible. And as for plethoras for buttons, well there are UI sol'ns to that as well. I feel like like I'm explaining how Windows apps work to someone who's a lifelong vi user! Both have their place of course, but I feel that Audacity doesn't cater well enough for the new or occasional user (as borne out in some reviews).
    • STF adds: "SHIFT+HOME" and "SHIFT+END" should be pretty easy to remember even for Audacity novices - they are really common short cuts on Windows programs (same short cut for selecting to the end of the line in Microsoft Word, NotePad, and hundreds of other common programs).
  • blank label at the front of any recording: Default to one blank label at the front of any recording
  • Play/Stop And set cursor" needs to be in GUI: I've just discovered the apparently new Shift-A set cursor function (via the forum) and it looks very useful. However it really needs to be visible in the GUI (e.g. under the Edit Move Cursor menu, a button or right-click option on the 'playback pause' inverted triangle marker).
    • Peter 16Jul10: note that there was a second part of this FR regarding the accuracy - Gale has logged that part as a bug rather than a FR
  • Export quality settings should be more visible: I've just discovered that all of my supposed 32-bit 96KHz recordings have been exported in 16 bit i.e. I've been caught out by the fact that export quality settings are buried under the Options button and not configurable under Preferences. (See more details at viewtopic.php?f=15&t=34072&start=0) I think that the export quality settings (bit depth, sample rate etc.) should be at least one of:
  1. Globally set under Preferences (like many other apps)
  2. The export dialog Options button should be removed and the export settings made part of the export dialog box
    • Gale replies: You're entitled to your vote but few people want to go back to 1). I think 2) is a possible way to go. But until then will calling the button "Settings" instead of "Options" help? is there a better word? "Quality" looks a bit odd to me.
    • Mr-b responds: So back to some suggestions:
  1. The File types should be consistently named i.e. with everything having format + bit rate + other characteristics, or else just the basic format type.
  2. All file types should be in the dropdown list with none buried under options.
  3. A warning whenever down-sampling (data loss) is about to take place, since once that data is gone it's gone. There should be an option to disable it of course for ppl that are frequently down-sampling and understand what they are doing.
  4. My previous suggestions for making the file format resolution config obvious.
  5. (I agree that "Quality" probably isn't ideal terminology, although Prefs does make use of this term. Also bit rate is not really an 'option', it's a fundamental setting, so it needs to be clearly displayed wherever a config change could change it.
    • mr-b adds further: IMO there still needs to be much clearer labelling of file import, workspace and export of resolution, bit depth etc. This basics of this kind of thing e.g. WAV files needs to be obvious and not require looking in a manual! I think that changing GUI options things may make sense for quite a few folks given historical app memory, but the impression may be completely different for someone who's using 1.3 for the first time. IMO the resolution settings should be set globally with an additional opportunity to clearly review and change them at export time.
    • Peter 3Aug10: full thread retained on forum - see: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=34101


  • Simple extension of Export Multiple: I would like to propose a simple extension to "Export Multiple..." function and dialog box. The problem I'm trying to solve is described here, http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=35281. Presently the functionality to support this use case is provided by the "Export Multiple..." dialog, but is not automated. I would think that for someone familiar with the code this would be a very simple coding exercise. Being a former programmer I'm tempted to do this myself but am not keen to deal with the overhead in setting up a working development environment from scratch. I'm hoping that someone reading this who is familiar with the code and is set up to build from source will find the time to add this simple extension of existing code to automate a needlessly tedious task.


  • Add 'silence allowed' interval to Sound Activated Recording: This would make it possible to record whole tape sides without it pausing between tracks and more importantly, prevent cutting off the start of the next track (due to the delay in starting recording again).
    • WC comments: Why not just turn off the SAR when you are recording tapes - or am I missing the point?
    • OP mr-b responds: SAR is very useful for archiving tapes since it means that I can just leave the recording to complete by itself. (I didn't use it with my records as they tend to have more transient noise levels than tape, plus I didn't want to leave my record playing at the end.)
    • STF comments: I'm not disagreeing with the idea of "Silence allowed" (I think that it could be useful, especially if combined with a feature to start recording before the sound level reaches the threshold), but in the archiving tapes example, couldn't the desired result be achieved by setting the "Sound Activation Level" lower so that it only registers when the tape stops altogether and not the gaps between songs?
    • mr-b responds: Maybe, but that means fiddling about with settings and trying to determine the fine differences between Dolbyised tape hiss and a stopped tape. Plus that would also mean that the tape run-out would be recorded. It really would be much simpler to a have an "ignore silences of (say) < 5s" type setting and this would make the sound trigger level much easier to set. Also the feature of having a recording buffer active while paused so that the beginning of a recording would not be truncated would be very handy - I've added my vote (plus added the ignore silences suggestion to http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/VoiceActivated).
    • STF respomds: Perhaps I'm being a bit thick, but could you explain how "ignore silence" is different from the other suggestion: "the user can define a duration to be recorded before the threshold-level sound occurs, and similarly a duration to be recorded after the input falls back below the threshold"
    • mr-b: TBH I didn't really understand what that meant - I thought it was to do with the request for a recording paused buffer which would allow the beginning of recordings to be reinstated. If it would achieve preserving silent intervals then I certainly didn't get that. It would really help if some typical scenarios (use cases) were added to the new feature request lists.
    • STF suggests: The way that I read it was that it would work like this:
  1. Put Audacity in Record mode. While the input level is low Audacity is monitoring the input but nothing happens on the track)
  2. When the input level exceeds the "threshold" level Audacity starts recording but also copies the last "n" seconds (according to the "pre-roll" setting) of audio that were input prior to the threshold being exceeded. The current input is recorded, continuing directly from the "pre-roll" recording.
  3. While the input is over the threshold level Audacity continues to record.
  4. When the input drops below the threshold level, Audacity continues to record for a further "n" seconds.
  5. If the input level remains continuously below the "threshold" level, then Audacity will pause. If not, recording will continue as in (2).
I think that provides the same functionality that you are requesting?
    • mr-b:OK that makes some more sense - so in other words would that mean that inter track gaps of 2n seconds (post-roll plus pre-roll buffers) would be preserved as well as the leading and trailing n seconds of any recording? (I tend to find engineering description of features difficult to follow since they often describe the mechanics of the feature rather than a typical application of the feature.)
  • Multiple windows for spectrum: Is there a way to compare two (or more) spectrum windows ? Audigaty won't let me start a second copy, and when showing the spectrum in 2 projects, I still get one single spectrum window and then it is not clear to which project the data belongs. I am checking the effect of a few hardware setups for recording vinyl LP's (measuring silent areas of the the LP, the system without LP playing, open- and shorted input leads and my laptop on battery or net). The only way I found to compare the spectra of the several recordings was to comparing screen dumps of the spectrum window.
    • Koz responds: I think that's the only way we've ever found to do it.
    • StF adds: Audacity 1.3.9 and later now support one Spectrum window for each open Audacity project. It is still easy to get confused which analysis window belongs to which project, but selecting "Plot Spectrum" again will bring the correct spectrum window to the front. To start a second project while you already have one open, select "New" from the File menu.
    • pranavj suggests: Since new project opens in new window, I can't compare waveforms AND spectra at a time. It would be nice to have different spectrum window for different tiers in a single project.
    • STF responds: Perhaps a Tabbed window for Plot Spectrum so that multiple spectrum plots can be drawn? Or perhaps multiple line plots in different colors?
    • xonox adds: It's very useful to have multiple windows for spectrum. One thing i would wish is to have the file name added to the title bar of the spectrum windows. Otherwise when i compare 3 files i get lost on what spectrum window is for what file.
  • Generate follows Preferences: Generate should give me stereo tone if I'm in a stereo show. All Generates should follow Preferences.
    • Gale responds: What do you mean by a "stereo show"? If you have a stereo track selected, Generate will generate stereo in it. If you already have a track on screen, then to generate a new stereo track you have to Tracks > Add New > Stereo Track anyway. Is this then for generating into an empty project, and the preference you want to follow is Recording Channels?
    • Koz clarifies: <<<the preference you want to follow is Recording Channels?>>> Yes. Mono generation in an empty timeline seems to me a holdover from the old Audacity mono default installation. It could be argued that you could easily select Tracks > Mono Track To Stereo, but that doesn't exist except as a work-around, either. Ideally, stereo tone generation (if that's the show default) should default to dual identical tones with a control panel to change relative sizes and phase.
  • MyValuableProject.bak.aup: Create or provide the option to create an independent workable backup of a Project on Save -- effectively one level of UNDO divorced from management of the current Project. Like the one Audacity 1.3.7 tried to make (with varying degrees of success).
    • Gale responds: The old .aup.bak (a backup of the previous state of the project, with no reference at all to the state of the _data folder at time of save) broke far more projects than it ever saved. We won't go back to that. Users can make a proper backup anytime with File > Save Project as... is more needed except education? Will users be glad of all that extra space used for the backup _data folder?
    • Koz responds: Experienced users who select that option in preferences will be glad to sacrifice the drive space the first time it saves their valuable bacon from a damaged or overwritten show. Newbies need never use that option or even know it's there. Some Macs have the unfortunate problem of a super sensitive touch pad. I've taken steps to correct mine, but it used to select things by hovering a finger. No actual touch needed. Many things got unintentionally selected before I fixed it. That's not what happened in my case. In a rapid-fire recording session I pressed Save by accident.
    • Gale responds: It wasn't saving a copy of the project, but the project state, as an "autosave" file. It was a back-up .aup file in effect, but linked to the correct data in the temp or _data folder. It was a flawed implementation designed to "not lose more than the auto-save interval's length of work". The Nightly Builds (and 1.3.13 when it comes) have dispensed with that preference. Every change in project state is saved to the autosave folder (except recordings made with audio cache on, meaning there is no disk-written data to recover from if there is a crash wile recording). We're hoping writing every state of change will make project recovery after a crash more reliable.
    • Koz reponds: So there were several attempts to save the user from naughty computer behavior. None of them appear to have faired all that well so far. I'm after the tool to save the user from the nutso behavior of the user. Apple introduced Time Machine on modern Macs that does auto backups at intervals, the shortest being once an hour. Unfortunately, the glossy advert and reality are at significant variance. The promotion assures us that the Mac will do these backups whether or not the external backup drive is connected. When you do connect, the Mac will catch up. The opinion of our support people -- several of which used to be Mac support staff -- is "In your dreams." So that was the last hope of recovering the over-written Project. I wonder about the idea of saving hard drive space at all costs. My laptop has a 120GB solid state drive and the only reason I didn't go much larger is I ran out of nickles and dimes to pay for it. The default laptop comes with a much larger spinning platter drive. I've been using this machine for six years and I still have a quarter of the drive untouched. Are we tuning Audacity tools and services based on fifteen year old drive technology? Can you even buy a 20GB drive any more? [X] Make Backup Project at each Save (Safer. Uses extra drive space).
  • faster PlayAtSpeed: Currently the transcription toolbar function PlayAtSpeed has a maximum value of 3X. My editing deck allows much higher multiples, I am used to searching raw data for "non-music" (speech etc.) and can recognize the difference at speeds between 7X and 10X.
  • Loop Detection: When you tell the program the a sound recorded is actually a loop, have it detect where the loop begins and ends, letting you trim off the repetitions. For example, I use a Korg Kaossilator pad to make beats, and I record them into Audacity. The Kaossilator makes 2-16 measure beats at tempos from 20-300bpm. I can record these into Audacity, but then, since it's near impossible to time the start of recording to the start of the loop, I have to trim off the beginning and part of the end to get at the loop itself. If it's trimmed incorrectly, when I set it to repeat, it can mess up the tempo of any additional tracks I want to record (if you clip a portion of a second off of the last measure, then the beat gets further and further off with each repetition). But, if I could have Audacity analyze the shape for a repeated wave form, then it should be able to detect the beginning and ending much more accurately than I can.


  • Option to select/de-select dither on export: Usually it is best to have dither enabled for high quality resampling, but in some situations it is preferable to disable dither. Having to go into Preferences to disable dither, and then go back into Preferences again to re-enable it (and remembering to do so as there is no visual indication in Audacity other than in Preferences whether dither is enabled or not) is very inconvenient.
    • USE CASE 1: User is digitizing vinyl albums and wants to archive the original "raw" data from the transfer as a (sensible) backup. Most consumer grade devices for digitizing vinyl are 16 bit stereo. The default format for recording in Audacity is 32 bit stereo. The default format for exporting WAV files from Audacity is 16 bit stereo - and the 32 bit raw data has dither noise added. As the original recording uses exact 16 bit values, if the recording is exported immediately (before any processing), adding dither during the Export is both unnecessary and undesirable. Alternative methods for archiving the raw recording are:
  1. Export as 32 WAV (inconveniently tucked away in "other formats" options, and double the file size of 16 bit)
  2. Save the Audacity project (again unnecessarily large file size and notoriously easy to break).
  3. Exporting as 16 bit WAV with dither temporarily switched off would be a much better solution if it were not so inconvenient to change, and not so easy to forget that you've switched it off.
    • USE CASE 2: User is making simple edits to a 16 bit file (Cut, Paste, Trim, ...) Dither noise is needlessly added to the Exported 16 bit WAV file (even if the file is created or imported as a 16 bit Audacity track). (this may be classed as a bug?) User is then surprised that working with uncompressed WAV files is NOT lossless.
    • USE CASE 3: User exports as a 16 bit "lossless" FLAC file. Exporting to 16 bit FLAC is NOT lossless in Audacity as dither noise is automatically added by default.
    • Suggested solution: Add a simple check box [x] (selected by default) in the Export and Export Multiple dialog screens.
    • Additional benefits: Many (most?) users are blissfully unaware of these issues, but if discovered are likely to be confused, and probably jump to the incorrect conclusion that Audacity produces lower audio quality than other audio editors. Making the issue visible will clear up such misconceptions for such users. Users that do not understand or are not bothered about such details can simple ignore the option and leave it at the default (recommended and selected) setting.
    • Plus 2 votes
  • Export Current Format: Export WAV (Current). I want that. I do not want to convert my 32 bit timeline to 16 bit like the default export wants to do, I do not want to have to dig through the Audacity schizophrenic standards architecture to figure out what my current format is, and I do not want to have to dig through "Other" in the export dialog and risk yet another standards conversion by accident. Whatever it is right now, Export it.
    • STF responds: Do you mean - 1) "Export it as a WAV file with the current sample rate and bit depth", or 2) "Export it as exactly the same format as the file that I imported"? If (1), what if the project contains 2 tracks with different bit depths? If (1), should this also apply for other uncompressed file formats such as AIFF (and FLAC)? If (2), what happens if there have been multiple files imported, or if it is a recording? If the File Export option for WAV was "WAV (Microsoft)" rather than "WAV (Microsoft) signed 16 bit PCM", and selecting 16, 24, 32 ... were available under the "Options" button, would that be less schizophrenic?
    • Koz replies: <<<1) "Export it as a WAV file with the current sample rate and bit depth" >>> Yes. <<<2) "Export it as exactly the same format as the file that I imported"?>>> No, because chances are really good that Audacity changed it. <<... what happens if there have been multiple files imported, or if it is a recording?>>> What has Audacity done to them? They will either cause the show to fail, or they will be a new format. The live recording is exactly where I got burned. <<<If the File Export option for WAV was "WAV (Microsoft)" rather than "WAV (Microsoft) signed 16 bit PCM", and selecting 16, 24, 32 ... were available under the "Options" button, would that be less schizophrenic?>>> It would, but it may not be useful. I was very careful to set up Audacity to my exact specifications before the actor got there. During the performance is a bad time to need to stop and think.
    • STF responds: When you import files the bit depth of the new track is set to the default bit depth as set in "Preferences > Quality" The sample rate (bit rate) remains the same as the original file. So, if you have two tracks, and say one track has a sample rate of 44100 Hz and the other has a sample rate of 48000 Hz, what "should" the sample rate of the exported file be? I think that the most sensible answer would be that the sample rate should be the same as the Audacity Project Rate. Do we agree on that part? (this is what actually happens in Audacity). If you bypass the step of Saving the Audacity, then you have taken away your safety net. Any type of backup is a waste of time and effort - unless you need it. Wake up tomorrow to find that you have Exported as 16 bit WAV instead of 32 bit WAV - no problem - open up the Saved Audacity Project and Export it in the correct format.
    • Koz responds: <<<Wake up tomorrow to find that you have Exported as 16 bit WAV instead of 32 bit WAV - no problem - open up the Saved Audacity Project and Export it in the correct format.>>> I woke up sooner than that. This was the show that I Saved Project twice by accident and destroyed the first half hour of the performance. Nooooooooooooo! See: Auto Project Backup [X] and Mac Time Machine settings. This was the perfect storm performance. Every One of these problems lined up to kick me in the same show. I violated a deity somewhere. So what about the bit depth. Your suggestion is that the default WAV export format should be the same bit depth as the Audacity Project?
  • Consistent label cursor: I would like to propose that all manipulations of a label draw a temporary cursor. Consider the following use cases:
  1. When editing label text, I click in the text region of the label, the "real" cursor has been hijacked and moved to coincide with the label.
  2. When sizing a label, I drag one of those (absurdly tiny) crescent moon shaped handles; the "real" cursor remains unaffected but there is no visual representation in the wave track of the current (as you are dragging) label position.
  3. When moving a label, I grab the (again, absurdly tiny) circular handle; again the "real" cursor remains unaffected and there is no visual representation in the wave track of the location of the label.
    • Edgar(OP) adds: First, I propose that clicking in the text region of the label NOT hijack the "real" cursor. Second, I propose that (at least while manipulating the location of a label) a "temporary" cursor be drawn so that the location of the label (portion that is being moved) in relationship to the audio is easily visualized.
    • BillW responds: I don't mind the current behaviour in case #1. How would you propose the user know where the label-text-editing point is? As for cases 2 and 3, I am in favour of the audio cursor moving to track the movement of the label boundaries - either a temporary or permanent cursor.
    • SteveTF comments: Any thoughts about moving a region label? Perhaps a "temporary cursor" on the waveform at each end of the label?
    • Edgar responds to Bill: User Case: user is working on a section of audio and notices a typo in a nearby label; currently, to keep track of the working position of the cursor the user must add a temporary label. Otherwise, when user opens the misspelled label the cursor is hijacked away from the working location and placed at the leading edge of the label. Not knowing the most common usages for editing the text in an already existing label, I believe that most often the user does not care what the exact position is in the wave track, the user is just changing the text, the label track cursor would still be there. I suppose if we are creating temporary label cursors for the other cases we could create one for this case as well, that would answer both our concerns.
    • Edgar adds further: After seeing that the cursor is hijacked by clicking in the text editing area of the label, today I clicked in that text editing area and then grabbed to the "move label" knob. Lo and behold while I move to label the text editor remained to (at least visually) active and ready to receive input but what was more helpful was that as I moved the label the cursor moved along. So it is obvious that it is possible to do this. As a workaround for the time being I will activate the text editing area before trying to move a label what I want to watch the cursor move as label moves.
  • Add Select All to label text context menu:Since ctrl+a does not work to select all the text in a label (it selects everything in the project) and since we are ready have Cut, Copy and Paste in the context menu, is there any reason not to also have Select All?
    • Gale responds: I can't think of any reason not to, since it looks like a purpose-built context menu. I think a patch for that would be uncontroversial. I would prefer double-click in label text selected all the label text as it does in all other text boxes I can think of, not close the label for editing then select all the labels in the label track. That change might be more controversial. Thoughts? (Plus 1 vote)
    • Ed replies: I got very close but got stumped because these do not appear to be "text boxes" but are drawing areas and the text is just painted not real selectable text. IMHO these should (somehow-- probably would involve an inordinate amount of work) be real text boxes which are editable with normal text editing gestures like ctrl+left to move left one word, pressing the home key to move to the beginning of the text etc.
    • Billw respomds to Gale: That drives me crazy! But I'd prefer (asking for the moon, here?) double-click selects a word and triple-click selects all. Try it in the metadata editor. There's another anomaly in label editing (at least on Mac). Create a label with text, e.g. "This is a longish label". Click out of the label to close it for editing. Now click in the label between the "g" and "i" of "longish". Say you intention was to delete the word "longish". So, click to the left of the "l" in "longish" and start dragging, thinking this will allow you to select the word - as soon as you start to drag, "long" is selected, and as you drag right the selection gets smaller. As you continue to drag, the selection "flips" and eventually "ish" is selected.
    • Bill adds: You were posting while I was composing so I didn't see your comment about "painted text". Now it all makes sense. That is, it makes sense why all the standard editing gestures don't work. Sounds like a lot of work, as you point out. Either start over, creating them as editable text boxes, or write a whole lot of code to make them act like text boxes.
    • Ed replies: I am about 10% finished on a big editing project. I have about 900 Audacity projects which have been processed automatically to get them ready for human intervention. The human intervention is to look at "unusual" segments of audio which are very short (less than 30 seconds) and set off by silences. Some of these projects are as long as 10 hours of audio most are about two hours long. It takes me about five minutes to do the "human intervention" part on a project with three hours of audio. The project is then ready to "export multiple" as anywhere from 40 to 50 individual tracks. During the time that Audacity is exporting the audio I hack on the Audacity code adding features that make the "human intervention" quicker or easier. I have also been monitoring the forum and posting code snippets, questions and feature suggestions. Anyway, right now there are lots of little tiny functions in the code to make them act like text boxes--"export multiple" is done.
    • Gale responds to Ed: Ed, the texts for the label text context menu are translatable strings e.g. "Paste" = "Pegar" here:http://code.google.com/p/audacity/source/browse/audacity-src/trunk/locale/es.po so the menu must be constructed somehow (by calling Menus.cpp)?
    • Gale responds to Bill: Yes you're right. I should have remembered how it frustrates me in text boxes in other programs that I cannot select all words with some kind of click (triple-click doesn't work for me on Windows or Linux).
    • Ed adds: I have no problem adding to the menu and I have code which pops up a messagebox when you exercise the context menu item but now I have to write the code to re-paint the text as "selected" and break out the "highlighted" member (which is hidden behind a constant accessor--I know too much C++). All this is doable and most of the code can be copied from other similar functions but I think it is strange that this is not a text box! As to why no text box, this may be a cross-platform problem.
  • Missing Error Message: When somebody moves a music file referenced by a Project, that portion of the show drops dead. Why don't you get an error message? <<<Music/Wherever/Someplace/Sympathy For The Devil could not be found. >>> That in one sentence would solve a great many forum postings -- or at least help with the cloud of question marks over the poster's head.
    • Gale responds: We already have a bug for this. Meantime the warning is given when they save the project or click File > Check Dependencies.
    • Koz responds: Why would you ever click that? If you don't know dependencies exist, that will be a foreign language to you and if you do know they exist, you know not to move the music.
    • Koz adds: The original bug statement is not correct. It's irrelevant whether you closed the project or not. You may not be opening up your own damaged project.
    • Gale responds: The title of Bug 26 says if the project is open and you delete the aliasfile then play the track, Audacity should tell you rather than just play the track silently with the waveform visible. If you already saved and closed the project (and opted not to copy in the WAV) then move/rename/delete the WAV and re-open the project, Audacity won't be able to work with that track. There is no error for that on opening the project in any released version of Audacity, but in 1.3.13 you will be warned of the missing aliasfile when you open the project (Vaughan's been working on this as part of the work on Bug 113). If there is some other scenario where you want a warning, please try it out first in the latest Nightly Build and then make clear with steps to reproduce what the scenario is. By "drop dead" are you saying you want a warning when user deletes the WAV while the project is open, then edits a section and finds the waveform changes to flat line? If we fix Bug 26 user will still get the warning when they play that section, which they are likely to do given the appearance.
    • Koz responds: No, nothing so fancy. I'm happy with a message when the blank portion rolls by during playback. I would change the message on further consideration. <<</MyMusic/Wherever/Someplace/Sympathy For The Devil ...must be present to complete this part of the show.>>> ging from a third person "throwing up your hands" statement to a straightforward statement of fact. Much easier to decide what to do before you post on the forum. I don't know what I would do if a great many sound clips were damaged or missing. Do we ever use first person error messages? "I need that sound file to complete..." A note: Shouldn't the operating system complain if you try to destroy a sound file while Audacity has it open?
    • Gale replies: If Audacity locks the file, yes, but unlike say Goldwave and CoolEditPro, it doesn't. You could argue equally that it should lock the .aup file and _data folder too, but there isn't much you can do to stop user error once the Audacity is closed. I'll put "file-locking" to Vaughan. It has been lightly touched on before. Locking would not stop you copying the file. It might mean you could not make corrections e.g in the _data folder using a file manager, while Audacity was open.
    • Koz replies: Right. Which is why I wonder about systemic Audacity changes when a simple error message would do. If you didn't understand Projects before, you're going to be no further along now, except you have an inkling what you did wrong. And lest we forget, this is all a response to the missing Save As WAV tool. Here, let me email you the AUP sound file....
  • Sync-lock as project stored state: Track linking is well developed and seems stable. Currently its menu item refers to Sync-Lock and its state is ON or OFF. This is stored as a global preference and ON/OFFness affects all projects. Thus, if you work on project A with sync ON and save it then work on project B with sync OFF (and even if you DO NOT save project B) then exit Audacity; then open project A, sync will be OFF even though the last time you worked on project A sync was ON. I propose that (at a minimum) Sync-Lock state be stored with a project; keep the global state and use it in the absence of a project's having a sync state and for new empty projects; otherwise toggle sync to match the project's stored state when a project is opened (maybe if doing so changes the application-wide sync state an info dialog could open (but that should be defeatable via prefs). In addition, currently if one has multiple projects open and toggles Sync-Lock in one project ALL project's sync is toggled. It might be a lot of work to implement, but I think it would be nice to have per-project sync. (Plus 3 votes)
    • SteveTF adds: Sync-Lock state be stored with a project; +1 - and per-project sync. +1
    • Gale: so you want to save the Sync-Lock state in the .aup project file. How does this impact storing its state in .cfg on exit? Would it then need a Preference (which devels are touchy about adding to)?
      • People who don't (usually) work with projects but want sync-lock on will I think want sync-lock to be on when they launch.
      • Even if they do work with projects, they may turn sync-lock off only for a specific purpose e.g to delete some audio in one track only; they may not expect sync-lock to be off when they re-open the project. I'd guess the Sync-Lock global state is more important than its per-project state?
      • Shouold there be a patch for flagging Sync-Lock state on opening and ignoring changes to the state that arise from opening and saving projects?
    • Bill: I see no problem with storing sync-lock on a per project basis, and opening new projects according to the state of the last-saved project. Re: Gale's point number two - we can't read the user's mind and thus if they save and close the project with sync-lock off the best we can do (and they should expect) is for sync-lock to be off when they re-open the project. The sync-lock state would be written to .cfg whenever a project is saved/closed, so that new projects would open in that state.
    • Bill: Change the sync-lock state in one project - the sync-lock state changes in the other project,.... Having seen this, I am now more in favour of having sync-lock set on a per-project basis.
    • Steve: I agree that this is an unfortunate and potentially confusing issue, so I agree with "per-project Sync-lock" in the sense that changing the Sync-lock status in one project should not change the Sync-lock status in other open projects. However I do not think it is beneficial to store that status in the project and would prefer a predictable (off) state when opening a project (regardless of whether other projects are open).


  • Label options in View menu: View menu > •Label > ◦Next Label ◦Previous Label ◦Next *Marker ◦Previous *Marker - where Marker refers to either a point label, or the start of a region label, or the end of a region label. Perhaps some other term could be used instead of "marker". These command move the track display to show the appropriate part of the track. They do not change the selection or change the audio/labels in any way - it only affects the view (which part of the track is displayed when the track length is greater than the current window size). "View > Label > Next/Previous Label" would provide the same functionality as using TAB/SHIFT+TAB within a label track except that it would not select the region. "View > Label > Next/Previous *Marker" moves the track view so that the next/previous point label or start or end of a region label is centred in the track window.
  1. Use Case 1: You want to check that you have marked (labelled) the same number of beats as are marked by another label. Zoom out to show current marked area , then "View > Labels > Next/Previous" to view the other label. Advantage - it does not deselect the original selection (which may not a labelled region).
  2. Use Case 2: Creating Loops requires precise positioning of the loop points (usually zero crossing points). "View > Label > Next/Previous *Marker" allows the user to quickly move from one end of a labelled selection to the other.
  3. Use Case 3: Precise marking of long label regions. Currently this requires repeated zoom in/out. With this additional menu item the procedure would be substantially simplified to: 1) Drag select the approximate region. 2) Ctrl+B (label it) 3) Zoom in close on the beginning of the labelled region and adjust as necessary 4) "View > Label > Next *Marker" and adjust the end marker.
    • Edgar respomds: This should be fairly simple to do as far as the code goes but getting the Development Team to add new menu items is not easy. Personally, I do not understand this resistance to extending the menus. It might be a lot easier to encourage the Development Team to add new menu items if we had user editable menus and toolbars -- probably not going to happen in my lifetime!
    • SteveTF responds: More menu items = more complicated (at least it can look that way to new users). However, the ability to move easily from one end of a selection to another without destroying the selection has come up either directly or indirectly very many times. Adding this one ("Label") item to the view menu (which is also one of the shorter menus) would be an economical way to provide that much sought after functionality. The same functionality could perhaps be achieved with key binding and no menu item, though I can't think of any obvious or easily discoverable keyboard combinations for the task. Multiple zoom in/out operations provides a cumbersome workaround, as does selecting the appropriate label with TAB/Shift Tab, then using "Edit > Move Cursor > Selection Start/End". In my opinion the ability to easily move the view from one end of a label to the other would be a significant improvement in usability for many users and well worth the extra menu option.
  • ASIO installation script: Would it be possible (theoretically/practically/legally) for there to be a script that automated the process of building Audacity with ASIO support, thus requiring users to (only) register with Steinberg, download the ASIO SDK, put it in the same folder as the Audacity source code and run the script. As I understand it this would only be for Windows as ASIO is not required on other platforms.
    • Gale responds: Probably there isn't a legal objection because we already publish a brief about how to compile Audacity with ASIO support in win/compile.txt and we will help people if they ask for help. However I think the stumbling block/leap of mindset needed is not the trivial extra steps of installing the ASIO SDK and setting one extra environment variable, but obtaining/installing the correct Windows SDK and MSVC and then compiling Widgets and Audacity itself. That process is largely automated once you choose which version of Audacity (and therefore which version of Widgets) you want to build. I doubt the developers would want to invest any time in this suggestion really. It would be better spent investigating if reverse-engineered open source ASIO headers could be legally produced so enabling ASIO support to be distributed with Audacity releases (that is, the same solution that was finally applied for the analogous problem of VST GUI support).
    • Gale adds: As I understand it, some sound devices only support multi-channel recording on Mac with an ASIO driver (they won't record multi-channel with Core Audio). So compiling Audacity with ASIO support on Mac could still be necessary. I don't know much about ASIO and Linux. If you run Audacity for Windows under WINE you can use an experimental ASIO driver for WINE
    • SteveTF responds: I meant automating that too. Maybe with all the talk of low latency, high performance audio in Windows 7 there will be no need for ASIO.
    • Gale responds: Without ASIO, there won't be any low(er) latency running Audacity on Vista/7 until PortAudio supports WASAPI.
    • SteveTF responds:Code for WASAPI support is in PortAudio SVN trunk. And the compile instructions include WASAPI support so does WASAPI support just require a more recent version of PortAudio than Audacity is currently using, or is WASAPI support considered too flaky and so disabled?
    • Gale comments: The latter. Richard said at the end of 2008 that the PortAudio implementation of WASAPI was incomplete. This was confirmed in the Forum topic you were involved in several months ago. So WASAPI support in PortAudio is still experimental and doesn't work properly for recording (notwithstanding the files you point out are in /lib-src in our source code).
  • Export multiple additional data – number of labels: In lieu of a multi tiered progress dialog which would show us the overall progress of the entire multiple export instead of just each individual track's progress, as a bare minimum it is nice to have a count of the number of tracks (labels) which are going to get exported. For my own personal use I just stuck this number in the "Export" execute button (note circled area) but it would probably be more appropriate to stick it off to the left as static text (see arrow) – there's plenty of room. (Plus 1 vote)
    • BillW comments: But you're not exporting labels, you're exporting audio. So maybe "Export xxx files"?
  • Track name with tooltip: Invariably my track names display only the least significant bits – the first few letters – usually it's the trailing letters that are unique. Wouldn't it be nice if when one hovers the mouse over the track name a tooltip bubble would open displaying the entire track name. As an added improvement one could divorce the twisty from the track name and make the track name a button that brought up the track name text editor and leave the twisty to open the context menu although right clicking on the track name button could also bring up the context menu – actually you could get rid of the twisty completely and get at least a couple more characters in the track name but then it would be hard to discover the context menu. (Plus 3 votes)
    • Edgar adds: It turns out that the track name and popup gadget are just drawn on the Track Control Panel and not really widgets so they cannot get tooltips. From what I see, Audacity never responds to a right mouse button (is this to support legacy one button mice?) so I wrote code which (when right button is clicked anywhere on a wave track & it's panel) a wxTipWindow opens up displaying the track name then auto-closes when the RMB is let up. This is a poor substitute for hover/tooltip but has the advantage of not being restricted to the mouse being over the name. I think that Audacity might someday make better use of the RMB than this so do not offer it as a solution. The optimal would be to make the name and popup into to real widgets (which can have tooltips by design). In looking at this code I see that other "clickable" things (Mute, Sole etc.) on the Track Control Panel are drawn images, not real buttons--why?
    • SteveTF comments: That's a pity, though I think it's worth treating this thread in the same way as other feature requests (eventually transferring it to the wiki. Although it may not be possible now, if the name is ever converted to a widget then a tool tip for the name would be really handy.


  • Editing audacity.cfg: Proposed Feature: An "advanced" option - possibly hidden away in Preferences - providing quick access to the audacity.cfg for manual editing. Possible implementations could be: 1) to open the audacity.cfg file in the default text editor, 2) to open the audacity.cfg file with an option to "open with ...", 3) to open the containing folder in a browser window. This feature could also include "reset" and "backup" options.
    • SteveTF adds: Rationale: There is a reasonable reluctance to add too many options to Audacity Preferences. This feature would provide an easy way to access to a greater number of preference settings without the need to extend Audacity Preferences with many options that will only be of use to a limited number of users.
    • Steve adds further: Use Cases:
  1. As the complexity and functionality of Audacity grows there are an increasing number of specialist user scenarios where "non-standard" default values would be beneficial to the user. These may include options that are not currently available in the Preferences GUI. For example, default settings for "Play-at-speed", or "Always Export as mono/stereo".
  2. It would provide an easy escape for users that mess up their Preferences options (an invaluable tool for the support elves - massively easier than asking a user to "search for the audacity.cfg file in a hidden folder and delete everything except the line "NewPrefsInitialized=1" and save the file, ensuring that their operating system does not change the file extension")
  3. Users sometimes have difficulty installing Lame and need to manually reset the location of Lame so as to allow Audacity to correctly find it. ("search for the audacity.cfg file in a hidden folder then locate and delete the lines "[MP3] MP3LibPath=/" (if they exist), then save the file, ensuring that their operating system does not change the file extension")
  4. It could allow useful but rarely used options (such as "Clean Speech Mode" ?) to be moved out of the Preferences GUI, but still make them available to users that need them.
  5. Manually editing the audacity.cfg file may be easier for visually impaired users with screen readers than using the Preferences GUI.
  6. Advanced/Power users could quickly and easily access different "profiles" according to their needs.
    • Steve Suggests: Interface: This could be in the Preferences dialog in one of these locations:
  1. Replacing the "Clean Speech Mode" option in "Interface"
  2. Added to "Directories"
  3. In a new "Global" category
    • BillW adds: +1 I'd put it in the Directories tab. "Global Reset" would be the most useful feature, I think. Great for recovering from a corrupted cfg file. The others are more applicable to power users, and (possibly) VI uses as Steve points out.
    • Edgar adds: +1 -- Directories is best of available but maybe it is time to add "advanced" or other catch-all page. The categories already must be scrolled to expose them all so adding a new one is less than tragic! Of course, I think that the prefs window should size itself to expose all categories if screen resolution allows (this is easy to do--I already have code which does so)!
  • Modified Silent Sense: Periodically, we get a request to break up a "Books On Tape" into segments. Nobody ever asks for it but they don't really want the show chopped up into five minute segments. They really want it chopped up into five minute segments at the next silence or inter-word gap. Nothing like having the inters.......titials surgically mangled in the middle of a word.
    • Edgar comments: I am not really sure what you're asking for here. Are you asking for an "effect" which will have a time variable and will split the track at the nearest silence (just before I would guess) that duration? I suppose the "silence" would have to be defined with user specified variables as well (just as in Silence Finder).
    • Koz replies: Exactly. It's a combination of two existing tools. The 5 minute duration timer expires and turns control over to the silence finder to find a graceful place to chop. If it hasn't chopped by x seconds or x%, chop anyway and go on. The option could be Timer or Timer + Split Words. I'm making that up as I go. Timer + Separate Words? Timer...... Smart Timer? That's it. Timer or Smart Timer.
    • Edgar responds: You want this to happen in real-time as a recording is being made? It would be easier for me (if I were doing the coding) to operate on an existing file. First record and save as WAV, FLAC, M4A, MP3 or whatever works best (rip from existing CD?), then, working on a copy of the file, run the new (Nyquist?--I would have to do this in C++ but I bet stevethefiddle could write it in Nyquist) plug-in which would put labels at each spot ready for Export Multiple.
    • Steve comments: It could definitely be done as a Nyquist plug-in. Silence Finder, Sound Finder and Regular Interval Labels are all Nyquist plug-ins. The hard part is in precisely defining what you want the plug-in to do (given that it will be creating labels). Hasn't this been discussed before - or something very much like it?
    • Steve remembers: See: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=15531
  • Making Play at Speed more like Play: Play has some convenience features like Loop, using the Space bar and 'B' which would be equally useful for Play at Speed. I suggest the speed modification should be retained until Stop, Play or Record is pushed, and the keyboard operate otherwise normally with the speed modification in effect.
    • Gale responds: B and Loop implicitly stop and restart playback so I think you'd either have to have separate shortcuts that performed the specific action at the Play-at-speed speed, or have some shortcut that made every playback action use the Play-at-speed speed until you used that shortcut again.
  • Provide choice of audio formats for compressed projects: Audacity 1.3.6 added the ability to save compressed projects. Currently the only compressed audio format offered when saving such projects is Ogg Vorbis. It would be useful to have access to more compressed codecs here -- particularly FLAC. (Plus 1 vote)
    • Steve(TF) adds: It would also be good to be able to set the format/compression settings in the "Save Compressed Copy" dialog screen.
  • Loop Play from within selection. (SHIFT+B): When repeating a section (Edit > Repeat) the exact positions of the start and end points are often critical. For very short selections it is easy to test the "loop position" with "Loop Play" (SHIFT + Play). However, for a longer selection (for example repeating a 1 minute chorus) this is unduly time consuming (and if you've ever needed to do this you will know just how irritating it is). The "B" key allows playback within a selection, but it stops at the end of the selection. What would be really useful would be to be able to play from an arbitrary point within a selection, and for playback to loop back to the beginning. I realize that there are workarounds, but it would be so much more friendly and convenient to have this as a feature.
    • Gale responds: And I was about to suggest SHIFT + B for something there seems to be no easy workaround for - if the mouse cursor was before the midpoint in the selection, SHIFT + B would play from there to the end of selection; if the mouse cursor was after the midpoint, SHIFT + B plays from start of selection to mouse cursor. Very useful for short selections. Aren't the workarounds for your problem fairly easy - use B from hovering close to the end of the selection, then Space? With your idea, does playback stop after traversing the entire selection from the beginning, or loop play from the beginning to where your mouse cursor was, or something else?
    • Steve responds: When looping, the most critical point is when the end of one time through becomes the beginning of the next time through. "Counting the beats" and lining up the selection so that start and beginning are immediately before the onset of a beat are useful techniques to improve accuracy, but for music that either has complex rhythms or does not have a strong beat, there is no substitute for listening. The section that needs close attention is the transition as the repeat goes back to the beginning. The aim in selecting the best loop point is to create a seamless transition as the selection repeats. "B" then SPACE will not do because it does not play through the transition. The only methods currently available are:
  1. Loop play the entire selection.
  2. Use the "Repeat" effect, then move the cursor to play through the transition, then if it is not exactly correct, Undo, then adjust the selection and try again. (this is the workaround).
The reason that the workaround is so awkward is that you can't see exactly where the transition is, so making the necessary adjustments to the selection become very much more tricky. This feature request is for a means (and I'm not really fussy about what the means is - SHIFT+B just seems like an obvious method) to play the last part of a selection and for it to immediately (without stopping or pausing) continue playback from the beginning of the section. The feature is identical to Loop Play but with playback beginning at a point other than the start of the selection.
    • Gale adds: I'm obviously a fool when it comes to looping. Obviously I see the time saving, but what (approximate) time range is it you want to loop? If 10s to 30s, why is the end of the loop set to 20s? If 10s to 20s, why start playing outside the loop region instead of at say 15 seconds? I've seen a few requests (not on Wiki FR yet) to loop between mouse cursor and cursor (including the implied cursor at the start of the selection); and even I see one to use B in some way to loop play from mouse cursor to end of region, carrying straight through to start of region thence to end of region... but to stop at (or loop back from) the mouse cursor seems odd. On a different tack, does anyone here like the practice of loop playing the whole track when there is no selection, irrespective of the position of the cursor? There are a fair number of votes (again some not yet added) to take the cursor into account (either loop from cursor to track end, or from cursor to cursor, playing through from the track end via the start to the cursor).
    • Edgar responds: As I mentioned, I do not use looping with Audacity (I do use it a lot in an aid to memorizing but do so on my pro deck where looping works just exactly the way I need it to but with an incredibly clunky interface). As for loop behavior with no selection, I find it wrong--no selection implies no availability to loop IMHO. I think looping should be disabled when there is no selection (or--worst case, that a selection is forced between mouse and cursor before looping).
    • Steve responds: It would be far more useful if loop playback could be from the cursor or pointer position. This would not necessarily have to be the default behaviour when pressing SHIFT+Spacebar, it could be the same keyboard combination as for looping a selection from the pointer position (which I'm suggesting would be a good use of SHIFT+B).
    • Gale responds: Maybe, if there is any consensus about where SHIFT + B loops back from. But IMO that shortcut should only explicitly loop to/from the pointer, not the cursor - i.e. if pointer is at 2 mins and cursor at 2 mins 30s, SHIFT + B loops from 2 mins to 2 mins 30s; if cursor at 2 mins 30s and pointer at 3 mins, SHIFT + B loops from 2 mins 30s to 3 mins. Actually I like that, it's a loop equivalent of what B does now. But if you really wanted to loop from cursor to end of track, I don't think you should use SHIFT + B and have to move the pointer off the waveform. If the default isn't to loop from the cursor when there is no selection, then I think there should be a separate shortcut to loop from cursor. The only argument I've seen for looping the whole track when there is no selection is that this is a time saving if the track is itself the entire loop. I'm convinced loop should play from cursor if you just SHIFT + Space, and if there are complaints when that is implemented, then looping the whole track if there is no selection could be a preference. We might in any case need a preference as to what happens if you SHIFT + Space to loop from cursor. Clearly there are two camps, one of which says you loop to the end of the track, the other says you loop through from the end of the track to the cursor. I still think we need a shortcut to play from start of selection to pointer where the pointer is past midpoint, and pointer to end of selection if pointer is before midpoint. I guess ALT +B would be OK and gives an ALT + SHIFT + B way to loop that. You could also make a case for doing away with the midpoint distinction. If the pointer is after the midpoint of the selection, B still plays start of selection to pointer, so following the rule elsewhere that the cursor is deemed to be at the start of the selection. ALT + B would then play from pointer to end of selection.
    • Edgar responds: The problem I see with using the mouse pointer's position as one anchor of a loop is that even with your hand off the mouse the pointer moves constantly in tiny amounts; it is amazing how much your desk surface jiggles. On a CAD program I beta-test for we found that this was causing real accuracy issues once screen resolutions started getting over 1200x1000. It is also a problem when you want to zoom in to one anchor, set it and listen--the display scrolls and you cannot get back to the exact location accurately without a label.
    • Edgar adds: Upon reflection, I think Bill's note that some of Audacity's actions are performed using behind-the-scenes tracks has the answer. If a hidden track were created and the samples between the mouse pointer's hot spot (note--this is a very questionable "point"--it differs with the tool selected; I still think cursor is better, but as I'm not the one using it, would accept your choice) and the end of the section (selection or, again as I would use it, Label Region) were copied into the beginning of that track, then the samples from the start of the section up the last sample not included in the first chunk were added to the hidden track's end it would work.
    • Peter 25Nov10: This is the gist of the thread that I transferred here from the forum. The full thread also contains an experimental patch written by Edgar. I have moved the full thread to The General Audio Programming section of the forum – see: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=41041
  • VST Plugin Management:I'd like to request some additional features for managing VST plug-ins (Plus 1 vote)
  1. The ability for the user to specify multiple locations for VST plug-ins, with support for relative paths (for portability)
  2. The ability to instruct Audacity to ignore specific VST plug-ins/plug-in folders
  3. The ability to edit how the names of individual VST plug-ins appear in the "Effects" dropdown
  • Noise Reduction Change (we're all doing anyway): It's pretty common to amplify noise before making it a profile in Noise Reduction. Is it common enough to burn that permanently into the effect programming? (Plus 2 votes)
    • Steve comments: It's pretty common to amplify noise before making it a profile in Noise Reduction. Is it common enough to burn that permanently into the effect programming?
  • AU File Numbering: Number .au files rationally. Creating .au files with irrational numbering makes disaster recovery confusing, difficult, or impossible. (Plus 1 vote)
    • Bruno adds: And also, if possible, add metadata to the .au files so they can be sorted in the case of hard drive failure where the files are recoverable but not their names...
    • BillW adds: I don't think "rational" numbering would help except in the case of recovering from a crash during recording. If we go back to the sequential system of 1.2.x, then files are sequentially numbered as they are recorded. But once you start editing and Audacity starts creating and deleting AU files, the file names bear less and less relation to their place in the tracks.
    • Gale comments: We are a lot closer to reliable recovery in 2.0.x but there may always be a few cases where recovery won't work despite there being blockfiles available (for example the autosave or .aup file gets wiped out or corrupted in the crash), but is it worth writing a brand new crash recovery utility to cover those cases?
    • Koz responds: I don't think anybody is expecting a rational ordering of files after several hours of editing. However, we get a number of complaints of crashes during a long recording and anyone opening up the folders would automatically conclude that the show is irreparably damaged just looking at a normal file structure.
    • Bill states: With the improved crash recovery in 1.3.13 users should never have to look inside the _data folder.
      • Peter 26Jan11: I am minded to agree with Bill and Gale here - in that we should be relying on a reliable recovery process - so I personally think this PFR is a non-starter. I only moved the gist of the discussion from the forum to here - the full thread is still available on: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=46380
  • Cursor movement in Label track: I'm using 1.3.12 Beta. My apology if these have already been addressed.
  1. When Label track has focus and cursor (ear or dot) is dragged to a margin, the display should scroll same as if selection start or end were being moved in an audio track.
  2. When adjusting the select range and selection includes a label track, if a label was assigned to the range then move the label cursor as well. This should be done only if the label and range coincided before the mouse button, [, ], Shift or Ctrl key was pushed, since otherwise when e.g., Selection End is moved through the end of a label range it could start moving the ear. If the range is adjusted via the arrow keys and the label track has the focus, it would be implied that the user intended to adjust the label range.
If the user had a point label coincident with the cursor and wanted to make a labeled range, he could drag an ear a small distance and select the range. Then adjusting the select range by dragging or by Shift+Click (possibly in another track) would adjust the range label to the new range.


  • Audacity version display: It would be helpful for people seeking help if the Audacity version was displayed on the main interface, for example at the top of the main window. Currently a new project shows "Audacity".

Why not "Audacity 1.3.12"? When the current project is displayed, the program name is replaced by the name of the project. Why not prepend the program name with the project name. Example: "my_project - Audacity 1.3.12" (Plus 2 votes)

    • Gale wrote: I raised this at least once on -devel without getting anywhere. IIRC the main reason against was exactly that "Audacity <version>" would have to be dropped from the title bar when a project was saved (because it couldn't be in the file name). Actually it isn't at all uncommon to have <currently open file name> - <program name> in the Title Bar but perhaps <program name><version number> is a bit more unusual. That said, I doubt having the version in the Title Bar would help that much. It might help user to have "About Audacity" at the bottom of the Help menu - we know some users can't find it because they are looking at the bottom. I think you might have more chance of getting a consensus on that.
    • Steve responded: I don't think I understand that. I'm typing this in Firefox and the title bar says: "Audacity Forum.Post a reply-Mozilla Firefox" but if I go to "File menu > Save Page" I would not expect the saved page to be called "Audacity Forum.Post a reply-Mozilla Firefox"
    • Steve responded further: Yes, it's unusual, but when did that ever stop the developers from implementing something?
  1. It's unusual to have "About Audacity" at the top of the help menu.
  2. It's unusual to have a vertical track scale of +/- 1 rather than dB.
  3. It's unusual to have "screenshot tools".
  4. It's unusual to have an open source, cross platform, multi-channel audio editor.
  5. I'm not complaining about unusual :)
  6. It's not unusual for user to not know the version of Audacity that they are using, and that's where I think this proposal could help (a bit).
    • Gale: I think it ran something like "because Audacity <version> can't be in the file name, why have it there to begin with?"
    • BillW: Photoshop CS2 puts lots of info in the window title that is not part of the file name. E.g "DSC00252.JPG @25% (<layer name> RGB/8)" Now, that's all useful information. You can immediately see the magnification, what layer is selected, and the color space. I'm on the fence if it would be useful to have the Audacity window title be "myproject.aup (Audacity 1.3.12)". Personally I'd rather not clutter up my window title with information that doesn't change, and that I already know.
    • Irish: Does the version number need to be in the title bar all the time? Why not include it when Audacity is launched, and let it be overwritten by the project name when you open/save a project, as it is at present? For those of us who rarely, if ever, use projects, the version number would be there all the time. I often switch between 1.3.12 and 1.3.13, and occasionaly forget which version I am using.
    • Edgar: -1 Audacity already announces the version string on startup:
    • Bruno: But that disappears once you move the mouse pointer over the audacity window.
    • WC: As Bruno says - and what's more if you already happen to have your cursor over the Audacity window it doesn't show at all (and as I normally run Audacity full-screen that's normally the case for me). So until just now I've never seen that message.
    • Steve: Same here.
    • Irish: And here. The first thing someone does, when a program window opens, is to move the cursor to the menu, so it's no wonder most people haven't seen the message.
    • Edgar: I run so many different versions of Audacity I depend on this feature! It is also the first line in the About... dialog. I for one would dislike cluttering the window title with this as I consider it extraneous though I doubt I would go so far as to change it back on a personal build. Now, the option for full path might be nice.
  • Range Label Time Totalizer: I'd like to see a feature that computes the total length of all range labels on a label track. This would be very handy when editing (e.g., a church service) to fit a tape or CD.
  • Equalizer features:
  1. Add a readout to show exact frequency and dB of point being edited, similar to the coordinate display in Spectrum Plot. OR Allow entering point coordinates as numbers rather than graphically.
  2. Add a way to delete a point.
  3. Provide for reading the points from a user-generated CSV file.
    • Steve responds:
  1. The Equalizer in Audacity 1.3.12 has a grid background to the "Draw Curves" view that makes it easier to see the frequency/gain than was the case in earlier versions. In Audacity 1.3.13 (not yet released) the "Import" feature in "Save/Manage Curves" allows custom curves to be imported that have been created as XML files, so precise plots can be created from numerical data. I know it's not quite what you're asking for, but it does allow precise plots to be created.
  2. In the "Draw Curves" screen, points may be deleted by dragging them off screen.
  3. In Audacity 1.3.13 (not yet released), curves may be Exported as XML files.
    • Koz comments: Then there's the problem that a point doesn't have a frequency. Ranges of tones have frequency. That's why you can't Analyze > Plot Spectrum from a single point. There is no spectrum of a point. It's either zero or infinite depending on the philosophy you used in the tool.
    • OP responds to Koz: Are you confusing frequency with bandwidth? These are points in the frequency domain. A sinewave that persists over all time has a single point in frequency domain and certainly does have a frequency.
    • OP responds to Steve: I intended to transfer the contour points from a spreadsheet, but not sure if I can get an XML file out of a spreadsheet. Is there a format sample I could follow? Alternatively, is it possible to write a Nyquist program to supply the contour points? Might be able to do the same calculation in Nyquist if I learned the language.
    • Steve responds: See here: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=20286&p=64900#p64900 Also, if you find the default EqCurves.xml file you can open it in a text editor. The default location for EqCurves.xml is:
  1. Windows 98/ME: Windows\Application Data\Audacity
  2. Windows 2000/XP: Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Audacity
  3. Windows Vista/7: Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Audacity\
  4. OS X: ~/Library/Application Support/audacity/
  5. Linux: ~/.audacity-data/
Nyquist does not have access to the settings in the Equalizer and it would probably not be the best choice of language for this job.
    • OP: Thanks! Best part is I don't have to wait for next Audacity release. I'll just write a little command-line C program to generate it rather than try to use a spreadsheet macro (ugh!). Or even a Matlab program if my old DOS edition still works under Windows. It has really nice plotting that's very easy to use. Next problem is will Vista let me write to the file if it's not in my sandbox. I'm waxing nostalgic - bad boy.
    • Steve: Best part is that for experimental work you can use the latest alpha version of Au
  • Spot Healing Brush: see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKyuqnnguDk
    • Steve: I was watching that wondering if you'd linked to the right video, but then there it was, right at the end. Pretty cool feature - I guess that you'd want to do it in a similar way in Audacity using the track "Spectrum" view? I'd guess that would be a major project. I don't suppose you are both an audio and C+ programming expert are you?
    • OP: Ok for audio (reasonably) expert, unfortunately a newbie in C programming. By the way I believe it would be an extremely powerful feature.
    • Bruno: that spectral healing brush looks interesting
  • Improvement of Auto Duck effect: Recently I used Audo Duck effect by Markus Meyer with a long sound track (audio track from a movie) and voice track (recorded spoken movie subtitles) to mix them both together. The effect was supposed to decrease volume of parts of sound track where voices were about to be mixed in. Most of the result was all right but some voices were not possible to understand because of the background sound still too loud.
  • rehearsal tempo: What I specifically need is a way to play a track at slower speeds without changing the pitch so I can play along while I am learning. This might be best (if doable) as a Nyquist plug-in but is beyond my Nyquist programming skills. Some discussion can be found on Audacity's Feature Requests wiki: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Feature_Requests (search for Change Speed/Tempo/Pitch). At the most simple I envision a dialog which presents the user with about 10 predefined choices: 50%, 55%, 60%...90%, 95%. When the user selects a speed percentage a new track is created based upon the original--probably best in a new project window so the original track project window is not affected.
  • Templates: It would be nice to have some templating engine that allows me to have a set amount of tracks and some keystrokes so for example for podcasting so I can just chain the intro and breaks during a podcast. Or something like a loop a beat for example. Maybe this is already available or there are extensions that I can use for that. So far the wiki hasnt really show me much.
  1. Load: Loads a previously saved list of Tag names and values into Metadata Editor.
  2. Save: Saves the current list of Tag names and values to a file on your drive.
  3. Set Default: Makes the current list of Tag names and values the default state when Metadata Editor opens and would otherwise contain empty values. This means that if you import a file containing metadata then open Metadata Editor, the metadata shown will be that for the MP3. If you always want a fixed set of metadata to show when importing a file, you need to save that set as a template and load it.
    • OP suggests: It should say:
  1. Load: Loads a previously saved list of Tag names and values into Metadata Editor.
  2. Save: Saves the current list of Tag names and values to a file on your drive makes it the Template loaded in Audacity.
    • OP adds: The functionality is and has to be different for the Metadata Editors that come up via "Open Metadata Editor" and "Export Multiple." So make two different looking and differently named windows. The first should be "Open Metadata Template Editor". The window that comes up via "Export Multiple" should not have any buttons for "Template." I might have missed something, but that doesn't matter. If I don't get it, no one will. I'm quite computer literate and have fiddled with Audacity many times over many years. Here is my experience when working with recorded data (as from an LP, tape or live performances):
  1. Problem 1: The metadata editor window can be brought up three ways. Depending on which way it is brought up, it does different things.
  2. Problem 2: The Template "Set Default" button does not do what the user expects. It does not make the currently displayed metadata the template for metadata. And the http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Metadata_Editor statement about "Set Default" only adds confusion.
  3. Problem 3: The Template "Save" button does not do what the user expects. (It writes something to disk but doesn't keep and use it.)
    • OP adds further: My work around - To set the metadata template:
  1. Use "Open Metadata Template" to enter the data you want.
  2. Click Template Save.
  3. Click Template Load. (this is a non-intuitive but quite necessary step.)
  4. Close the editor.
  5. Then Export Multiple has the entered metadata and will proceed to increment track number and use Label Names for file names (But the meta data can not be entered from the metadata editor window in Export Multiple.)
    • Bill votes: +1
  • Xgrid Support: Would some dev. be able/willing to implement Xgrid support for the Mac version of Audacity? When working with long audio files, processing effects and exporting can take longer lengths of time. At present, it isn't easily possible to split a task in Audacity between two machines and cut down on the processing time. Letting Audacity take advantage of extra available hardware would be advantageous. I suggest that, if Xgrid could be implemented, Audacity identify if the computer has a controller. Then, when processing effects, exporting, or other intensive tasks, Audacity would split the selection into parts equal to the number of agents and then submit them as tasks to the controller. The agents would then process the effect/export and send it back to the client. Audacity would then stitch the information back together. I'm not sure if Xgrid features could be included with Audacity because of open source licensing. Maybe then, if someone is willing, a plug-in could be developed? It would be really great if an open source distributed computing framework could be implemented into all versions of Audacity.
    • Steve asks: Wouldn't it just be very much easier to split large projects into smaller parts?
    • OP responds: Not especially. I'm asking, because I mainly work with processing lectures that can last up to and beyond one hour. Splitting the audio, transferring it over to the other computer, and then processing, saving, and transferring it back again negates the time saved by using the other computer in some situations. In other situations, it does save time, but it is tedious. I admit that, for smaller projects, distributed computing doesn't make sense, but, when you have a longer project that can take up tons of cycles, it has potential.


  • Append Record: I thought it already did this. Append Record needs to start recording wherever the cursor is like a tape machine. Roll the tape back to where the blooper was captured and press Record. It seems the tool will not record over old show -- only from the End.
    • Steve responds: That's right - "Append" - to add onto the end of something. We've got "Record" and "Append Record" and now you want "Replace Record"? How would that work? You would select the section that you want to replace, then press the magic button?
    • Koz responds: No. This may be Old Think, but Append Record drops in where the cursor is and anything already there in the track becomes written over or damaged. In audio tape land, you always got a hole in the old work when you pressed stop because of the space between the record head and the erase head, so the rest of the show is trash. The video equivalent of what you said is Insert Editing and for that you need my favorite missing keys I (in point) and O (out point). As it is with no changes, the tools acts wrong because if you don't have your cursor at the end of the show, Append Record doesn't do anything.
    • Steve responds: Sorry Koz, I don't follow. The word "Append" means "to add onto the end of". Tape recorders didn't "append", they blindly recorded over anything that was there starting from the current play position. If you wanted to "append" a tape recording, you had to fast forward to the end, wind the tape back 'till you heard the end of the recording, rock the spool to find the exact position, then rock the spool a little more to allow for the difference in position between playback and record heads, then press record, and when you had finished you'd wind back and get the razor blade out to tidy up the cludge at the join. For Insert editing in Audacity 1.3.12:
  1. Split delete the section that you don't want (Alt+Ctrl+K or use the Edit menu)
  2. Create a new track,
  3. Place the cursor on the new track a bit before the "gap" in the track above
  4. Append Record (Shift+R) - curious usage of the word "append" in this context as it "appends" to the silence before the cursor. In other words, it records from the current cursor position.
  5. Stop when the first track starts playing again
  6. You can then make a tasteful cross fade between the two tracks.
    • Steve adds: kozikowski wrote<<<As it is with no changes, the tools acts wrong because if you don't have your cursor at the end of the show, Append Record doesn't do anything.>>>. If the cursor is at the end, beginning, or somewhere in the middle of existing audio, "append record" will cause recording to commence from the end of the audio on that track. If the cursor is at an empty position on the track with no audio after it, then append record will pad any preceding white-space with silence and commence recording from the end of that silence - ie. it will record from the current cursor position.
    • Bruno comments: I understand Koz idea on this, but I think anything that 'overwrites' can be a bit tricky and lead into new problems... I don't want to hear about users complaining that their previously recorded material was overwritten by accident when using the append record function. As Steve said 'append' by definition should "add to the end". Sorry Koz, but this is a -1 from me on this one
    • WC comments: I'm minded to agree with Bruno here so its a -0.5 from me - the risk of accidental overwriting/erasure is to be considered. Audacity is a multitrack editor after all. Surely it is better to educate users how to move the cursor to the blooper - then press record and the recording will start on a new track - and then the user has to do a little editing to segue the tracks properly. But at least with this method the user should still have both tracks to work with. I sense a need for a new tutorial here - any offer to author it? But Koz if all you want to do is just record over the rest of the "tape" from the blooper, the all you need to is (VBut I'd still probably prefer the multitrack method for its flexibilty and precision.) :
  1. Move cursor to blooper
  2. Select to end of audio (SHIFT+"Skip to end")
  3. CTRL+K (in MACspeak I assume that's CMD+K ?) to delete the selected audio
  4. Append record ...
    • Mederi comments: Append record just adds new recording to the end of previous one in the same audio track and also adds silence between them if recording starts later and not right after previous recording (mouse left click in an empty space after last recording and then start append record). I use this function to record "spoken subtitles". I just wish a single shortcut key instead of that mouse click to move cursor to start next appended record in the same track right under the next nearest label after the end of the last recording. And also the same button that starts a function should be used to stop the started function (running process like recording). A keyboard [Space bar] could stay as a general emergency stop. There could be "record over" function to overwrite recording in the same track just like recording of old audio tapes if a user wishes so. Why not? Simply just new function or some switch button or key shortcut [Ctrl + Shift + R]. Rather this than additional cutting. There is always Undo [Ctrl + Z] function if something goes wrong. Simply more functionality to Audacity. Or to overrecord within selected part, so there is no risk of ovewritting of a record before and after selection
    • Steve responds: There is possibly a technical issue with "overrecord" in that Audacity projects, in the .AUP file, list the data blocks that make up the track. By default these data blocks are (I think) about six seconds long. What happens if you overwrite part of a data block?
    • Bill comments: steve wrote:<<<There is possibly a technical issue with "overrecord" in that Audacity projects, in the .AUP file, list the data blocks that make up the track. By default these data blocks are (I think) about six seconds long. What happens if you overwrite part of a data block?>>> No different than deleting part of a data block, or doing any operation that affects only part of a data block. Two new data blocks are created, one is affected and the other is not. The whole issue of doing punch-ins (which is where this has developed to) in Audacity is complicated because of the necessity of doing sample-accurate latency correction. We're getting into DAW territory here, and if someone needs to do punch-ins on a regular basis then I'd recommend using Ardour, Logic, Pro Tools or whatever DAW suits your fancy. In Audacity, my gut feeling (since I've never actually done it) is that the best way to accomplish this is to punch in on a separate track. You then have the flexibility to adjust the timing and crossfades for a seamless punch-in. (Pus 1 from WC)
    • Mederi adds: First to select the same part in a primary track then Edit > Split delete or Silence audio or Generate > Silence, then Tracks > Mix and Render. Or to select and "Copy" the second track then to select the appropriate part in the first track and to "Paste" it in. Or first "Split delete" in the first track then "Paste" so the affected place is visible. Then to close the second track. This is about using of present Audacity and we should also talk about improving and adding new features for the user to choose from to speed up his work. Overrecording directly in primary track seems to be an oldfashioned way but for most users (beginners?) expectable and understandable and for the others acceptable. Recording could be also performed without a temporary track. Visually recording could be running directly in primary track something like temporary track over primary track then necessary operations to "punch in" after recording stops. I would also suggest to Drag-and-drop of particular records (segments) with the mouse pointer in and between tracks and to use mouse context menu (mouse right-click) with intuitive options for clicked objects like selections and labels.
  • Sample track Idea: Ok making Drums Samples and instrument sounds in Audacity is easy. But Imagine being able to select audio and assign it to be a sample. which could then be used on a Sample track. without having to save the audio to the hard drive. the Audio is saved to a bank which would only be used during the current session; so it's not there the next time you open Audacity. Once assigned you could delete the Audio Track and still have the sound you selected in a sample bank ready to be used on a sample track. The track would be unexpandable just like an audio track when you click the Arrow. The concept of being able to select audio from an audio track and then have it ready to use as a sample would make an awesome working environment. because you could tamper with sound on an Audio track and then use the audio at different stages of its development as different samples.
    • TrueHerbCrystal: replies: Isn't that idea you described just the "Duplicate" feature? Cause with the Duplicate option (under "Edit" menu), you can make a "sample" from the original track that is its own track separate track, which can be moved around independent of the original. But what you are describing sounds like a sequencer-type feature like in Fruity Loops where you click a button, then the sample is there in the track without physically showing the waveform. Is that true?
    • Steve comments: Thanks for the input Murky effects. The suggestion of being able to set the Time Line ruler ("Counters" in your mock-up) to bars and beats is something that I am strongly in favour of as I think it would be an invaluable feature for many users (including myself).
    • MurkyEffects responds: Yes. When in the sample track, if I clicked in line with a track 'Within the sample track' say "hit" Image that is a sample track: then click any were in line on the grid and it would place the sample rhythmatically. Like a drum beat. Ofcourse then once you were happy with the sample track, ' the one with heaps of samples tracks in, up to 64' you could quick mix, or mix and render back to an audio track. etheir one sample track within the actual sample track or the entire track, with up to 64 sample tracks. Each individual track within the sample track should have a volume knob.
  • Sideways mouse scrolling: for a quick workflow I enjoy doing a lot of moving around with the mouse. It would feel a lot more natural to be able to scroll horizontally with the two-finger-horizontal movement on the touchpad than reaching and holding shift. I cant find a way to calibrate this in the settings.
  • Ogg Vorbis -1 compression quality: It would be great if the compression quality for Ogg Vorbis can go all the way down to -1 instead of to 0. -1 is great for use with low quality voice recordings. Currently, I have to save as PCM then use another tool to compress to Ogg Vorbis at -1 compression quality.
    • Gale commented: if you obtain the oggenc2 command line utility then in current Audacity you can choose (external program) and issue a command to oggenc2 to encode at negative or fractional qualities. See viewtopic.php?f=20&t=47362#p116935.
    • Steve added: An excellent compression format for speech is Speex http://www.speex.org/ It can produce reasonable quality speech at ridiculously low bit rates.
  • File Name Reveal: I want to grab the right edge of the track work panel and make it wider do I can see the whole file name of an imported clip. I had a job this morning where I had to turn eight clips into a single show. Audacity doesn't have Import-Append yet, so I opened the first clip and imported all the others intending to copy paste numbers two through eight after number one. The file names are typically [long string of text]1.mp3, [long string of text]2.mp3, etc. So all the panel gives me is the first characters of [long string of text] and it's anybody's guess where each individual clip is. I do not have the show script, so I have no idea content or clip length. I understand there is a tool to view the file name and I made very good use of that and a pile of sticky 3M Post-It Notes on the screen to keep track of where everything was. I would have used China Marker/Grease Pencil, but I'm not on a glass kinescope monitor any more. No problem, I'll just reach up and pull the track information window wider so the whole file name is visible. Another ancillary problem is finding "End." If you select a track and press "End," you get the end of the longest track in the whole show, not the track you selected. This makes the first few Paste Edits really amusing until the target track becomes the longest one.
    • Steve commented: There is a similar feature request - to make the full file name visible as a "tool tip" style pop-up (on "hover over").
    • Koz responds: That's not enough. I need to rapidly scan a pile of clips to pick the right one -- repeatedly. Hover just gets me back to the Post-Its again -- more efficiently. Where was 032? [Hover] That's not it. [Hover] That's not it. [Hover] Nope... End should take me to the end of the current clip unless nothing or all is selected. Then it goes to the end of the show.
    • Steve replies: Glib response: Use shorter track names. Less glib response: If you put the tracks in a sensible order you should have a reasonable idea of where each track is. (Importing multiple files will import by alphanumeric order of file names). More considered response: Given the above two, yes, resizing the width of the Track Control Panel could be useful as the name box is currently very small. +1
    • Steve adds: kozikowski wrote:<<End should take me to the end of the current clip unless nothing or all is selected. Then it goes to the end of the show.>> So how would you then go quickly to the end of the project (assuming that the longest track is not currently selected)? If you would prefer to have "K" for end of project and "END" for end of track, you can swap them in "Edit menu > Preferences > Keyboard". Personally I like "END" = End of Project, so I'll leave mine at the default.
    • Edgar comments: The two offered solutions (hover/tooltip & make track control panel sizable) both require non-trivial code changes and are not likely to percolate up to a Developer any time soon. How about if we just right (instead of left) justify the display of the file names (and truncate the .xxx extension) so we see the last part of the name which may be more definitive? I would have to look at the code, but justification and stripping an extension should be trivial (he says after offering a few "trivial" fixes which became non-trivial!) and we might even get a Developer to commit it.
    • Edgar adds further: Added Audacity Bugzilla enhancement: http://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=318
  • Mix View Enhancements: A couple things I'd like to see:
  1. I'd like to be able to see more channels on the mix view at the same time. My monitor is 1920x1200 resolution, and I can only see about 16 tracks. I can scroll, but it's not so convenient. I see several possibilities. One is to make each channel smaller. One is to allow multiple mix board windows to open so I can scroll them to different places and stack them up. One is to have the window allow multiple rows of channels. I'm sure others could think of good ideas as well...
  2. Secondly, I'd love to be able to map a MIDI controller to the Mix Board. Maybe something like a BCF2000 would be great, giving me buttons for mute and solo, a knob for pan, and a fader. Have the ability to either use multiple devices, or to scroll left and right in banks of 8 or so.
  3. I'd also love to see some grouping options (move all the vocal channels together, or the entire drum kit, that kind of thing)...
  • FLAC export enhancement: I'm currently working with long recordings, 4-6h. I choosed flac to save some space and to keep metadata with them. Audacity lacks two features for flac export:
  1. SEEKTABLE (index): Without, no player can seek. In the flac docs looks like they recommand 1 seekpoint/10 seconds, so I enabled this by default. This costs e.g. ~32k for a 5.5h stereo file (2.2GiB). I'm still playing with the values, needs some more testing with players. Maybe better is 1sk-pt/sec
  2. PADDING: Since metadata is stored at the beginning of a FLAC file, increasing the length or number of meta tags (this includes also the seektable), can cause the whole file to be rewritten. This can be avoided by adding some padding bytes. 0 disables, 8k default (good for small files) 64k don't hurt on xxx GiB files
  • Logging All Processes & Changes:Firstly let me apologize for this suggestion if it's been dealt with elsewhere on the Forum. I did try and search for things like "logging", but couldn't find any related information. My suggetion is this: A means of logging all changes made to an audio file and the processes used / steps taken to arrive at an end result would be very useful to me, as a "log" could then be presented to other "interested parties" involved in the work that I do, so that they may clearly see exactly what I have done, and also enable them to replicate those results should they wish to. I'm pretty sure a lot of this functionality is already within the build that I use (latest Beta for Windows) because of the "undo" facility, so it's probably only a quantum leap to implement this feature. I know some folks might think this suggestion a little quirky, but I do have a real need for it as it would greatly help validate the stuff I produce.
    • Ed responded: Very easy to do from a coding aspect. If you choose menu Help > Show Log... you will see that some information (but not what you need) is already logged (the Log can be copy/pasted to a text file). In the code which creates the history a line: wxStatusLog(wxT("text: use the same text string used to create the history dialog")); does the trick. Alternately, but much more code, one could add a button to the View > History... dialog -- "Copy" [to clipboard] which would parse the text of the display and put it on the clipboard. This would be nice as the Log has excess-to-needs info which would need to be edited out for your use case.
  • timer:the ability to minimize the timer window...
  • Save a Noise Reduction Profile: I understand you can save and manage a Noise Reduction Profile as a file during a "CleanSpeech" session. What I don't understand is why that's not default. If CleanSpeech has 'baggage' or special operation considerations or complexity, then the NR File needs to be split off from the complexity. Audacity makes a noise reduction profile file out of the box, sorry 'tin.' The initial request was to email a profile to someone working on the exact same sound file I am, but I can envision working on multiple tracks and want to save successful profiles as I go. (Plus 5 votes)
    • Steve wrote: There's a clunky workaround that you've no doubt figured. Select the "noise only" section and "Export Selected". How do you save a Noise Profile in "CleanSpeech" mode? It doesn't appear to be a feature in CleanSpeach mode for Audacity 1.3.12 on Linux. I'm probably +1 for this feature, but if it has already been implemented somewhere in Audacity I'd quite like to see what it's like before placing a definite vote.
    • Gale wrote: Koz's "feature request" (+1 from me) came from this topic http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=51136 i.e. to save the noise profile, turn on "CleanSpeech" mode in the Interface Preferences, then "Get Noise Profile" in Noise Removal. On Linux the file will be at ~/.audacity-data/NRP/noisegate.nrp. I am not sure I would want the current behaviour to be default (i.e. the nrp file is overwritten every time you grab the profile). I would assume a good feature would be to always hold the noise profile in memory (as happens now if CleanSpeech is off) but be able to export the current profile as a preset, and import it back when wanted. Multiple presets should be supported. There could be possibly be an option to always load a selected preset at Audacity startup. The presets would probably have to be a dialog behind a "Load/Save Presets" button or similar.
    • Steve responded: I like the idea of being able to save and reuse a noise profile, but I don't think that it's particularly useful the way it is implemented in CleanSpeech mode. There's an obsolete, but very "cool" multitrack audio application that has the ability to save/load noise profiles. There are two buttons - "save profile" and "load profile" that allow the noise profile to be saved to disk as a file, or read (loaded) from a file via a file browser. This seems to be much the same as you are suggesting Gale, and I would definitely be +1 for that. I think that it's probably best for there to not be a default profile loaded as I think that would (wrongly) encourage new users to just use the default profile and then complain about the noise reduction being very poor. The "standard" (hence "default") mode of operation should I think be to use Noise Removal as a two pass process. It would also be more convenient if the interface remained open after capturing the noise profile and only closed after applying Noise Removal (or cancelling).
    • Gale replied: Yes +1 to all that. I just remembered though that CleanSpeech already includes Export and Import CleanSpeech Presets items in the File menu, and these presets include the current noise profile. Multiple .csp presets files are supported with any arbitrary file name and in any arbitrary location. So again the problem is that the feature is locked into CleanSpeech. A possible disadvantage of the .csp file is that as well as the noise profile it saves most of the current settings from the other available CleanSpeech effects, so will load those too when the .csp file is imported. Since the settings of these effects are saved in audacity.cfg anyway whether CleanSpeech is enabled or not, the .csp presets seem redundant to me except for the noise profile. I've tried to document the .nrp and .csp features a bit better in the Manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Interface_Preferences#modes
    • Steve replied: It would help Koz to send Noise Removal settings to his friend in Schenectady if the exported noise profile also contained default "Noise Removal" settings (Noise Reduction, Sensitivity, Freq Smoothing, Attack/Decay). It would not be useful for it to contain settings for "Leveller" etc. and it would be less useful if the Noise Removal settings could not be manually overridden.
    • Koz wrote: As above, if getting this NR file involves the housekeeping, baggage, and complexity of multiple other tools and settings, then -1. The request is to change nothing else except make the profile data available externally in a graceful way. I'm fine with two extra buttons in the tool: Import Profile and Export Profile. Hash out the defaults, tool behavior, and file management, etc. What's not cool is discovering other seemingly unrelated services have been damaged or changed -- this clean speech thing. I will always be grateful for my sister moving to a funny city. She could have moved to Albany or Troy (New York State Capitol District), but no. She moved to Schenectady.
    • Marco Diego wrote: I think I can this save/load noise profile thing. Of course, I'll would need some guidance. Having the possibility to save load presets seems to be a good idea too. Is anyone interested in helping me?
    • Ed responded: I can give you some help. Are you compiling Audacity from source?
    • Peter 25Apr11: I've no idea what happened next with Marco and Ed ...
  • Naming an Audacity project window: While working on Bugzilla bug 322 I notice there is no way to name an Audacity project window other than by saving it as a project. In my testing it would help a lot if I could name project windows without saving. Is there any user case where this might be helpful?
    • Bruno wrote: None that comes to mind. I think saving the project as one of the first steps is probably good policy
    • Ed responded: That is my policy--save early, save often (and change the name each save)!
    • Steve wrote: Same here. The only user case that I can think of is if naming the Audacity project window sets the default name of the project when it is saved (and the default name of the exported file). As a working process, a new project could be created and named, then to save the project it's just Ctrl+S. The project could then be renamed ready for the next save, so avoiding the possibility of accidentally overwriting the previous version. If this feature existed, I think I would probably use it.
  • Previewing audio: A way to preview audio before importing it as a new track like with Adobe Audition? (Plus 1 vote)
    • Steve comments: At present, Audacity can not play previews. On Windows XP I use Foobar2000 for this purpose as Foobar2000 opens really quickly. On Linux, audio files can be previewed in the file browser (Nautilus) by hovering the mouse over the file. I think Windows 7 and Mac OS X also have ways to preview files ("Peek" for Win 7 ?)
    • Ed adds: +1 (initially, now that I see it is already available... +0.2 ). How do y'all envision this working? I can imagine a new Preference (File Preview Duration, in seconds) and a new button in the Import/Open File dialog -- when clicked any/all files selected would play their first "duration" seconds. Maybe a modal dialog with no buttons would display the title (and maybe other tag data) during play. Another solution (might not work on all OSes) would be to preview any time the mouse pointer hovered over a selection playing until the mouse stopped hovering. On the gripping hand (again -- all OSes??) one may already do this on Win7 (maybe earlier Windows as well) by using the right-click context menu item "Play" on an entry in the file dialog/requester!
  • Origin selection for Audio Position: I routinely edit recordings of church services to fit onto a CD. This often involves removing portions of the music - repeated chorusus, repeated verses etc. Every time I'm working on this, I frequently select a whole song (I put range labels on them), watch the Audio Position and mentally subtract Selection Start to estimate where I am in the current song. The Range Label moving across the screen as it does is a big help here, BTW. The request: It would be really convenient to have a pair of radio buttons over Audio Position, similar to the ones for End & Length, to display the Audio Position as absolute (what it is now) or relative to Selection Start.
  • Export WAV without metadata: Metadata is rarely used in WAV files. As I usually work with WAV format files and do not need Metada I have the Metadata dialog before export switched off. However, if an Audacity project contains an imported file that has metada (for example if I import an MP3 file at the start of a project) then the metada from that file is added to the final exported WAV file. Because I have the Metadata Editor switched off, I don't see the metadata, but have recently discovered it because it interferes with another program and now I need to go through dozens of WAV files to manually remove the Metadata. I want "clean" WAV files without any metadata, but the only way that I can be sure that my exported WAV files do not have metadata is to open the Metadata Editor prior to Exporting as WAV and manually delete any metadata that is there. I would rather just switch off metadata for WAV files - in fact I'd like to switch off metadata for all files, but particularly for WAV files. (Plus 2 votes)
    • Ed responds:Why does having metadata interfere in the other app? Is it because Audacity malforms the metadata or the other app is buggy? As for switching metadata on/off -- this would require an additional global preference toggle: "ALL metadata on/off"; and to be really useful a list of toggles depicting each known each audio file type (the list is long). In addition it would require a checkbox in the Export file dialog to switch it on/off for just that specific export. I would also add a new Warning (add a warning on/off to the Warning prefs) with a "Don't nag me again" checkbox which pops when an Export is not writing metadata. Having not looked at the metadata write code I will not go out on a limb and say that this is an easy coding project--but I suspect it is...with the possible exception of a cross-platform solution to the added Export file dialog checkbox. I suspect that the chances of getting a Developer to support adding yet more prefs (for something that Developer did not invent) is slim.
    • Steve writes: <<Why does having metadata interfere in the other app? Is it because Audacity malforms the metadata or the other app is buggy?>> Neither, though I always thought that "correctly formed" metadata for WAV files was "none". Wikipedia says "As a derivative of the Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF), WAV files can be tagged with metadata in the INFO chunk", but that's not the same as saying that metadata is a standard part of the Microsoft WAV file format. From looking at various sources on the Internet, the best I can come up with is that metadata in the INFO chunk is a legal but non-standard feature of the WAV format. "Legal" by virtue of being supported in the RIFF specification. "Non-standard" by virtue of being unspecified in the Microsoft WAV specification. The particular problem that I'm having is with the program Nero (though I'm sure there will be issues with other programs). The problem is that Nero does support metadata in WAV files. When creating an audio CD compilation it will first look for the track name in the file metadata. If the track name is not found in the metadata it will use the file name. That's fine for MP3 and other formats that are expected to have metadata, but in the case of WAV files, the only two applications I have on my Windows computer that support metadata in WAV files are Audacity 1.3 and Nero. As I have the metadata editor switched off in Audacity I will not know if a WAV file has metadata until I try to burn an audio CD, and at that point I find that the track listing is nonsense. Worse still is that if multiple files are dragged into the compilation window at the same time, they may be sorted into the wrong alphabetic order because Nero is using the file names for some files and the metadata track name for other files. I can't use a bulk metatag editor to fix the metadata because I have not yet found a (free) bulk metadata editor that supports WAV files. My current solution to the problem is:
  1. Switch off dither (to avoid doubling the dither noise)
  2. Enable the Metadata Editor prior to Export
  3. Import the WAV file
  4. Export the file (overwriting the original)
  5. Click "Clear" on the Metadata Editor.
  6. After Export, delete the "old" copy of the file.
  7. Repeat for each file.
I guess that I could write a SoX script to batch process the files, but it would be completely unnecessary if I could turn off (non-standard) metadata for WAV files. If I really want metadata I would use AIFF or FLAC as metadata is properly defined in these formats (and supported by other applications including my Tag Editor program).
    • Steve adds: If Metadata in Microsoft WAV files really is "non-standard" (and it is certainly a rarity for applications to support it), then Metadata in Microsoft WAV files should be off by default. For the sake of choice there could be a Preference option to enable Metadata in WAV files.
    • Steve adds later: I may have found an ideal place to put the option: On clicking the "Options" button in the Export dialog...
  • Bundled GVerb plug-in:
  1. and this goes for any plug-in that might replace it: Nameofplug-in (Reverb) instead of Nameofplug-in. in this case GVerb. That way n00bs will know what it is.
  2. Add a drop down box list entitled "Presets:" that changes the settings listed to the ones here: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/GVerb ... b_settings make one of those presets default when opening Gverb. (+1 vote)
  3. if the problem is this is developed by someone else and they don't want to make usability changes, drop the reverb plug-in from those that Audacity carries. It's just not worth having as it is. There has to be something better if this isn't fixed for usability. (11 vote)
    • Steve comments: Despite the horrible defaults, I use GVerb frequently and find it very useful for certain types of reverb effect. As it is open source there's no reason why another developer can not add preset support (or at least better default values). Unfortunately I'm not a programmer or I would have done so long ago.
    • Peter: the thread developed into lengthy audio processing discussions, so retained on the forum: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=54569
  • Find Maximum: A Find Maximum would be very useful. Here's why, and below is a suggestion how it could operate. Often I want to manually decrease the dynamic range by reducing some of the peaks, so that the overall volume increases after I normalise. I'd rather not use automatic functions because I assume they would affect the entire sound file and I'd like to keep the sound as close to original as possible. In one situation, a friend asked me to improve a sound recording made in Cairo during WW2. Street vendors offered passing soldiers the opportunity to step into a sound booth, record 30 seconds of greetings to family, and then they were given a flexible record which could be mailed home. The one I was given was full of crackles, so I worked my way through several hundred pops, manually reducing the peak between the zero-crossing. Seemed to work pretty well, though very time consuming. A more recent example was a recording of someone with Alzheimers who got distracted by the microphone in front of him and would start stroking and tapping it, introducing very loud, clipped noises. I have manually reduced the levels of some of the clipped peaks so that the dynamic range is reduced, thus allowing an overall higher volume (after normalising). But again, it was very time consuming.
  • Peak Amplitude: It is quite a common request for how to find the peak amplitude of an audio track.

Although this can be determined easily using the "Amplify" effect, it would be more convenient if it could be displayed in the information section of the Track Control Panel. As Audacity is aware of the peak value of each data chunk I would think that it should require very little processor overhead to update the displayed value whenever the waveform is redrawn. I'd also suggest that if the peak amplitude is greater or equal to 0 dB that it should be shown in red.

  • Loop Play from a position within a selection: Quite often I want to play my audio looped, but not from the beginning. I want to start it near the end so I can hear how well it will loop. Placing the start marker somewhere and using "Play" works, but when using "Play Looped" it starts from the beginning of the audio, ignoring my start marker. I think that is either a bug or a design flaw.
    • Steve: Loop play always starts at the beginning of the selection and plays to the end of the selection, then loops back to the beginning of the selection. If there is no selection, the the entire track will loop, starting from the beginning. That's how Loop Play has been designed to work. Adding a feature to Loop Play from a position within a selection would be an additional feature that I agree would be useful (+1) but is not currently implemented.
  • Ability to add custom shortcuts to drop down menus: Need some kind of ability to add additional shortcuts to drop down menus that can point to the actual menu item for plug-ins. Since all plug-ins end up under either Generate, Process or Analyze menus, you should also be able to add a new menu item somewhere else that can point this original menu item. For example, Regular Interval Labels should also be included in the TRACKS drop down menu right underneath Add Label At Playback Position because it is part of Adding Labels to the track. I had no idea that feature (Regular Interval Labels) was available until I accidentally came across it in the ANALYZE menu.
    • Koz: This is a cousin to my request to be able to assign keyboard shortcuts arbitrarily to filters. The first time you need to apply Noise Reduction 53 times to the same clip, this becomes a lot more valuable. There was one version of Audacity where somebody neatly put all the filters in neat, orderly, sequential dropdown menus like the non-users wanted. It was a disaster for the production people. It tripled the click requirements and reduced production efficiency to trash.
    • OP: I am not suggesting that any current menus be moved, but only that you can assign a new menu item to point to an existing menu item. This would probably be a good thing for production people, as you could put whatever you want in whatever menu you want! And yes, I think it would be very closely related to being able to assign key combinations to point to something as well... good idea! I don't use it enough to ever remember any special key combinations myself, but if I could put a menu item where I think it should be, then I can find what I want without looking through all the menus one by one!
    • Koz: Or you could have no clicks by designing four or five "floating" key combinations and associate with any effect, ad lib.
  • Quick conversion of point label to range label: It would save retyping, cutting/pasting of text or ear dragging if one could more quickly convert a point label to a range label. The behavior I would like to have is this: Record/Play Cursor is at one end of the intended range. I put the Mouse Cursor on the dot of the label I want to convert. Shift + Left-Click converts the point label to a range label in addition to selecting the range. The mouse-cursor end of the range is adjusted to align with the point label even if the mouse is off a bit. I suggest the dot here rather than the ear because it already lines up with one end of what will be the select range.
    • Steve: You may be missing a trick. Why do you have a lot of point labels that you want to convert to region labels? Describe the job.
    • OP: I drop point labels during live recording to flag the next song in a medley, next speaker at the podium, etc. Being rather busy at the time, I tend to miss a few events but I add them later while listening to the recording. In that phase, I adjust the positions of point labels and start making region labels. Often I notice things that need editing and rather than flag them for later I deal with them on the spot, which resets the select region I would have used for the next region label. When things are going smoothly, I can hold the mouse on the right ear of a point label and let the waves scroll by, just jiggling the mouse occasionally to keep extending the label region in case I drop it. If it's a part I'm pretty comfortable with at this point, I might hold the right arrow key down (maybe even with the shift key) to skip ahead, still holding down the mouse button. If the section is rather long, I select it, make a new region label, then go back to the point label, either copy the text manually or transfer it therefrom to the region label via the clipboard, and delete the point label. So for the most part, the point labels originate during the live recording while I'm primarily occupied with other tasks in the sound room. Labeling all the sections is partly for quick searching and partly in preparation for the final task of making separate label tracks to configure the CD and Podcast and occasionally "custom" versions of the recording. In the above description I'm using mouse terms, but bear in mind I'm actually using a touch pad on the laptop, which makes the ergonomics a bit more cumbersome. I could select regions ([/])while recording (I think), but then I'd have to complete the process at the end of the region, and I might not be able to get to it at that moment. Moreover, that may be the spot where the next label region will start, so I'd have to remember the text I was going to type for that label while committing to memory the text for the next one. I do have key assignments (Ctrl-[ & Ctrl-]) for setting the cursor to either end of a select range, but it's still an added step and I'd be doing it after the region has gone off the screen. Using point labels, I can Ctrl-M quickly and enter the text at my convenience. I bump the focus back up to the audio track after entering the text so I can verify at a glance that I've completed that label. Have I missed any tricks?
    • Steve: Just one that I can think of at the moment. Dropping point labels (markers) during recording sounds like the best approach for what you're doing. After recording, go to "Tracks menu > Edit labels" and change the "End time" for the labels. (you can tab across from one field to the next).
    • OP: Y'know, a spreadsheet-like page of that sort for profile points would be quite useful, especially after I do something that gets the profile point GUI all confused. I'll post a bug report if I ever figure out how it happens. I've resorted to editing the .aup file occasionally to remove a stubborn point that doesn't respond to the mouse.
    • Ed: I also suffer exactly the same complaint about creating region labels after the fact where I have dropped point labels on-the-go. I modified my personal copy of Audacity so that I have a "solution". First I insert a second label where I want the region to end; next I double-click in the label track between the first & second label--this selects the region between labels including the labels (this is the mod--a feature request that the programmers have not implemented). Next I insert a label (the region is selected) which ends up automatically deleting the leading and trailing labels and creating a new region label.
    • OP: Edgar wrote: <<Next I insert a label (the region is selected) which ends up automatically deleting the leading and trailing labels and creating a new region label.>> From which label does it copy the text? Is this an upcoming feature? It has one disadvantage compared to my suggestion. I drop some markers to indicate peripheral events like Pastor's mic turned off (because I'll change the filtering at that point), Paddle Fans turned on / Box fan on (same reason), etc. (I use abbreviations, of course). I delete these later, but I don't bother with separate label tracks for different purposes during recording. Filtering (except for DC removal) I do much later, after the regions are labeled and thumps, coughs etc. are removed or suppressed (love that Pop Mute!). So temporarily I may have a region label with a couple of point labels inside the range, on the same label track. I could work around that, of course, by duplicating the label track first and removing the irrelevant labels from each one.
    • Ed: What I do is copy & paste because my solution crates an entirely new label (but it is active & ready for paste). Your solution does make sense and there is no reason both could not be implemented. Upcoming feature? Audacity has been in "feature freeze" for over a year. After the next "stable" release is the time to discuss new features!
  • Keyboard short-cut for expanding tracks at max.: When creating new tracks, the new tracks created are in small sizes(vertically). I would like to expand them individually to the maximum available client-space in the window. Unfortunately, I haven't found any keyboard short-cut for that; doing it manually(hoovering the mouse over the track separator while the arrow icon is present and drag to the bottom) is time consuming.
    • ED: This would also help me from time to time so, just tossing out some thoughts here... The idea seems to be a function (which may have a menu entry and will have keyboard shortcut) which will take (all??*) the current tracks (in a single project window--not all open projects) make them the same size**; such size will be sufficient to completely fill the available space in the project window. What happens when there are Label, Timeline, MIDI etc. tracks? should only audio (waveform) track be expanded? Maybe tracks should expand proportionally so that if we have 100 vertical units available overall and before action we have three tracks -- all audio: 5 tall, 10 tall & 20 tall non-proportional they would all end up 33 tall proportional they would end up 14 tall, 28 tall & 56 (note due to rounding we only use 98 or 99 of the available px--the real code could fudge for this if desired).
    • OP: I think what you are referring to(Adjust tracks in equal sizes to fit in window) is done with: ctrl+shift+f
    • Steve: So what you want is a modified version of what Ctrl+Shift+F does? Rather than fitting all the tracks to the track panel size you would like to fit each of the tracks to the track panel size?
    • ED: I think I misunderstood the OP's request (I was thrown off by "tracks"--plural in the title)--to restate: Given any selected track (track having focus) an action which causes that track (and that track only) to expand vertically to fill the entire available space (given the Project window's current size). This will cause all other tracks to be out-of-view but available via the vertical scroll bar.
    • WC: ok gasto, I just had a look at your YT video - and this raises a question. Why exactly do you feel the need to fill the whole screen real estate with a sing track? Is is because you are seeking better control over your signal level? If that is the case then you should make sure that you make the meter toolbar as wide as it can be (I and many others stretch it across the whole Audacity window width)- you can do this by clicking and dragging on the toolbar and in 1.3.x Audacity will remember you previous setting. IMHO the default sizing for the meters is so ridiculously small, making them effectively unusable. Personally I would prefer the default to be full window width.
  • Log of changes: I'm wondering if anyone has created a sort of "log viewer" of changes. For example, let's say I have my project file, and it's been awhile since I worked on a piece. Perhaps I decide I want to do "the same thing" with another audio track, but I can't remember what I actually did. I know that inside the AUP file, there's envelope information. I'm not as sure about whether everything else is "logged." For example, if I apply an effect through a plug-in, is all of that information stored in the AUP file in such a way that it's possible to tell exactly what was done? And if that information is all in there in XML tags, is there any tool that can easily let me easily see exactly what I did to the file? E.g.,
  1. Amplified from 1:34 to 1:52 by 2.2 db.
  2. Added reverb settings 1/2/55/3 from 3:45 to 4:46.
  3. Cut from 0:00 to 0:21.
  4. Did fade out from 4:45 to 5:15.
...or whatever...
    • Steve: While the project is open, actions are logged in the "History" list (in the "View" menu), but the history is cleared when the project is closed.
    • OP: I would like to recommend having an option that it saves/logs the history list then. I think this would be a great feature, and probably easy to implement, since it's already keeping track of the history during the session. It's very helpful for a musician to have a clear record of the changes. Usually I try to jot down notes about the basic changes I made, but having the software log the exact changes would be a big help.
    • Solanus: I can't help but notice the resemblance between the History and the structure of a Chain(text) file. I think the most practical thing to do is to have an option to export a history as a Chain. That way, you can easily edit out any wasteful steps and get a golden nugget of goodness from your session, that you can easily automatically apply to new projects. I saw a couple of similar suggestions on the wiki (saving history as text, export to chains) but nothing exactly like this. P.S. Maybe even have the option to autosave the history as a chain when you save the aup? Chains tend to be tiny txt files, it shouldn't be a burden.
    • Ed: I recently crafted a custom version of Audacity which logs all changes (during a session) in Audacity's Log (menu item Help > Show Log... ), I only compiled a Windows version* and it ( Diablo_Audacity.zip ) is here: http://home.wavecable.com/~edgarmusgrove/index.html#AudacityForDiablo if you want to try it out; the simple directions for installation and usage are on the page. If you want to keep a copy of the changes you will need to right-click in the Log window and choose Select All from the resulting context menu (<CTRL + a> does not work here) then (using either <CTRL + c> or the context menu again) copy it and paste it into a text file (which you will want to save somewhere handy). If your work spans multiple sessions just paste the new Log text below the old. The changes were pretty extensive so patching by hand is not too easy; I do not have a patch file--it would be stale by now. The actual code changes are minimal, the other changes involved removing a lot of developer related stuff which is currently being logged for debugging purposes. I plan on creating a new executable and patch against 2.0's released source as soon as 2.0 comes out. At that time I will update the zip and post a patch.
  • Window menu for multiple projects: it would be kind of neat if Audacity had a Window menu for multiple projects like Open Office and some other apps. Probably not a high priority right now if it's even in the queue. Just recalling the time I had 6 projects open (comparing a bunch of performances of the same songs and putting together a "best of" CD). The screen was getting pretty full.
    • Steve: I'm not so sure that would be such a great idea - I can quite imagine a naive user on a low power PC trying to open many GB worth of projects simultaneously and freezing their computer.
    • Ed: I'm with DickN (the OP) on this one. It would be even more helpful if/when Audacity gives each new unsaved project a unique name (see bug 922: http://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=322. Not only that, but there is currently no limiting code which keeps users of low powered systems from opening too many big Projects. It would probably be "not too hard" to code. The real problem would be the debate on where to add it in the menu structure:
View > Open Windows > [sub-menu with items]
Tools > Open Windows > [sub-menu with items]
Open Windows > [items]
    • Ed: If Open Windows is added as a highest level menu it makes the menus too wide for many Linux users on 800x600 monitors (that is the default LCD Audacity designs GUI for); Tools is a suggestion being bandied about for a new permanent menu item (some of the Help items would migrate there.
    • DickN: To me, if it must be a sub-menu then: View > Open Windows > [sub-menu with items] is the most intuitive. On the occasions when I've had multiple projects open, a keyboard shortcut to this sub-menu would also have been welcomed. If the [items] were also numbered and a digit key (starting at 0 just in case somebody actually has 10 projects open) were accepted as an [item] selection, that would be the cat's meow.
    • BillW: Virtually every Mac app (including Audacity) has a Window menu. So if this were to be extended to Win/Linux I'd think it would make sense to implement a Window menu on those platforms rather than a submenu of View or Tools.
    • Ed: Could I impose on you (using an initialized CFG for default sizes etc.) to open a few Projects (so the menu would be populated) then open said Mac Windows menu and post a screen shot here? Might even stick said pic in manual (see new ed note). This said, I am leaning toward it being a highest level menu.
    • BillW: The projects are listed in the menu in the order they were opened. I don't think we need a menu image on the manual page.
    • Ed: What I was looking for was a complete Project window picture showing how much width the menus take up with an initialized CFG. I can hack up the source I guess. The real question is what it looks like in 800x600 resolution.
    • BillW: Don't forget that on Mac, the menu bar is independent of the document window.
    • Ed: So it is not a part of the Project window? In that case, I will wishy-washy again and lean back toward View > Windows > [items] since we may not come close to mimicking the Mac behavior.
  • Exporting 5.1: There is a post on the forum: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=57706&p=146007#p146007 where somebody carefully time aligned 5.1 (6) tracks of sound for a surround presentation. When he exported groups of two tracks to WAV, all the alignment vanished. Yes, I know how to fix that by adding silence, but why would that not happen automatically? Who could possibly want what happens now?
    • Bruno: I don't think that's what's happening in that user case. If you try to export 2 mono tracks as wav, it will mix and render those tracks into 1 mono track. It will not create a stereo track. If you individually export each track or use export multiple and split based on track, any time shift on the tracks will be lost. That's probably what's happening in this case. If you select custom mix in Preferences -> Export, then you can save as many tracks as you want into one single multi-track wav. In this case time shifts will be kept and all tracks will be automatically padded with silence at the beginning and at the end. All this was tested on Audacity 1.3.13 on Mac.
    • Steve: I think you're probably right, and I also think that it would be a good feature to be a able to tick an option in "Export Multiple" to "pad leading silence" when exporting multiple tracks. I know that this has come up before (in discussions about exporting tracks for use in other multi-track programs), but I don't see it listed in the wiki "Feature Requests"
    • Koz(OP): Broadcast WAV? I know regular WAV supports multi-track, but nothing else does. Supporting Broadcast WAV isn't a bad idea. I considered recommending that format.
  • Meta Data Possibilities: It would be excellent to allow one to have full controll of the Metadata Data tags where all of the initial tag field titles could be either deleted and replaced or edited to relect the the users' needs. Importing a user-created template from an .xls or .xlsx would be preferred. There would be a need to make this the default once imported. There also could be a tool to pick and choose from five or more different templates allowing flexibility between different types of projects and their respective data needs. Along these lines, it would be nice to have an additional commenting feature, where as an analysis function, clicking on a location on a track and allowing the analyst to make a comment; then, allowing multiple comments about multiple descete locations, exporting the time and date stamp to the meta table. Lastly, I would like to export this to a .csv of Excel file format. Now the tall order: It would alos be nice to have a url link to the sound file in a Meta data field.
  • Pause notification: A common occurrence is the inability to access effects etc. - and possible solution message: "You must be in Stop, not Pause for the effects and tools to work." (Plus 2 votes)
    • Steve: All items in Effect, Generate and Analyze menus are greyed out when in Pause, so I think it would be a good idea to pop-up the warning if any of these three menu items is clicked when in Pause. This would make the problem easily discoverable.


  • A macro facility added to Audacity: I'd like to see a macro facility added to Audacity, such that I could click a button for it to record what I do manually; and it would then create a command stream that could be tuned and re-used for applying the same changes & edits to other files. This is the sort of thing you can do in MS Excel (& probably other MS Office applications) to automate a series of repetitive steps.
    • Peter 2Sep11: see this forum thread for full details and discusion.


  • Select multiple chunks in a file: I do speech/talk editing, and it would be nice if there were a way to select multiple chunks in a file. For instance, to be able to tell Audacity to select all those segments where the sound is either clipping, or within, say, 5% of being clipped. That way, you could do a gang-negative amplify to drop them all at once, instead of having to do them individually. (Plus 1 vote)_
    • Steve: Although Audacity does not have this feature, there is an alternative approach which is probably as quick. Consider if there are 4 sections that need amplifying.The method you are suggesting is:
  1. Select the first section
  2. select the second section (with some sort of "modifier" so that it does not deselect the first)
  3. select the third section as above
  4. select the fourth section as above
  5. Apply the effect
The way that you an do it in Audacity is:
  1. Select the first section
  2. Apply the effect
  3. Select the second section and press Ctrl+R (repeat last effect)
  4. same for the third section
  5. same for the fourth section.


  • Export selection - Keep date and time: I would like to strip away comments (I comment before any sound is recorded to remember it) and still have the file creation/modification tag intact on the new file. Alternative - Have checkbox on the "Save file" dialog box saying "keep time stamp" or something similar.


  • Adding transport control over an network: I figured that I could just carry around a netbook in a backpack, but then I have no access to Stop, Start, etc but if Audacity could have these controls accessible from a network, either through a web browser (with the server running though the netbook) or through an Android app, I could have my controls on my phone and just leave the netbook running in the bag. I'm not asking for any editing functions, just a simple Stop Start would make my setup so much more user friendly.
    • Koz: You don't want Stop and Start. You want some combination of Stop, Record and Record-Pause. People try this sort of thing all the time, but they almost always do it assuming that Audacity is network-aware. It's not. The first time you get a timing problem because of network delays, that the end of the story.


  • Multitrack level compensator: A switchable feature that would compensate for the increase in level as new tracks are brought into play. This would assist in achieving levelling more easily because the output level would remain static, ie. the output would never exceed the highest level input.
    • Steve: Would you want it to work based on Peak level, RMS level, Equal Loudness, or some other level? How would you want it to handle non-overlapping audio segments on different tracks? For example, if there is an audio segment on track 1 for the first 1 minute, and an audio segment on track 2 for 1 minute and 30 seconds, and on track 3 there is a 10 second audio segment but it does not start until the 3 minute mark, would the track 3 segment push down the playback level of the first 1 minutes and 30 seconds?
    • Peter 25Sep11: one month further on no further response from the OP
  • Track stacking and volume: Say I have duplicated one track several times and then the volume adds up and I get clipping. There should be a button that halves the volume. I know I could just select every track and amplify them down by -6.0. but if there was a button added that would lower the volume it would be useful to make things faster. A key command would be useful. to change the volume of four tracks at the moment I need to go: Ctrl A then Alt c then A. So maybe if there was a basic key command that took the volume down by -3.0 you could repeat it to get the desired volume. Say, 'Ctrl -' lowers the volume by -3.0 and 'Ctrl +' raises it by 3.0 or -1.0 + 1.0
    • Steve: A possible variation on this idea would be a "master fader" slider on the Mixer Board that raises or lowers the gains of all tracks by the same amount, or alternatively a "link tracks" check box on the Mixer Board so that (when checked) moving one slider moves all of the sliders together.
    • OP:Yes that is a Good idea. maybe holding down a button while you have the tracks selected would make the slider move for all the tracks selected. like CTRl.
  • Drag'n drop audio file into Audacity's main window should keep drop position: Every time I manually drop a file into Audacity's main window, the sound becomes a new track in Audacity that origin at the very start. When a project become more than a minute, and each sound is a few seconds, it becomes a time consuming task to move every single new tracks from start to end. It would be great if a sound dragged into Audacity's main window had it's starting position where the mouse button was released.
    • Steve: I'm not a programmer, but I'd guess that there are limitations in WxWidgets (the GUI tool-kit that Audacity uses for its cross-platform GUI) that prevent that kind of functionality, however, while not directly addressing the suggestion here, there's an "Import" plug-in that may be of interest to you.
    • Ed: Mouse pointer position is a fuzzy thing when you think of audio as related to samples on a time-line. Unless zoomed way in the chance of "dropping" some audio exactly where you want it is slim. What might be of more benefit would be the ability to "drop" snapped to a label (the nearest label to the mouse pointer position).
  • Higher readout resolution on sliders: It would be helpful to have a 2 digit readout after the decimal point when using the sliders to adjust playback volume or input level. There is a small, but noticeable, range of motion on the sliders where the single digit after the decimal point does not change. (Plus 1 vote)
    • Ed: Many of Audacity's sliders offer the option of double-clicking the slider knob which opens a tiny dialog with extreme accuracy in controlling the knob. Those few sliders which do not have this function should be corrected as soon as 2.0 is released. They have all been identified and code is available to make the change--Audacity is in "feature freeze" which means only bug repairs are being considered by the Developers.
    • OP: Those few sliders which do not have this function should be corrected as soon as 2.0 is released. They have all been identified and code is available to make the change--Audacity is in "feature freeze" which means only bug repairs are being considered by the Developers. Also, moving the slider in the high-resolution window has no effect until the OK button is pushed.
    • Ed: Both of your above are correct--finer resolution on the knob would be a plus (this is easily accomplished in the code) and the dialog value does not come into effect until closure (not an "easy" fix, I suspect).
  • Playthrough superfluous in the preferences?: Playthrough can be enabled in the Transport menu and in Recording preferences. It seems to me that both options do the same. Wouldn't it suffice to toggle this in one place only?
    • Steve: Same for "Sound Activated Recording" and "Overdub" settings. I agree that these could be removed from Preferences.
    • Ed: Having it in Prefs should be what makes it sticky between launches--the menu control should only control current behavior of the Project who's menu was used.
    • Steve: But it doesn't, at least not on Linux. On Linux the menu control is written to audacity.cfg just the same as the Preference setting. I agree that IF the menu control only affected the current project then it would be worth retaining the Preference settings. This would possibly be the most useful behaviour.
    • Peter: For me the bigger problem is that you can't immediate see from the Audacity window which Playthrough state you are in without either looking in Preferences or invoking the Transport menu as there is no visual cue (same goes for Overdub and SAR states). It would be vey handy to have visible status indicators for these, such indicators could also be made to toggle the states, then we wouldn't need them in the Transport Menu. They would need to remain in preferences.cfg for their stickiness, as Ed points out, but could be a hidden preference if thought appropriate.
    • Bill: Sounds like we need a new "status" toolbar that shows and can toggle or bring up a dialog for: playthrough, overdub, sound-activated recording, timer recording. Anything else?
    • Steve: How about putting that information in the (normal) Status Bar when not displaying other things?
    • PGA: How about including the choice of Solo:Simple/Solo:Standard as a toggle value?
    • Peter: A recent Proposal "Improvement of Meter Toolbar UI" in the wiki already contains a section for such status indicators. In this proposal I suggested adding them to the meter toolbar . If y'all want to add Steve's exitsting "Status Bar" mockup and/or Bill's proposed new "Status Bar" I can work on that. Bill's idea looks as though it may have some legs, maybe it would better as a new toolbar (than can be dragged around re-sized etc.) rather than a status bar? I can see that it would likely end up as a new Proposal all of its own (and may feature on Bill's Roadmap ) I tend not to favour Steve's idea as I favour seeing the information immediately on demand - and in the existing status bar its a bit like waiting for your particular footie team's scores to come up on the scrolling bar - you know it will come, but it can be a bit of a wait.
    • Steve: Personally I'd prefer the visual indicator to show whether monitoring is on or off to be in the meter itself. That seems a lot more logical than looking at the bottom of the Audacity Window to see what's happening at the top of the window. I'll need to read through that proposal again, but off the top of my head I think an easy solution would be that the meters are either Disabled or Active (rather than Disabled or Active+On or Active+Off. What's the benefit of "Active+Off"?). Like Bill I thought of adding an additional "Status Toolbar", but I can't think of a simple and obvious icon to represent these items (a clock for "timer record" would be easily confused with the "SyncLock" button). In the absence of obvious icons there would probably need to be text descriptions, which will take up a lot of valuable space. As these items refer to the "status of Audacity", the normal status bar seems obvious - perhaps this new status message could alternate (or scroll) with the "Disk space remaining" message?


  • Koz: able to record Skype properly: For example: Start Skype and then start Audacity. Click Transport > Capture Skype. Press Record. We know it's possible. It's not like nobody ever requested this, I'm talking about making us the right software.
    • Steve: But it's not the "recording software" that is the problem. I've just tested "Audacity recording Skype" with terrific results. My voice is recorded directly from my microphone on the right channel, and the nice lady that helps people to test was recorded directly from Skype in the left channel. I connected the Skype left+right output (playback) to the left input (recording) of Audacity and to left+right of my headphones, and my microphone to the left+right inputs of Skype and to the right input channel of Audacity. Audacity does the job that it is designed to do - it records the audio that is sent to it and I can then edit that audio. The problem for most users is that they use operating systems that can't do that. I'm questioning whether developing a cross-platform, open source "virtual audio cable" add-on for Audacity is within the remit of the Audacity project (small "p").
    • Murky Effects: In my experience you set it to record from 'stereo mix' or which one makes it record directly. So you don't to plug any cables in. Haven't tried it for skype but it works for youtube.
    • Steve: But "stereo mix" will (at best) give you a mix of both parts of the conversation on both channels rather than one voice on one channel and the other voice on the other. Also, recording Skype is a distinctly different proposition from recording YouTube. YouTube is only passively playing audio, whereas Skype actively takes control of the soundcard so that it can take playback streaming audio AND take an input from the microphone at the same time while suppressing the microphone signal from the speakers to avoid feedback. Using Jack Audio System on Linux it is possible to route audio between applications (like "plugging in" the output of one application to the input of another using "virtual" cables). Windows can't do that without additional software such as Virtual Audio Cable (which is not free or open source).
  • Batch Clipping Detection: a way to use a chain to evaluate a series of files to see whether the peak level exceeds 0db.
    • Gale: Batch does not support analysis "effects" at the moment, but even it did, what are you hoping for? That Audacity should open and close all those files, and at the end come up with a text file that reports the peak level in each, the clipped ones listed first?
    • Shaky OP: Right, something along those lines. Or depending on how the internals work, a text file outputting the timestamps if any from the little window created via Analyse --> Find clipping, with a 0 byte file size indicating the absence of clipping. Or perhaps this could be combined with some kind of file properties summary report, for example with peak amplitude, length, sample rate, clipping, etc. And then the option to view the report either a) in a window or b) as a file with the report in its entirety or just individual fields.
    • Gale: I am sure things like this can be done at the command-line using SOX's "stat" effect. Steve has written a "Sample Printer" Nyquist plug-in but it cannot be run in a Chain and is not suitable for long files.
    • Steve: 'd be particularly keen to see support for Nyquist plug-ins to be included in Chains. The task that you describe could easily be done by a Nyquist script.
    • Peter 13Apr12: for more detail see this forum thread
  • Export multiple metadata editor: Looking for a way to use a variable for part of the metadata for tracks I export. I am using the export multiple feature and am looking to setup an automatic naming structure using today's date. For example have the Album be called "Service-YYYYMMDD" where the date is populated from a the system automatically. Is is possible to call the "date" command as part of the metadata? Something like Service-`date +%Y%m%d` where audacity calls the UNIX command date to pull the system date.
  • Feature requests for Mixer Board: Currently, if a track has a gain envelope, the meters on the Mixer Board (View->Mixer Board) show the amplitude without the envelope applied. The meters would, to me at least, be more useful if they represented the actual contribution of their tracks to the mix. Also - Is there a way to individually reset the peak-hold indicators on the Mixer Board during playback? Actually, it would be useful just to be able to reset all of them without clicking anywhere in the main panel, because that brings the main panel to focus and hides the mixer board unless I slide the main panel mostly off the screen. It would also be very useful to have the keyboard shortcuts for transport control functional while the Mixer Board has focus.
    • Steve: I don't know how difficult it would be to implement this feature, but I suspect it is not easy. I can see the usefulness of what you suggest - perhaps an option (check box on the mixer board interface) to select between pre / post envelope level?
  • Default save folder in audacity.cfg: I would like to be able to set the default save folder when my users first save their project, instead of the audacity folder. We use network shares for our user's data. Something like this in the audacity.cfg would be great : ProjectDefaultSavePath=U:\\ Or ProjectSaveFolder=U:\\ This setting should be optional and overwritten by the users when they save in another folder, but it would allow me to set them in the correct folder.
    • Steve: I can see that being a popular feature for IT technicians in schools.


  • Silence Calculator: Not sure if this is in the newer Audacity (I use 1.2.6), but as a suggestion, you

definitely need a smarter silence adder. For instance, you might have a 128 bpm track with each measure being 1.874807 seconds. What I do currently is use that amount to add silence to each track where that track's loops (or audio) aren't supposed to play (this keeps the loops aligned time-wise). This works well, but sometimes I end up with, say 8 measures of silence needed and I either have to figure out the math, or repeat add silence until I get the track up to the point of adding the loop. It'd be nice if there were some sort of calculator on the silence adder, say an entry box for a multiple [1.874807] [1] then [1.874807] [8]

    • Steve: I don't remember if this is in 1.2.6 but it may be... Effect menu > Repeat Generate 1 measure of silence, then use the Repeat effect to increase that to as many measures as you like. Alternatively it would be very simple to create a Nyquist plug-in with the feature that you suggest (I'm sure that you can do this yourself. This is probably the best option if you're doing that type of task a lot as you could easily get the plug-in to calculate the duration from an input in the form of "Beats per Minute" and "Number of Beats".


  • External Record Start/Stop Control: It would be very useful to me to be able to start and stop the record process, and maybe to pause it too, with an external electrical signal such as a serial or parallel port bit. There are many applications to which Audacity could be put if it could be controlled this way. Although it would be feasible to emulate the keyboard and use the "R" and "S" keystrokes to start and stop recording, this seems excessively complex. I'm not aware of any off-the-shelf device which could be purchased to inject these keystrokes into the keyboard input or via a USB input using a USB keyboard driver, so using the keyboard commands probably would require building hardware.


  • psychoacoustic weighting: It'd be nifty if the Plot Spectrum tool had an option for psychoacoustically weighting the frequencies (ITU-R 468, inverse ISO 226, even just A-weighting) so as to make it easy to find which frequencies are perceived as loudest or as similarly loud.
    • Steve: I do see some problems with the suggestion, namely that psychoacoustic weightings assume a specific "loudness" but that depends on how high you have your amp/speakers turned up.
  • Notch Filter q: For the notch filter, q=20 is a ridiculously low upper limit; if you're filtering out a constant high-frequency sound that's going to affect way too broad a frequency range. For instance, I had a recording with a 6200 Hz hum and the peak was only 8Hz wide; using a Q factor less than several hundred would have been unnecessarily eating away at the signal. You can actually enter whatever Q you want to run the filter with (and the slider will be "stuck" at the right) but it won't remember your setting, resetting to 20 instead.
    • Steve: That one is my "fault". As you have discovered you can set the Q as high as you like (by keyboard entry). Yes, in absolute "Hz" the notch may look quite wide, but in terms of octaves a Q of 20 really is pretty narrow.
  • Notch filter logarithmic slider: Setting the notch filter's Q factor with a linear slider doesn't really make sense. A logarithmic slider would be better (the actual effect of doubling Q is similar whether you're going from 1 to 2 or 100 to 200). Having a width control instead would be more intuitive. Giving users the option whether to specify the width or the Q factor might be best.
    • Steve: I agree that an option for logarithmic sliders would often be useful, but unfortunately that is not currently available for Nyquist plug-ins. This feature request goes beyond "Notch Filter", it is a limitation for all Nyquist plug-in effects. I suggest that you make a separate feature request for this (and it gets my vote).
  • More samples for the Repair tool: The repair tool is pretty decent, but the 128 sample limit seems rather arbitrary. I haven't checked the particulars of its autoregression-based algorithm, but the number of samples an audio interpolation algorithm can reasonably guess should depend heavily on sample rate and surrounding frequency content. If the frequency content is similar, it should be no more difficult to interpolate the same length of time at a higher sample rate. 128 samples at 8kHz is 16ms- that's a long time to try to interpolate, and according to papers I read, for normal speech or music you'll get only a few dB SNR average improvement over lost samples with the best known algorithms; I can understand wanting to keep people from trying to interpolate segments longer than that. But the papers I saw showed a 25-year-old autoregression-based interpolation algorithm giving a ~10dB SNR improvement for 5ms holes and ~6-8dB improvement for 10ms at several different sample rates, and at 48kHz that's 240 & 480 samples respectively. Why not replace the hard limit with .016*samplerate?
    • Steve: Is that a vote for "longer repair time" or a more specific request?
  • Effects delay: Many effects introduce a delay. The delay is rarely enough to care about if you're doing the effect on the entire track, but if you're trying to deal with small segments this introduces clicks at the selection boundaries. Of course for real time audio the delay would be unavoidable, but for editing existing audio, circumventing that is simple though laborious. In some situations I found myself copying more audio than I need processed to a new file, running the filter, laboriously finding how much delay it introduced down to the nearest sample or two, and copying a properly truncated segment back. Wouldn't it be possible to have the program do that for you? Effects could generally calculate from their parameters how much delay will be involved, and Audacity could feed the effect that many samples extra and truncate the results appropriately. There are of course more complications here to get it right but I think it's quite doable. I find myself resorting to exporting selections to files, running them through SoX, and re-importing the filtered audio because SoX has some important effects Audacity doesn't have or has inferior versions of. Perhaps Audacity could either use libSoX or just steal some ideas/code (they're both GPL'd). A few of those effects:
  1. Crossover filter
  2. Shelf filter
  3. Peaking equalizer (largely as an alternative to notch when I want to control the amount of attenuation or affect a slightly broader frequency range w/o changing lots around it)
  4. Sinc-based lowpass/highpass/band-stop/bandpass(SoX's resampler is also somewhat better than Audacity's even if you use "high quality sinc")
  5. Compander - their multi-band compander can do all sorts of things if you get the settings right (getting the settings right for the multiband compander would often be a lot easier if there were quick ways to ask "what's the RMS level of this frequency band for the selected audio?")
    • Steve: Many effects do not introduce a delay. Which ones specifically are you talking about? If you mean the time stretching effects (Change Pitch, Change Tempo) then yes we know, but they are pretty fast. The (much newer) "Sliding Time Scale/Pitch Shift" effect is much better quality, but quite a lot slower due to the more complex algorithm. The "Sliding Time Scale/Pitch Shift" effect has recently been updated so the next release of Audacity will have an even better version. Sox's resampler (at VHQ linear phase) is somewhat better than just about any other program (with the possible exception of iZotope which also has phenomenally good resampling at its highest settings). Regarding filters, have a close look at the Equalizer effect. As it is an FFT filter it can't do everything (for example it can't do narrow notches at low frequencies), but it is still a very versatile and powerful filtering tool.


  • Enhancements to the mixer board:
  1. A mix level (master) meter.
  2. Play controls for the mixer view.
  3. Fast switching between the main window and the Mixer Board window.
  4. Fader automation. (Plus 1 vote)
    • Steve (OP): Of these features I'd prioritise the first two, but I agree that fader automation would be a great enhancement.
    • Peter: see this thread in the forum


  • Postfish Deverberator: Excessive reverb is a common problem that Audacity and most other audio programs are unable to tackle. There is a tool called Postfish that has a "Deverberator" effect for this purpose and in many cases it can make significant improvements to excessive reverb. Currently in the wiki Feature Requests there is a request for "Deverb/Echo Cancellation:" and a note attached to it: Deverb is exceptionally difficult and virtually unknown in audio software except Postfish." I'd like to propose adding "Postfish Deverberator" as a feature request (not only as an aside). Postfish is open source software. It's not magic (though it sometimes appears to be), but it is the only weapon that I've come across that has any effect on on of Koz's 4 horsemen. I'd like to see this as a built-in effect. It's so unique among audio editors that it would provide a very significant "sales feature" for Audacity.


  • Track-Centric UNDO: such thing as "simply" backing out the effect from track one. You have to back all of them out. That will put a hitch in your multi-channel production.
    • PGA: There is a workaround but it requires a disciplined approach. If I know I'm going to modify a track but am not sure that I will want to keep the modification, I duplicate the track, mute one copy and modify the other. It's a technique I transferred from the manipulation of images in Photoshop: duplicate the layer, hide one copy and work on the other. If the modifications are complex I'll make extra duplicates at various stages. If things start to get really complicated, I'll do File Save Project As and use a version number. The combination of duplicated tracks and version numbered project files means I have some extra "Undo" capability across multiple edit sessions in Audacity. But I still like the idea of nominating which track to "Undo", so +1 from me on this!
  • Delete History n shows where delete ends: Most of us probably delete history when we're running out of drive space. View->History shows how much memory is dedicated to each step, but when the long steps are far from the beginning of history there's a lot of guess work to how much to delete to free up a certain amount of space. I suggest 3 enhancements to simplify this:
  1. Put a color change or other cursor-like display effect in the History list to indicate the steps that will be deleted as n is changed.
  2. Add a display box to show the amount of memory to be freed as n is changed.
  3. Add a sequence number starting with 1 to the steps displayed in History. Then f I want to delete up to step 100 (inclusive) I know I have to delete 100 steps. This could be an alternative to enhancement #1.
  • Pausing the Export (Save) Function: Many times I make a recording and decide to save it in MP3 format. Exporting as an MP3 takes many times longer than saving as a WAV or other less compressed format. I have often encountered the need to start a new recording before the previous EXPORT/SAVE operation has finished because it takes so long. Many programs that can run for a very long time such as WinRAR, WinZIP and others, have a PAUSE function to suspend execution so that the PC can be used for other tasks without these programs sucking up a lot of CPU and disk I/O bandwidth. Indeed, saving a recording as an MP3 also seems to suck up as much CPU BW as it can get. But BW is not the concern here. It's annoying that another recording session can not be started without canceling a SAVE that's often already an hour or more done, only has a little time left to go, and will have to be restarted from scratch. Being able to suspend (pause) an Export (SAVE) to start another recording session in a separate instance of Audacity would be a huge improvement IMO.

steph212 Posts: 19Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:59 am.

    • DickN: One solution would be exporting as .wav or .flac, then doing the conversion to .mp3 with a separate program (e.g., SOX). The export will complete fairly quickly and the separate program won't lock Audacity out of starting a new project. He didn't say what his computer is, but if it's multi-core, SOX runs in only one CPU (because it's single-thread) so Audacity has the rest of the machine. Disc contention shouldn't be a problem either - there's enough arithmetic to generating mp3 to ensure long gaps between disc accesses by the second program, thus disc availability to Audacity. Exporting as .flac takes longer than .wav, (although there's a setting to minimize the time) but allows filling in the metadata, which the second program will (one would hope!) propagate to the mp3. I'm not sure whether .wav exports actually use the metadata. Is there another lossless export that's quick and also saves the metadata?
  • Using Hertz in "Sliding Time Scale/Pitch Shift": During the last centuries the pitch standard of today 440Hz for "middle A" varied between 415Hz (baroque wind instruments) up to 466Hz (church chorton). See e.g. Wikipedia History of pitch standards in Western music for more details. In the "Change Pitch" also changes tempo? discussion we found that the Audacity "Change Pitch" effect is not precise enough to change the pitch of an audio track recorded from a traditionally tuned instrument to modern 440Hz standard tuning without bringing the track out of sync with the other audio tracks, but the Audacity "Sliding Time Scale/Pitch Shift" effect (with a "Tempo Change" of zero percent) can be used for this with good results. In order to adjust a recording played with traditional instruments or sung in a traditional tuning to the 440Hz standard of modern instruments it would be useful to have the possibilty to define the "Pitch Change" in the Audacity "Sliding Time Scale/Pitch Shift" effect not only in semitones or percent, but also in Hertz, mainly because the "middle A" standard tuning is defined in Hertz and not in semitones or percent. Adding Hertz input would greatly simplify using the "Sliding Time Scale/Pitch Shift" effect as a "tunig correction" effect for recordings of traditional music. (plus 1 vote)
    • Steve: I'd also like sliders for the pitch shift as these are a lot easier when using as an "effect" rather than precise "musical" use. Most of all I'd like a Preview button.
  • Default linear option for the meters?: I checked preferences/interface and also the meter right-click preferences, but it seems to me that there is no option that the meters measure in linear by default when opening Audacity? Would be hella cool if that could be somehow implemented, like waveform/spectrum etc. for the audio tracks.
    • Steve: You can't set the meters to default to 'linear' but you can set the default dB range: "Edit menu > Preferences > Interface > Meter/Waveform dB Range:"

OP: Yeah, I noticed that, and was surprised that linear wasn't another option.


  • Batch Export naming options: Can the option to add Filename Prefix be added to the Label/Track option too, please? I'm missing it, although I can do it manually in the OS. In fact, thinking about it, perhaps a pre- and/or post- text field independent of the option chosen would be most flexible.
    • Gale: I assume you are talking about Export Multiple. Do you mean that you want an option for a prefix where that prefix is followed by the text in the label or track name, instead of replacing that text with a sequential number?
    • OP: Yes, but as an additional option, I don't suggest getting rid of sequential numbering! I'd like to be able to multi-export "[prefix][label]", where [prefix] needs to include trailing spaces. It then occurred to me that in the past I have also done it the other way round: "[label][postfix]", where the [postfix] would need to contain leading spaces. This why I ended up suggesting "[prefix][label][postfix]". [prefix] and [postfix] would typically be the file name. A thought has just occured. Have you seen how WinAmp configure naming options for CD Ripping by allowing users to string together various tags in a text field? Pre-determined tags (e.g. in our case: file name, label, track, seq no) can be interspersed with text, such as " - ". I have two versions stored in Notepad which I paste in as necessary - very handy. This would allow users maximum flexibility in their use of minimal options.


  • Alternate shape for Selection Bar, not I-beam: I'd like to be able to have an alternate shape for the Selection Bar, not the standard I-beam, but something that squeezes in to one pixel in width at the top, so I can see more clearly where the selection point will be put when I click. To maintain consistency with the standard I-beam shape of the Selection Bar, the bottom half could remain as it is but the top half would taper down to a single pixel, as if the I-beam had been made of glass, heated in the middle then stretched vertically until it breaks. We would then use the bottom half only. The alternate shape could be controlled by a checkbox in the Preferences: Interface dialog, called something like "Use alternate graphic for Selection Bar for more precise placement."
    • Koz: Instead of making the I-Beam tiny, you can make the waveforms bigger. I live in the Zoom tools and I don't use very many. Drag-select a portion of the work. Control-E, Zoom into selection. Control-F, Zoom out Full. Control-3, Zoom out a little bit. On a Mac, I use Command instead of Control. That's it. I critically edit several hours of production a week with those three. A pointed I-Beam wouldn't help any because my shows arrive in two hour blocks. Way too dense for simple graphics.
    • PGA: Like Koz, I use the Zoom capability regularly to expand the timeline until I can see the detail I need. I also use the status bar at the bottom of the screen to show me where exactly I am. That gives me accuracy to one thousandth of a second. If I want more, I can switch that read-out to sample points - accuracy down to better than one forty-four-thousandth of a second. How accurate do you want to be?
    • OP: I do as you do, and use the shortcut keys to zoom in and out as needed. I usually work zoomed out one step from "Normal" -- ie I do Ctrl-2 to get to Normal zoom, then Ctrl-3 to step away one step. This gives me about 26 seconds on the screen, so I can see plenty of context, and the screen is not flashing to a new part of the recording very often. (I'm editing to produce an eBook, and each file is about 15 minutes. I spend two hours or more per day on it, so efficiency is important to me. I'm mainly cutting out mistakes and unduly-long pauses.) So I'd like my request to stand, please.
    • Koz: I know what the argument is going to be. If you're editing down in the pixel range you're a special case. Nobody does that. There are a restricted number of programmers and developers and this would be a graphic change also involving the look and feel people. Those discussions go for months sometimes with no resolution. Most of us will see that change as an I-Beam with no top and miss the point -- literally.
    • OP: So, Koz, how about a simple black triangle with no sharpening, 5 pixels wide at the bottom tapering to 1 pixel at the top, 15 or so pixels high (whatever works well with the geometry). It would not be the default cursor, but could be selected by the user, perhaps as "Precise cursor for Selection Bar (thin triangle)". People would not be lumbered with this unless they turned it on.
    • Peter: as Koz and PGA have explained to you, for really precise editing all you need to do is zoom in a bit further. At extreme maximum zooms on my laptop I can see 9 samples and on my desktop 11 samples. For me this would be way too precise, but then neither could I work at the zoom levels you show in your screen grabs even for the relatively simple LP inter-track cleanup that I do a lot. With regard to your suggestion for an alternative cursor - Koz is quite right that the elves and the gnomes would spend many moons discussing the merits or otherwise and then further discussing the required shape or shapes. Furthermore in order to add in optional cursor choice would require adding another Preference to Audacity and the devs are always extremely loath to bloat the Preferences further. This suggestion will get transferred to the Wiki's Pending Feature Requests in due course (I am the elf to whom that task falls) but don't hold your breath waiting for something to happen. Sorry to rain on your parade ...


  • Fit Vertical: I've had my first experience with a seriously multi-track show. Multi-track in the English sense of 10-12 tracks one above the other. As I add tracks to the show, I'm prompted to ask when would you not want Fit Vertical selected? As I pass stereo track three (which naturally fit), I have to Fit Vertical to see new work. Each Time. Shouldn't Fit Vertical be naturally occurring and maybe a setting buried in Preferences > View if you don't want it? It should only kick in if new work is in danger of falling off the end of the screen and then stop helping as you edit so it doesn't fight the zoom tools. You're not likely to add new work only to ignore it for days. You'd want to see the relationship between new work and the rest of the show right away.
    • Steve: If the project has a lot of tracks, "Fit Vertical" will shrink the tracks down so that the pan/gain sliders and mute/solo buttons are hidden. Also the waveform is so small that it is near impossible to draw an envelope. Because the track height is "shrunk" (rather than "collapsed"), resizing a track so that it can be worked on must be done by clicking on an edge of the track and dragging. In these circumstances it is much easier for tracks to not be "shrunk", but to be "collapsed" instead (View menu > Collapse All Tracks). Tracks that have been collapsed may be quickly and easily "expanded" by clicking on the Track Collapse Button http://manual.audacityteam.org/manual/help/manual/man/audio_tracks.html#collapse BUT, the track only expands to its current non-collapsed sized. Applying "Fit Vertical" in these circumstances prevents tracks from being expanded with the Track Collapse Button (which should probably be called the "Track Collapse/Expand Button").
    • 10 -12 tracks on the screen might be too small to work with... but what about 6? 4? The left hand panel of each track is set up inefficiently to deal with multiple tracks. As tracks shrink, the first thing you lose is the Pan slider, at 4 tracks on the screen (at my resolution), then you lose the Gain at 5 tracks, then the mute/solo buttons at 6... leaving the sample rate etc info, which is the least useful thing when you have multiple tracks. If the order of the info was changed, and the sliders slightly redesigned, you would have a far more usable multi-track interface.
    • Peter: full thread with mockups retained on the forum: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=66839


  • Word jumping in label editing: I guess labels are generally not long essays, but it does seem like it might be handy to have control+left and control+right move the cursor a word at a time.
  • Audacity to count how many samples it receives per second: it should be easy for Audacity to count how many samples it receives per second. If the user didn't explicitly set a recording frequency I don't think it's unreasonable for Audacity to adapt to the actual frequency, instead of letting the recording time deviate. I'm surprised that Audacity doesn't notice that the recording is going at the wrong speed.
    • Gale: This is a feature request if Audacity is to figure this out. I suppose the test could be if the track recorded length does not match the elapsed time of the recording. When you record too slow, does the waveform get in advance of the red recording cursor (so that the recording cursor is actually recording at the correct speed)? Or is the recording cursor synchronised with the waveform but also going too slow? The case when append-recording into a track whose rate differs from the project rate is a severe case of recording cursor and track length mismatch. But what should Audacity do for any case where the recorded length is mismatched with elapsed time? Would on-the-fly resampling while recording risk recording glitches? Should Audacity offer a "correction" at the end of recording?
    • OP wrote: Frankly, I'm a bit wary of making a feature out of this. If this "feature" is buried in a preference somewhere I'm sure nobody will find it. In my mind this kind of detection should be the normal behavior.
    • Gale: I did not mean that the feature would necessarily be a preference, or if it was, that it would necessarily be off-by-default. I do think it worth discussing; as far as I understand it, your problem could happen on Windows under Windows DirectSound API (if you chose a rate your card did not support) but would not happen with the default API (MME) because Windows would take care of resampling.
    • Steve: My problem with this feature request is that the situation where it is needed should never arise. When recording at a set sample rate, the recorded audio should be at that sample rate - if it isn't then there a problem. Rather than developing a workaround for the problem I think the correct approach is to fix the cause of the problem. Much better imho to deal with the cause rather than just the symptom.
    • Gale: And the problem might be thought something of an edge case if the user "can" fix it themselves by finding what the supported rate is and choosing it. But how would you suggest dealing with the cause in autark's case of recording a file that happens to be at an unsupported rate and the OS can't solve the issue? Are you suggesting the hardware is basically broken if pavucontrol can't fix it? What about OS'es that don't have pulse?
    • Steve: I'm not familiar with all of the details of autoark's case, but from what I have read in this topic it looks to me like there is a problem with the soundcard drivers. It does not seem to be a common case as it has rarely come up on the forum. How do we deal with badly behaved drivers on other platforms?


  • Shortcut for "Update display while playing" and Scrolling: When I am editing waveform in zoom closely, the screen changing quickly when previewing. So, going back eack time is tiring. In Wavelab there is an option called "Follow the cursor" with F key shortcut by default. So, enabling and disabling this feature is very easy. I am searched for Audacity and noticed "Update display while playing" in settings is similar... But how can I switch to this option easily? Is there an shortcut for the option "Update display while playing"? Or is it possible to assign a shortcut for this option?


  • View > Track Name in Waveform: Currently it's buried in "Edit > Preferences > Interface > Behaviours". As a naive user I would expect to find it in the View menu. As an experienced user I would find it convenient in the View menu.
    • Gale: I think the name should ideally include "Show" as in Preferences, so "Show Track Name in Waveform". But that's even longer.
    • Peter: So how about: View > Show Tack Name
    • Steve (OP): +1 That would do nicely
    • Ed: +1 and trivial to implement.
    • Gale: I thought of "Show Track Name" but it is already "shown" in the TDDM. I have no better idea than "Show Track Name in Display" (it "shows" for Pitch and Spectrogram, so "Show Track Name in Waveform Display" could be argued as slightly misleading). I do somewhat prefer being able to toggle it off an on easier, and making it more discoverable.
    • Peter: I did think about this when I made the suggestion - but then though that it is barely shown in the TDDM - only the first nine or ten chanacters. So I still stand by the suggestion.
    • Steve: +1 The option is off by default, and the proposed option in the View menu is not selected. As soon as a user selects the option "to see what happens", the result is immediate and obvious. I don't really mind if the wording is different, (though I like Peter's suggestion), I'm glad that we have unanimous agreement for the proposed feature.
    • Gale: Hmm, I agree the result is obvious even so "Show Track Name" could be thought to do the same as Track Dropdown Menu > Name for all the tracks (don't ask me how, but someone with one track might think it). Could we agree to promote "Show Track Name in Display" and "Show Track Name" as two possible alternatives? The trade-off between length and clarity is obvious enough.
    • Steve: Fine by me. As I said, I'm more concerned about the functionality than the wording.
    • Robert JH: Those who do not use the english interface could get envious sometimes in regard of the shortness of english expressions. Your first example "Show Track Name" could in German be expressed as "Zeige Spurname" and is fine and equally concise. The second one lets the number of characters increase exponentially: "Show Track Name in Display" "Zeige Spurname in der grafischen Darstellung" or "Zeige Spurname in der Wellenform" or "Zeige Spurname in der Anzeige". I hope the first one will be accepted...


  • Extend "Play one second": I find the "1" shortcut to "Play one second" very useful, but not quite long enough. Is there a way to extend it to, say, two seconds? "Play cut preview" would work even better for me if it would work for a zero length selection. I'd like to place the cursor on a short event I'd like to label, listen to a second before and after it, then control+B to label it if I decide it's necessary. If I extend the selection slightly as necessary for "Play cut preview" to work, I naturally hear a tiny click in the middle, and the label becomes a range rather than a point. I'm having to select around the location, press Space to play, click the point then control+B to label. I've got hundreds of these to do and I'd like to save a couple of clicks per label.
    • Gale: Not without recompiling Audacity. Do you want to vote for this to be configurable in Playback preferences? The obvious problem of course is that the "1" shortcut is then misleading. Or, should we add a "2" shortcut to play one second either side? I agree 1 second may be a little short.


  • Only apply dither on export: When processing integer audio, do not convert back to integer format and do not apply dither. Only apply dither when converting to an integer format is necessary and appropriate (for example on Export). (plus 1 vote)


  • Selectively "lock" markers/cue points and regions: i.e. to lock some of them but not all (+1 vote)
  • An easy way of getting regions in Label Tracks to "butt up" against each other: (plus 1 vote)
  • Edit Labels ideas: I like the Label Editor because it's a nice, controlled way of moving single labels between tracks. It would be nice if it was possible to move groups of labels by selecting them, and changing their track in one operation. This can be done in the GUI, but requires knowledge of some subtle differences in technique if you intend merging them into another label track rather than overwriting the labels already there. Being able to search for a label on its text would also be handy, otherwise all one can do is scroll through them to find the one you want, unless you know it's time value. It might also be useful to be able to filter them on a text string, and perhaps track and time range.
    • Steve: How about if the columns could be sorted in order?
    • OP: That could be just as useful as a filter, although it's only going to help if the string is at the start of the label. a filter could be more useful for multi label operations if there's a Select All button. Other things I've noticed about Edit Labels now that I've used it a bit:
      • It's slow to save a track change, at least it is in my project where I have hundreds of labels in four tracks.
      • You don't see the results till you close it. It's not essential that you see them immediately, but it's a little disconcerting not to.
    • OP adds: Another useful thing would be for it to remember the size the window was when I last closed it. I like it to be as tall as the screen.
    • OP: A Save button would be ok for this, so you can tell it to display the changes, but not close.
    • OP: When I click on a track name to change it, first it changes to a dropdown control. Then I click again to drop it down, then I slect the destination track. Is it possible to make it drop the list down immediately?
    • OP: Actually the first click selects the label, it's the second click that changes it to a dropdown, so this would be three clicks saved per label.


  • Preference setting for Zoom Normal: Zoom Normal (control+2) zooms to show about 19 seconds when I have Audacity maximimised on my 24" screen, but I normally want about 2 minutes. I'd like to be able to set this as a preference. This zoom level seems to be defined in pixels per second, rather than seconds per window width, which is a good idea. I don't want the horizontal scale to vary with window size.
    • Peter: +1 for a user-settable default/"Zoom Normal". It's especially annoying when you use the Timer Record feature as then you lose the ability to zoom at all (along with loss of access to all other controls)


  • Spectrogram caching: I've recently started experimenting with using large window sizes for the spectrogram parameters in order to examine events in the low frequencies, e.g. size=32768, max freq=200. This works nicely, but of course it's very slow to refresh the display, e.g. several seconds when displaying 3 seconds at a time. That's not so bad when viewing a "page" at a time, but it's annoying when playing the track because you can't see the new display for several seconds each time the cursor reaches the end of the window. It seems like the spectrogram is cached - I can change to Waveform display, then back to Spectrogram instantly. Would it be practical to retain that cache after moving to the next page? Then I could PageUp for several pages, then return to the original page and play through without the display delays. Even better, calculate the next page's cache in the background while this one is playing. The cache would of course become useless and should be flushed if the spectrogram parameters get changed, or perhaps even if one changes the zoom level.
    • Steve: As an "And/Or" feature, how about if Audacity dropped down to a lower window size during playback to allow better real-time performance, then when playback stops (or is paused) the screen gets drawn at full resolution? This would be similar to the "Real Time" and "High Quality" conversion settings for resampling ("Quality" settings).
    • OP: I don't think it would help me. Low frequency features turn into a blurred jumble at low window sizes, so it's not much use displaying them (see sample). The idea is to play the track, then pause when I see something interesting to label it, perhaps even label it without pausing.
    • Steve: What I had in mind was for a preference setting. In your case, you would set the "Real Time" settings high enough to see the detail, but for users that want real time rendering, and may be on low powered computers, a lower setting could be used for smooth playback.
    • OP: Another idea is an option to automatically pause till the display is ready, then resume. It could even kick in only if the display takes more than a second to prepare. That ought to be far simpler to implement, but doesn't fix the problem of the slowness of paging back and forth. Caching would make that really snappy.
    • Steve: Caching sounds like a good idea, though there would probably need to be a preference for how much to cache. You would probably want a large cache, but if not limited there could be hundreds of "screens" cached. Currently Audacity appears to cache just the one current screen.
    • OP: Given that the current page is already cached, it oughtn't be technically difficult to retain the cache. It needs a tag to say what its time limits are, and a way of checking if it's already cached before recalculating it. But how much space would it use? Would it have to be cached on disk? How quickly could it be retrieved? If it was saved on disk then it could probably be retained for reuse even after parameter changes, and between sessions, but there should probably be some sort of limit imposed on the total size the cache uses. Perhaps I've overestimating the space required. Does it save the actual values, or just the graphics? I see that I can still zoom out if I specify a low max frequency, so if space is an issue, it could lose the data for the higher frequencies. I assume it has to calculate them in the first place? I don't know much about FFT. Could the calculations be sped up by not calculating values outside the min and max frequencies?
    • Steve: I'd imagine that it would need to be cached in RAM for fast access and so as not to require extra hard drive read/writes while recording/playing.
    • OP: If that's the case then if the RAM usage is excessive, perhaps only retain in cache a couple of pages either side of the current position. The actual audio is stored on disk in sections, isn't it? Does it read and write that during playback/recording, or is that only for faster Save operations? I've noticed that for long tracks, even redisplaying the waveform of the full track can take a little while, so perhaps it could benefit from some caching too.
    • Steve: Yes. That is where "as fast as possible" read/write access is required. Other disk activity should be kept to a minimum.


  • More options in the TimeTextControl: I could use one or two additions to the TimeTextControl. The most useful would be "seconds + hundredths" and/or "seconds + milliseconds".
    • Steve: The menu is already pretty long with lots of options that I will never use, but the option that I would really like is not available - bars and beats,

Is there any really clever way that the options could be customisable without a complex set-up in preferences?


  • An "audition" effect: Elsewhere, Steve and I (Ed) were talking about how to determine if a portion of the signal/audio is just noise or also has some "music" (information that we want to keep). He and I both use a similar technique – select a small piece, amplify it as much as possible, play it, undo the amplification then use it if we determine that the selection contains only noise. I would like to suggest an effect which automates much of this. After selecting some audio, the user would choose the effect which would then amplify the selection, play it, then undo that amplification keeping the selection. This effect would be useful in other situations other than Noise Removal.
      • Steve: Could this be a "Playback" option? Currently we have "Play", "Loop Play" and "Play at Speed" (Transcription). Would a "Play Normalized" fit the bill?


  • Screenshot Tool enhancement: To be able to take a screenshot of Audacity without reverting to standard toolbars and Selection Tool. In particular there have been a few occasions when I have wanted to make a quick screenshot showing envelope points. On other occasions I've wanted to take screenshots with toolbars disabled or not docked.
    • Koz: on Windows or Linux.
    • Steve: Preferably cross platform. Do you have the Screenshot tools (Help menu) on Mac?


  • Better integration with DAWs: As Gale wrote: "Audacity often does not work well as an external editor because it does not open audio files directly but makes a copy of them (which you then have to export)." It would be very useful for many users (including myself) if Audacity had some way / mode that allowed it to be used as an external editor with real-time DAW applications (such as Reaper, Ardour, ProTools,....) I seem to remember there was a discussion about this with regard to Ardour several years ago. One of the Ardour developers wrote about it on this forum (sorry I can't find it now) and may have discussed it with the Audacity developers. From my recollection I think that the outcome was that such a feature was possible, but nothing came of it. This feature request probably comes up more often on the Ardour forum than it does here - there is definitely a user demand. (plus 1 vote)


  • Bigger fonts:For myself, I am tired of not being able to read the little teeny letters! Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the image and look at the Selection toolbar.
    • Gale: I would like to see the Spinboxes the same height as the project rate text box bottom left, and the font scaled accordingly. I don't think the size you suggest would ever be accepted. I think the blue on dark grey for the digits is the main problem. I would propose blue or black on white background for the unselected digits. Use the OS "selected text" foreground and background colors for the selected digit, or some other idea. I think it might even look OK if the selected and unselected background colors were exchanged.
    • Peter: I've got ageing eyes with ever-hardening lenses - I now need +2 reading glasses - but I find the current font-size perfectly acceptable. If we ever did it I would want font-size stting to be a parametizable option somehow (as many browsers do) with the default being as-now.
    • OP Ed: Has anyone considered what the default looks like on a high resolution (2560 x 1440 ) or 4K monitor? The image I posted is a result of increasing the size*by 50%. If I were doing this for production code instead of personal use I would add a user preference. I did not mess with the dropdown arrow sizes here but they should also be enlarged to match. Font size is determined as the largest font (-1) which will fit in the defined control box. It is more typical to specify the size of the font and then make the box fit, but either way works.
    • pshute: Does that mean all the text is smaller? There are labels with much smaller text than the selection toolbar, e.g. The track control panel. And wouldn't this be affecting all your programs?
    • Gale: Windows can adjust the DPI for text and thus in many case the items that contain the text. However Audacity isn't fully DPI compliant. The spinboxes (TimeTextControls) are one of the elements that don't scale up when DPI is increased. So maybe a first step is fixing that, but I agree with Ed in so far as the spinboxes are a bit smaller than ideal given the questionable color choice. The other question is like Peter raised - do we want all font types, colors and sizes to be individually controlled, or just have some kind of global font type and size choice? The only configurable font I can recall at the moment is in the dropdown menu for the label track.
    • pshute: I don't know whether it's worth putting too much effort into making Audacity dpi compliant. If I was to increase the dpi to fix this problem, I'd be likely to find it messed up some other program, forcing me to set it back to normal again. Better to have an internal setting? Surely a global one - would many people want to increase individual objects's fonts? Is a screen magnifier an option?
    • Ed: Audacity should be DPI compliant – it is just good manners on an application's part. As you point out changing the system's DPI affects every program including the desktop. Audacity (as well as, IMHO, all programs) should have a much richer interface allowing the user control of most GUI aspects. In re fonts, at a bare minimum, the user should have control of a global font setting although, I think there should be some independent settings for fonts in things like tooltips, the timeline, the wave track etc.
    • Peter - fuller thread (with images) on forum: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=69471


  • "Save Project As..." interchange format(s): This might be a big ask but here goes, would it be possible to add an option to save projects as one or more of the following. I like the fact that .aup files - like (e.g.) Reaper Project files - can be opened in a text editor if necessary. But the option to save projects in some kind of widely supported interchange format would be really useful.
  1. OMF (Open Media Framework)
  2. AAF (Advanced Authoring Format)
  3. MXF (Materials eXchange Format)?
    • Steve: Audacity project files are (basically) XML, which is a very common and widely supported format. This does not mean that Audacity projects are easily transportable between other application, because although XML is widely supported, the data structure is specific to Audacity. Even if the .AUP file were converted to OMF or some other format, the audio data would still only be accessible to Audacity because other applications would not know what to do with the .AU and .AUF files.
    • OP: ...which is why I said "a big ask". It would mean not just an alternative project file format, but actually an alternative project format: saving project data in a non-application specific format and saving content ("essence data" in AAF-speak) in a non-application specific format. (I think I'm right in saying that the .au filetype used by Audacity has little connection with the NeXT/Sun .au filetype). I'm guessing this would be a fairly major undertaking that would require a big chunk of development time. Plus it's probably irrelevant for the majority of users. So it would be unrealistic to suggest that it should be a short-term priority. But IMO - for what that's worth - it would be a big step forward for Audacity, and something that's definitely worth serious consideration as a long-term goal.
    • Steve: I can see your point to an extent, but what other applications are you seeking compatibility with? The "other" program would have to be able to support multiple audio tracks, but when I think of other multi-track editors, (Reaper, Ardour, Cubase, Sonar, ProTools....) they all use their own project formats. What is the purpose of developing a "compatible" format if no other multi--track audio editors support the "compatible" format? What is the incentive for other manufacturers to add support for "competitor" applications? Just taking the example of OMF, this format has been developed for media playback - is it suitable as an editing format? Can it support label tracks and track envelopes? Can it support "data block files" (required for editing in Audacity because Audacity needs to be able to access, process and make copies of arbitrary sections of the audio).
    • OP: Yes, many audio applications use their own project formats. But many of them also support other formats: Reaper, for instance, can import Samp EDL (.edl) and Vegas EDL (.txt) out of the box, and it can import OMF using an extension. (By the way, I'm surprised that you describe all those applications as “audio editors”; when I think of an audio editor I think of Audition, Wavelab, Soundforge etc). The main reason I chose OMF is because it's so widely supported: Avid (Media Composer, PT10 & PT10HD), Logic, Cubendo, Pyramix, Samp/Sequoia, Sadie, Soundscape, Sonar, DP, Audition (etc.) I chose AAF & MXF because they're closely related...though having experimented for myself it seems AAF doesn't translate particularly well between some applications If you know of an alternative format which would be more suitable, by all means suggest it. Are you implying that the applications you mentioned (Reaper, Ardour, Cubase, Sonar, ProTools) are Audacity's competitors? In what sense? I wouldn't have said Reaper (for instance) and Audacity were really comparable, to be honest: the former is a commercial digital audio workstation that's available for Windows and Mac; the latter is a free, open source audio editor that's available for Windows, Mac and Linux(?). “The Open Media Framework (OMF) Interchange format is a standard format for the interchange of digital media data among heterogeneous platforms”.
    • OP: Perhaps I didn't express myself very well in my initial post. If so then I'm sorry. Perhaps I should have said: Would it be possible at some point to add an option to export projects in some kind of common, widely-supported interchange project format (e.g. OMF), to aid the transfer of Audacity projects to other applications? Without standardisation it is all too easy to end up with a mess of competing systems. Witness the current profusion of plug-in formats: VST, DX, AU, MAS, TDM, RTAS, LADSPA, DSSI, LV2, now AAX and RE...the list is long and getting longer. Wrappers make it possible to use (some) plug-ins in incompatible environments, but life would be a lot easier for a lot of people if there was a generally-agreed open plug-in standard (whither GMPI...?) (Apologies for preaching to the converted; I appreciate that it was the Audacity team who ported a large collection of LADSPA plug-ins to Windows and Mac!) Where useful, widely-supported standards exist, is it not good practice to work towards their adoption...? Your post here suggests a desire to work towards closer integration between Audacity and other applications; surely what I'm proposing is just an extension of that, a logical progression?
    • Steve: Thanks for the clarification. I was initially thinking that you were looking for full compatibility with other DAW applications, which I doubt would be possible due to the very different capabilities and project structures. As a more limited data interchange format then I can see what you mean. Even basic support that allows audio clips to be exchanged in a multi-track structure would be useful.


  • Implement a shortcut for putting start and end point on time track: Can't you implement a shortcut for putting start and end point on time track? For example I set cursor position, hit key to drop starting point, then I move the cursor and i hit the key to drop ending point and... ready. is it, in programmer's view, that very difficult to write?
    • Steve: I'm not a developer and I have only very rudimentary knowledge of C/C++ so I have no idea how hard that would be to implement.

It would help if we can clearly define what the feature request is. When you move the cursor, how would you know when you have moved it far enough and not too far?

    • OP: While playing, if you press shift plus a in position when the cursor has to be stopped, it stopps there. Alternatively you can move the cursor by defined steps e.g. by left and right arrow. Moving steps can be defined in preferences (as explained in manual) so I can precisely move cursor when I want and I could set points when I want if it would be implemented.
    • Peter: fuller and broader discussion archived on forum: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=69522


  • Digital Recording Button: I use Audacity to record from a USB audio source. So my input is digital, at a sample rate and bit depth that could be known to Audacity (but not easily to the user). To make an example, people who archive their old records or tapes via turntables and tape recorders with USB output have the same need. What I would love to be able to set is a big red button just like the current Record button, but which instead automatically creates a project with the exact parameters of the input source. When recording from USB, what's the purpose of recording anything other than the exact digital data as it comes in? Right now users need to learn that there is an "Actual Rate" indication at the lower right of the window, and manually match that. But even that is not enough, because it's not obvious how the sample format should be set. For example, is "32-bit float" good, or is it bad (loss of integer data), or is it overkill? I am quite technical, but it's not easy even for me to tell the output of my USB device, it's nowhere in their specs or in an Windows properties. So, my proposal is that Audacity be able to automatically set the project sample rate (44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, etc.) and format (16-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit integer, etc.) when a new recording is started. There could be an option under Devices/Recording or Recording or Quality. Actually maybe it should be under Quality/Sampling, named "[x] Auto-set rate and format on digital input"? This would help with the workflow for both novice and experienced users, and it would help the effort of data preservation.
    • Koz: Audacity doesn't have a "Clip INFO" like video editors. Once a clip is imported into Audacity, it loses it's original digital identity because Audacity always edits at 32-floating. Import Format = Export Format. I can't think of a worse tool for most users. Every third posting is from someone who imports an MP3, edits it and then tries to export another, similar MP3. That doesn't work. The export MP3 has double the compression damage, bubbling and gargling that the original had and you can't stop it. I put a ratty MP3 and a locally recorded, high quality wav on the same timeline. Now what? Everything is a digital bitstream to Audacity and it doesn't matter if the sound arrived as USB, YouTube capture, download, FireWire or soundcard. Audacity isn't a WAV editor. It's a sound editor and digital formats are incidental to the show sound. We generally recommend other editors if you literally want an "MP3 Editor" or a "WAV Editor."
  • Frequency limits for labels: I see in the Wiki that there's a proposal called "Markers on Waveform" which would allow one to place a mark on the actual waveform. My idea is instead about allowing one to place marks on spectrograms. This could be achieved by adding a frequency range to the information stored for labels. At the moment, each label is associated with a label track, a start time and an end time. If we could also specify an upper and lower frequency limit for each label then it would be possible to use the limits to display a rectangle around some feature one is attempting to identify on a spectrogram. In Waveform view these limits wouldn't mean anything, so labels would work the normal way in that view. There would be an option to turn frequency range entry/display on and off so that one could ignore this new feature if desired. When off, labels would be entered and displayed as normal. Labels created in this mode would have, say 0 to 0 as the range stored in the aup file. When on, the vertical position of the mouse would define the upper and lower frequencies when dragging to mark a selection before creating a label. Labels visible on screen would have a rectangle drawn in the spectrogram of the audio track above them. I'm not envisaging this as having any effect on any kind of cut and paste operation, or on any plug-ins that work with labels, e.g. export Multiple. It's just for display purposes. (Plus 1 vote)
    • Steve: I think that a feature of this kind would need to consider a much broader application. The ability to not only mark bus also perform actions on specific frequency regions (in time and frequency) could have great applications in such things as isolating/removing specific sounds from a mix (such as vocal isolation) and audio restoration as well as analysis.
    • Trebor: It is possible to select a portion of the track on the spectrogram, then return to a waveform display with the same selected portion still shown. Alternatively create a (muted) duplicate track ("ctrl"+"d") with a spectrogram display while the original shows waveform display, so you can see the waveform and spectrogram displays of the sound simultaneously.
    • OP pshute: I actually meant to be able to select part of a spectrogram, with vertical as well as horizontal limits. The idea is that it shows which part of the frequency range the associated label refers to. I.e. which squiggle? This is of course meaningless for anything but a spectrogram view. I suppose you could also have labels with upper and lower level limits that could be displayed on a waveform, but would anyone want to? I've shown three on my mockup, but forgot to add the associated labels. In this particular case, they would say, from left to right, "Little Buttonquail", "White-eared Honeyeater" and "Southern Scrub-robin". I had proposed that these vertical limits be cosmetic only, and that the functional behaviour of the labels not change from their current behaviours, but Steve's idea of using them to perform operations on the selected regions is interesting. I'm proposing that, unlike now, the limits of all the visible region labels always be displayed, rather than only when a particular label is selected. This behaviour would be optional, as it would probably annoy many users. I'm also playing with Acousmographe, which lets you place text and shapes on the spectrogram, e.g. rectangles and circles, but the text has aspect ratio problems at the particular scales I'm using, and isn't readable.
    • Peter: thread (with graphic images) archived on forum: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=69532


  • Draw Tool Additional Function: As a voice actor and editor, I use the draw tool and repair effect constantly. Although I've gotten pretty good at spotting where the noises I want to get rid of are/what they look like in the waveform, sometimes I just can't find them unless I go through a long section of audio and manually correct everything that looks jaggedy or out of place. Generally I use the repair tool first, but if it keeps getting me weird results, I try smoothing out a bunch with the "pencil" tool. When those both are still giving me odd sounds, I manually go through--click-crazy--with the "brush" tool all along a section, and this takes quite a long time, but usually ends up clearing the out of place sound (usually mouth clicks or tongue/saliva/throat sounds). I propose adding a third feature to the draw tool that would be a blend of the "pencil" and "brush" feature. Basically, (maybe holding down Alt and Ctrl at the same time), you get a tool that you click and drag, and it will keep smoothing out the waveforms as you drag along, but will smooth according to the original contours like the "brush" currently does. I guess more specifically, it is just the "brush" tool that you can keep dragging around instead of only being able to change the waveform once per click. This would save me a lot of time, and I think a lot of other people would find great use from this as well.
    • Koz: he smoothing/blurring tool in Photoshop?
    • OP torikamal: Exactly!


  • A proper "Limiter" effect: "Hard Limiter" is a wave-shaping effect not a real "limiter".

All it actually does is to apply "clipping", scale the chopped of peaks a bit smaller and stick them back on. "Leveller" is no substitute for a limiter. "Compressor" does not have a limiter. Because of this I find myself often recommending to users requiring a limiter that they install the "Brick Wall Limiter". The Brick Wall Limiter is a simple effect and will generally produce much better results than are possible with the standard Audacity tools. The effect is GPL v2 and I'd be happy for it to be used as is, or with minor interface modifications, or recoded in C/C++ as a built-in effect.


  • Vista-style folder picker for Export Multiple: For those of us on Windows Vista or newer we have new file and folder pickers; I have already replaced all Audacity's file pickers, so it was time to add a folder picker – the only place I know of at the moment where it would be used as in Export Multiple but there may be some places in Preferences. As with all the new style pickers the Windows UI design goal is to have the picker open automatically in the folder the user previously viewed. Audacity likes to open pickers based on entries in the CFG file. The code I am using will do it either way – the behavior is set in Preferences.


  • One-click noise removal: Something I have found incredibly timesaving in my personal workflow of cleaning up noisy recordings is a one click Noise Removal solution. It works by taking the current selection as the noise sample, selecting all the video then applying Noise Removal. My proposal is adding another button to the current dialog; when the user clicks the "One-click" button the behind-the-scenes result is as if the user had set the variables in the effect as desired (or was willing to accept the defaults), clicked the "Get Noise Profile" button, selected all the audio, started the Noise removal" effect again and clicked the "OK" button.
    • Gale:I don't think we should necessarily throw the idea of one-click noise removal out, but perhaps it should be recast in terms of "keeping Noise Removal open and modeless after grabbing the profile, while you select the audio from which to remove noise"?
    • Ed OP: About the only thing that this topic has proved is that there is no "one-size-fits-all" one-click noise removal solution. If the Developers were ever to address this topic that would be a major concern. Since there is no way (in this decade) that the Developers will address this, unless we can address it ourselves in a plug-in, I suggest that we move this to the feature request wiki.
    • Peter: fuller discussion on the archive on the forum: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=69791&start=20
  • Link Envelopes: ink envelopes so you can easily slosh between two different versions of the same song or alternately, with the Time Shift Tool, create a dance mix without painstakingly creating two identical but opposite envelopes. It's the software version of the crossfade slider on dance mixers. Stop in the middle, it's half of each.


  • More info when Repair fails: When Repair fails the warning dialog simply tells me that I have selected too much – not how much. It is very easy to add "how much" to the dialog, this save the hassle of changing the Time Text Controls' format to Samples and then back to whatever you're working in.
    • Peter: It is for this reason that I normally leave my TTCs set to "hh:mm:ss+samples" and selection set to "length" rather than "end".
  • Region save/restore stack would remember multiple positions: For now, region save can remember only one region. I'd like repeated uses of the command to remember a sequence of regions, and repeated region restore to go back to saved positions LIFO fashion. Perhaps a third "region redo" command (or other name) would push back any popped positions, if there has not been a region save intervening. I do not specify what should happen if the track contents have changed between commands. It appears region save/restore now dumbly remembers times only, with no attempt to adjust the region if there is insertion or deletion before or within it: let that behavior remain.
    • Steve: Could you use Labels instead?
    • OP (Paul L): I could make lots of temporary labels, but I find them mildly inconvenient. Is there any other way to delete them than pick them and delete text? Maybe I'm just ignorant. I have wished I could select a range of a label track and just hit delete to delete all labels. I'm sure someone else must have thought of this, but questions arise as to what to do with a label not entirely in the region, and whether one might intend instead to delete a portion of the track, moving leftward all labels to the right, and deleting corresponding parts of sync locked tracks. It might argue for a "delete labels" command distinct from the usual delete. Now I am proposing other enhancements...
    • Steve: You can use "Edit Labels" (Tracks menu). I'd like a way to just select and delete labels (similar to deleting audio) but that's a feature request. Coming back to your proposed "Saved Region stack", are you proposing an "unlimited" number of regions on the stack? Would there need to be a way to delete/clear the stack? I can imagine that it could become quite confusing if there are a lot of saved regions on the stack and the user has stepped back part way through the stack.
    • OP: I imagine even a shallow stack limited to ten or twenty would be a useful improvement over what exists. I don't suppose it needs to be "unlimited." All that needs be remembered for each is a track time.
  • Improving "Clip Fix": When I use the "Effects"->"Repair" feature to manually fix clipping, the result is immensely better than what is achieved with "Effects"->"Clip Fix." The only problem is that, when dealing with a heavily clipped audio track, it takes an inordinate amount of time to manually select hundreds or thousands of clipped regions. I would therefore like to suggest that the interpolation used in "Effects"->"Clip Fix" be replaced with the interpolation used in "Effects"->"Repair."
    • Gale: Personally I find Repair inferior to ClipFix if you were trying to repair by dragging adjacent sections of 128 samples back on each other. Clip Fix seems to me to give a much more musical result and the waveform retains its original shape and dynamics below the peaks to a greater extent. Are you de-amplifying by a sufficient amount before using Clip Fix?
    • Steve: For ClipFix there is the additional problem that it has to accurately detect where the clipping occurs as well as fixing it. "Repair" does not need to do that because it assumes that you have selected the damage. For "digital" clipping where peaks are cut off absolutely flat Clipfix can detect the clipping quite well. If the clipping is due to overloading of analogue components, or if the audio has been saved in MP3 format, or if for any other reason the clipping is not simple "digital" clipping, then detecting is very much harder and ClipFix will probably fail.
    • OP: ... exactly why I find Repair to be superior. For complex signals, like music, the result of Clip Fix does not sound very different from the clipped version because the vast majority (almost all) of the frequencies that were missing (due to clipping) are still missing after Clip Fix. With Repair, there is at least an attempt made to fill in the missing frequencies with something plausible, and this is why, in every case I've encountered, Repair does a better job than Clip Fix with music.
    • Gale: OK so is the feature request as you see it to add detection back to Repair (if necessary using the Clip Fix detection) and then Repair uses its current algorithm (or Clip Fix's if that is detected as better in a given case) to work through the detected sections?
    • Peter 22Aug13: full discussion archived on the forum: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=72712
  • Track Grouping: Steve: I think would be useful for both this and other tasks, would be a way to group/un-group multiple tracks so that they can be edited, cut, pasted, trimmed and processed as one track. This would need to be done in Audacity itself, not a plug-in.
The distinction between this and Track Groups is a little unclear so I have not added it to FR's yet. Is the difference that you want the waveforms of each track in the group to remain visible (so still editable as a group) - that is, have no collapsed state for the group where editing the group would be impossible?

And in your scheme can each track in the group be separately expanded/collapsed? Would each member track have its own gain/pan/mute/solo, or only one set of those controls for the group (as seems to be the case in Track Groups)?

It is not totally clear to me if Track Groups (when expanded) retain the ability to edit track members as individual tracks or not. Does your scheme retain that ability? In your scheme, how do you add or remove tracks from the group?

Perhaps your scheme is better but should have the added ability to collapse to "uneditable" state where you can see nothing but the group name?

    • Steve in PM to Gale 24Aug13:

When I created that image I'd not thought through all of the questions that you raise, rather I was visualising what a grouped track might look like with the aim of promoting questions and discussion about how "group tracks" or "grouped tracks" could best be implemented. Features that I think would be useful

  • Add / remove any one audio track from the group.
  • Add all selected audio tracks to a group.
  • Explode a group into individual tracks.
  • Cut / Copy / Paste / Delete / Trim / Silence the group without the need to "explode" into individual tracks. (Q. How to handle pasting to a group with a different number of tracks or non-matching mono/stereo tracks.)
  • A Selection on a group selects all tracks that are in that group, so effects will be applied as if being applied to a :selection across multiple tracks.
  • At least one "collapse / expand level" in which the individual waveforms are visible (as shown in the mock-up).
  • Tracks within a group can have different pan / gain settings. Ideally the group would also have pan/gain sliders that act on the mix of all tracks within the group (not shown in picture).
  • Nyquist should be aware of the number of tracks in the group.
  • Tracks may be moved up/down within the group.
  • I envisaged that group/ungroup commands would be in the track drop down menu.<p>The image as shown is the "expanded" view of a group, and that can be collapsed to a "minimum view" in which only one waveform is visible.The tracks within the group are minimised.In effect there are three levels of collapse/expand. From the "expanded group" view, individual tracks within the group can be expanded / minimised to show / hide their pan and gain sliders. When the group is minimised, the individual track sliders are not available.


    • Templates: I use audacity to record my piano and occasionally voice then mix with other tracks.

    Since I use recording and editing the most, is it possible to save a setup that I find most efficient for my work habits? Such as recording meter, number of tracks etc. a number of commercial versions have this resource.

      • Gale: Not as you are probably envisaging. You can set the Recording Meter minimum level in Interface Preferences and you can drag the meter by the bottom right-hand edge to float it then it will stay there across sessions. If you want you can save a project with some empty tracks and launch Audacity by opening that project. Select the track you want to record into then SHIFT-click on the Record button to record into that track.
      • Steve: Unlike a number of commercial products, Audacity does not require that you create a track before you can record into a track. By default, when you start recording a new track is created. I'm not sure what customisations you want to make to the recording meter. Can you give specific examples of what an Audacity "template" would do?
      • Gale: I assume user could mean some kind of "profile" that saves the Audacity GUI (what you see on the screen) and your current Preferences set. Probably you could only open a new project as a saved profile, not switch to a new profile in an existing project. Perhaps he would for example want linear Recording Meters but that is a question of a missing ability to save that as a preference.
      • Gale: At least one other person has suggested a "profile" as I described. I thought that might give user a label to attach his idea to, but unless he replies we shouldn't assume what he means.


    • less-obtrusive suggestions for "*-old" backups:Being a developer, I understand the protection of backups. But I'd love to have these done in some way that didn't require manual removal after exporting to the same name. Hopefully something along these lines can be considered.
      1. Create the backups the same way, but include an option in the export preferences to just immediately send them to the recycle bin. For the rare occasions where we might need them, they're easy to retrieve. The 99% cases require no action.
      2. Move the backup files to their own folder (named "backup", or whatever). Similar to 'cleaned', we can set this folder to 'ignore' in version control, and it's easy to empty out occasionally without having files littered throughout the project space.
      3. Move the backup files to the temp folder.
      • Gale:I somewhat agree, though our own developers probably won't consider it much of a priority. It only affects users who overwrite imported WAV or AIFF files without copying them in. Note that the -old files are dependencies for the project, so more than just backups. An Audacity preference to remove the dependent file is always going to be dangerous if user saves a project for later use. On the face of it, moving the original dependent file to the temp folder or to the _data folder of the project seems like a semi-reasonable idea.


    • editing: extending a cut out segment: I've a quite basic question on editing. After isolating a particular segment, and deleting the audio around it, how can I in a later stage extend that track again? ie get back audio that comes before and after in the original recording.

    This is a common task in all other sound editors I've used and is usually done by dragging the edges of the segment, but I can't find out how it works in Audacity. NB "undo" won't help, because commonly I will have carried out several actions in between that I do not want to undo. My apologies if this question has been answered before. All I can say is that I've searched HARD, and I couldn't find it. thanks so much for your help.

      • Koz: Audacity doesn't have Edit Points like other editors, so there's nothing to move. The closest we get is Labels and those don't have the same juju that Edit Points do. UNDO is the only way and remember Audacity Projects do not retain UNDO. This is also a good place to urge you to save your work periodically under different file names so you have something to go back to.
      • OP joost: Thanks, not the answer I was hoping for, but at least it's clear. If some day you could include this feature it would definitely make Audacity my favourite program. It's the only thing left on my wishlist. Maybe this is also the place to share another alternative for people who are struggling with the same issue: Don't cut a segment, but mute the audio before and after the selection using the volume editor. That way you can always extend your selection later. The main drawback is that it wastes a lot of space on your track, but i definitely prefer it to keeping a number of alternative versions of an edit.
      • Gale: I know the feature you mean. Audacity has an "Enable Cut Lines" Preference http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tracks_preferences.html#behaviors but it can only restore the audio you actually cut, so a two step process for you. "Enable Cut Lines" also doesn't work if you do CTRL + I to "split" the region that you are cutting either side of to a separate clip. If you drag up to the split point and cut, no cut line appears.


    • EBU R128: I would love to see an analyze tool for checking the LU according to EBU R128. I wanted to look forward how such thing could be done in Nyquist, but I still wanted to post such a feature request. Cool would be the possibility to analyze at least the TruePeak and Integrated LU. (Plus 2 votes)
      • Koz: I think I'd be happy with a simple "Get Info" for sound clips. Audacity doesn't do that because Audacity works internally at a different quality than the original clips. So it doesn't know. But yes, that's a good idea.


    • Export markers for soundforge: SoundForge markers is simple xml format. PLS implement this feature (plus 1 vote)
    • Fix drag and drop of file icons : Windows 7, Audacity 2.0.3. I can open an .aup file with a double click or from Audacity's Open menu. But if I drag and drop the file icon on a blank Audacity window, I get a dialog that the file type .aup is not recognized.
      • Gale: Edgar has worked on this with some success in the past, but unfortunately the simplest way to implement this means duplicating code which is already duplicated in different places. Therefore the developers want to wait until there is time to remove the duplications and put the code for AUP drag and drop in the correct place. Anyone can still vote for the feature though. Do I assume you accept that the AUP will open in a new window? I think that's the first step before considering projects importing into existing projects.
      • Ed: Not to argue with the Developers, but… We are talking about 25 lines of code which already exist in two places with only tiny variation. Having it in the third-place does not seem like that big a deal especially given that there's absolutely no way to expect the developers to do the major re-factoring to the code required to "do this right". I use this feature extensively every day and it's a big selling feature of my Audacity customization projects. Given the simple nature of the change I feel that it could be added, well commented and used until such time as the Developers get around to the rewrite of the Open/Import code (if they ever do – I'm not holding my breath). Gale probably still has a copy of the code and I probably posted it here as well.


    • intelligent Generator dialogs : All the built-in generators show hh:mm:ss+samples when inserting into a selection, and hh:mm:ss+milliseconds when inserting at a point, irrespective of chosen selection format.
    • Suggestion: Repair Limits : It would really be helpful if the repair function would have an "automatic selection cursor" if you will to auto select a range of 128 samples if you'd like, so that I can take the guess work out of how much more I can grab to fix at a time. (Plus 1 vote)
      • Steve: How about a slight variation on that.... To use the repair function, you don't select anything, you just click in the centre of the part that you want to repair and the effect acts on 64 samples either side of the cursor position
      • Gale: Repair would still have to do "something" with a selection. All users who read the fine Manual will know they must select audio to edit it, so would probably still select audio for Repair. Might the subject idea encourage sloppy editing unless it retained the requirement to be zoomed in? If you were allowed to place the cursor or selection while zoomed out you will likely not have the selection starting at or centred on the "correct" 128 samples. I don't think it's a bad idea but IMO the better aim is to have Repair working on longer selections and detecting and repairing the clipped samples as it goes along. There was a useful thread about that: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=72712 .
      • Steve: While "Repair" can only act on up to 128 samples I think it should retain that requirement (for zooming in close}. I don't see any way that a user could select accurately enough without being zoomed in very close.
      • Steve: Detecting clicks that should not be present without falsely detecting clicks that should be present is very difficult. I hear that Brian Davies' Click Repair does this very well, but even that cannot hope to be 100% accurate. A click that needs to be repaired can be identical to a click that should not be there, with only the musical context differentiating between them. There is demand for a good "detect and repair" effect, (like "Click Removal" but better), but I think there is also a need for a "dumb effect" that "repairs" the selection regardless of the content of the selection.
      • Peter: I would NOT want Repair to always use 128 samples, or to auto select. I think (from experience) that you need to be well zoomed in to make effective repairs. There are times when I want the full 128 sample range and others when a much shorter selection will give a more "accurate" repair.
      • Steve: I don't often use "Repair" but I can well imagine that could be the case, for example if there is a click very close to a transient peak. So how about:
        1. If there is no selection: 64 samples either side of the cursor will be processed. If the selection is within 64 samples of the start or end of the audio clip (so that there are not 64 samples available), then as many samples as are available will be used.
        2. If there is a selection and it is no more than 128 samples: the selection will be processed (as now).
        3. If there is a selection > 128 samples: An error message is shown (as now).
        • The only problem that I see with this is that there is a potential conflict with the preference option to "Select all if no audio selected". Since, with "Repair", it is very likely that selecting all audio will result in an error, I don't think that it is unreasonable for "Repair" to be a special case.
      • Peter: If all audio is selected and the selection is greater than 128 samples then the repair should not take place.
      • Gale: I agree there is no reason to withdraw the ability to manually repair selections of a few hundred samples or less, since that would give optimal results given a skilled user.
      • OP: The most intuitive way would probably be to have a "Repair Tool", i.e. a brush with the 128 sample-width. You simply click where the audio should be repaired. Making "Repair" as special case, would become a little problematic if Repair was extended to be able to handle long selections. In this case there would be no need for an easy way to act on 128 samples and the Repair effect could behave in the same way as all other effects.
      • Peter: see this forum thread for further details: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=75036


    • The Frequency Of The Generated Tone Replaces Label Name : When I generate a pitch ,for example 440 Hz, it would be very helpful if the label was also named "440" (or "440 Hz") automatically. In that way I wouldn't have to rename the track "440" manually. I'm not a programmer or anything,but I imagine this wouldn't be very much hard to code.
      • Ed: (I'm assuming that you mean the track's name not a "label" in a Label Track.)

    There are some critical design decisions which would need to be made: What happens if you don't want the track's name changed (it's possible that you're generating the tone into an existing track whose name you are already like); how do you turn this behavior On/Off (for those who prefer the current long-time behavior – the Audacity Developers are abhorrent to the idea of adding more preference switches); any others? I would expect you to get resistance on this from the Developers as a waste of valuable time which could be better used smashing bugs or implementing more valuable (more user votes, more complex) features. Still, once a complete design specification was hammered out, this really would be "easy" code (speaking as a programmer with lots of experience adapting the Audacity GUI).

      • Steve: That (specification) would be the really hard bit. I'd expect that a lot of people (including myself) would not want generating a tone to change the name of the track, so I don't think it would be acceptable to have such a feature "always on". But then, what if another user wants the name of the last applied effect as the track name (which is as valid as a feature request as what is being proposed here), or if someone wants the name to change only when it has the default "audio track" name, or if they want a "time stamp" of the track creation time as the name? Leaving it up to the user to manually change the name to whatever they want (as now) seems like the best solution imho.
      • OP: I don't agree. It seems to me preferable if the generate effect would supply a meaningful name as soon as a new track is generated. For instance: "Click 120 4/4". This behaviour wouldn't of course not apply to parts of existing tracks.

    If the user wants no name, she/he can delete it (although this doesn't work currently, a name can't be reset to the default by deleting the text for example).

      • Steve: Exactly my point - ask 20 people what they think the ideal behaviour should be and you'll get 20 answers, which then raises the question of how to accommodate dozens of alternatives without adding masses of extra settings in preferences. Considering that it only takes a few seconds to rename a track, it hardly seems worth the effort.


    • Play at Speed" to retain its playback speed: I may have overlooked something, but I can't find a way for the "Transcription Toolbar > Play at Speed" to retain its playback speed. I'd like it to retain the previous usage until I change it, even if I open a new file. If I play a file at 1.5x or 1.8x (which I do regularly) it's always reset to 1x each time a file is opened. That doesn't make sense to me because the only real use for that alternate playback is to play at a non-standard speed. 1x for that playback is always NOT what I want IF I select that playback mode. (If I want 1x playback, I use the standard transport controls, usually spacebar.)


    • MIDI editing/playback and Text-to-speech generation: A simple pair of requests. I noticed that while software such as WavePad includes a text-to-speech generator, Audacity does not, and also that while Audacity can import MIDI files it can't play or edit them.
      • Steve: Personally I'm not in favour of reinventing the wheel. There are other open source text to speech engines that specialise in that one task (such as Festival text to speech). Adding good text to speech would greatly increase the size and complexity of Audacity while only benefiting a tiny minority of users. Also, note that Audacity supports over 50 languages, so that would require comprehensive dictionaries and speech recordings for each. The voice recording would need to be brought in from existing text to speech engines as there is an enormous amount of work involved in producing them, thus it really would be no more than repackaging an existing open source text to speech engine. MIDI support is an ongoing part of Audacity development (albeit developing rather slowly due to lack of resources).
      • OP: Nevertheless, I give my vote to both proposals. Audacity hasn't to reinvent the wheel, but to open up an interface to already installed technology, such as SAPI 5 voices. Synthetic voices are often used to find real voice content such as single words or phrases. It certainly appeals to me to have a "Word finder" function for audio documents or to produce content-based labels. It also facilitates vocal isolation or background suppression (especially if the text is known). However, it needs a developer that's interested in this kind of stuff.


    • Plot Spectrum Magnifier: Vertical and Horizontal zoom and scroll in Plot Spectrum. (Votes=2)


    • Plot Spectrum - log axis default: Virtually every time "Plot Spectrum" comes up on the forum it is necessary to tell the user to change the Axis to "Log frequency". Cases where "Linear frequency" is required are rare, so it would be much more convenient for "Log frequency" to be the default. (Plus 1 vote)


    • Compressor: I'd like the compressor effect to have "simple", "advanced" and "multi-band" modes.

    This could possibly be done with tabs at the top to select the mode. In effect this would be three effects in one.

      1. "Simple" mode would be largely automatic, with controls for ratio, speed (combined attack/release), threshold, noise floor and a check box for make-up gain. It could have presets for common tasks such as "levelling speech", "maximizing", "audio-book compression", "peak limiting". Ideally this should eliminate the need to install third party compressor plug-ins for casual users.
      2. "Advanced" would be a full featured compressor limiter. Preferably with user presets.
      3. "Multiband" would be a multi-band compressor. Again this could have presets, including user presets. Uses include "mastering", "de-essing", "maximizing" and "tonal shaping of vocals". (see here for more information:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug02/articles/multiband.asp )
      • Koz: Dorough Engineering designed the DAP: Discrete Audio Processor. Basically a three-band audio compressor. It sidestepped the bass note pumping problem. It did tend to "remix" the music, so it was never particularly popular. Is De-Essing logically folded into the compressor and not the equalizer?
      • OP Steve: Usually, yes. It's very common to find de-essing settings in multi-band compressors.


    • Deverb: plug-ins effect i dream of ! to be abble to REMOVE reverb on a AIff - Wav track ! i do not know if is it possible or else let me know
      • Gale: Deverb is a feature request, and it's hard. Only Postfish has it at the moment, which is a geek's tool that has to be compiled from source code - but as it's open source we could reuse the code, I guess


    • repair in spectral windows: can audacity or exist some vst plug-in for repair visual tool in spectral windows like audiodirector or audition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZyjaShGzJA or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCb1xofQ18E
      • Steve wrote: No, Audacity does not have anything like that. I'll move this to the "feature request" board. I think this would be a terrific feature, though I suspect that it would be difficult to implement.
    • Auto generate track names in Project: Is there any way to have Audacity automatically generate the track names as new tracks are created? Similar to how the Export Multiple naming process works (really nice).


    • Support for "Jack Transport": Jack Transport (http://jackaudio.org/files/docs/html/transport-design.html) allows applications using Jack to be synchronised. For example, a user could synchronise Audacity recording and/or playback with a MIDI sequencer.
      • Schmide: I'm down for it. I reviewed the docs and looked at a few other projects that use it. While not trivial, it is a relatively straight forward interface.

    The harder part of all this will be determining to what scope this goes. Input/output/pass-through/effects? OP (Steve): There is certainly a great deal that could be done (though way beyond my programming ability). I think a good first step would be "go / stop" (un-pause / pause). Press Pause + Record buttons in Audacity so that Audacity is metering but paused, then press "Start transport rolling" in QjackCtl and Audacity starts record. Press "Stop transport rolling" in QjackCtl and Audacity pauses.


    • A more accessible way to set up latency correction:
    1. Polishing and Wiki-publishing Robert's plug-in to measure time difference between clicks in two selected tracks (I think there are still some confusions in that plug-in that users could trip over, but it would be much better than not having the tool published).
    2. A built-in tool that can adjust the latency correction setting according to clicks being recorded from a track that is playing.
    3. "Automatic" correction that takes into account latency variability.
      1. This could be an "improved" version of the disabled PortAudio correction that tries to detect the current round trip latency then corrects for it.
      2. It could alternatively try to time-shift the recorded audio "intelligently" by looking for the first "audio" in the recording and aligning the point where that audio starts with the position of the cursor or selection start. So it would be looking for and pushing preceding recorded noise behind the align point. I think it if could be done it could be useful in some scenarios and could be an alternative "option" to the latency detection method.


    • Snap Labels: I would like to have a snap feature of the label tracks to make sure that they do not overlap or have space between them.

    Is there such a feature or is there a possibility to have it developed?

      • Gale: No such feature yet but I agree It would be useful to have yellow snap guides when dragging labels to each other.


    • user definable spectrum plot of frequency bands: user definable spectrum plot of frequency bands, for example, 1, 1/2, 1/3 octave per band. See this archived Forum thread for details.


    • Mouse-controlled time shifting: The Envelope tool offers great control over volume amplitude in the waveform, letting the user quickly edit parts that would otherwise be labor intensive. Creating crescendos and diminuendos is a breeze. I'm hoping in a future edition, Audacity will have a similar feature for stretching and truncating timing. For example, say, a vertical yellow "start" and red "end" line might be inserted with mouse clicks, after which the lines could be dragged left or right to stretch or shorten the waveform between the two colored lines. Presently I use the Sliding Time Scale/Pitch Shift tool to correct a vocalist's poor timing or to perfectly synchronize harmony lines, which takes up to two hours per track to complete. I use this tool also to create a hook of pronunciation on occasion; and there are other uses but all very time-consuming. Hope you kind folks find the idea of mouse-dragging selected time sections worthy of consideration for the next edition.
      • Gale: It would be a nice feature indeed but this would probably be a major development investment. We do have a "time envelope" in Time Tracks ( http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/time_tracks.html ) however that feature changes pitch with speed. It could be that a quicker route to what you want would lay with Time Tracks rather than stretching/narrowing the waveform in situ.
      • Gale: I will count your vote for the waveform clip time shifting in any case. Others have asked for it.


    • Easy tempo changer: Something where we can be able to place two points down on the timeline and drag one or the other to change the tempo rather than keep going to change tempo if you wanted to line up audio with other audio


    • I had a weird idea about views: Talking elsewhere about the Waveform dB view, and why I like it for editing voice, because it stretches the middle and squeezes the extremes... I realize that is not why the view exists, but rather because it is sometimes useful to look at logarithms of sample levels, which actually requires cutting out the middle of the scale to avoid infinities. I had a really weird idea, what if I had a view that remapped the vertical scale by x ^ (1/a) for odd a. Or some other function with infinite slope but well defined value at 0. Would I like that even better?


    • Can't see progress on batch convert: A 'x out of y tracks converted' statistic somewhere is absolutely necessary imo. The only 'statistic' is how far the scrollbar is in the small window at the top.. but I can't resize that window. Which means I can't see the actual file names either. IMHO, "(8/11)" or something alike in the title of one of the two small windows would fix this.
      • Gale: I agree this is another place where an indication of overall progress would be nice. It would also be nice if the user enabled "Beep on completion of longer activities" in Tracks Preferences that there would be a beep after the entire Chain completed (but not for individual files in the Chain). However doesn't the position of the vertical scrollbar in the file list give an approximate indication of progress? Sorry there is not much progress with Chains - one person I know is interested in improving Chains and I hope we can encourage his work to get reviewed and committed to the code base.


    • Multiple Selection": Audacity is a remarkable software, and I, as a beginner, would suggest his authors create a "Multiple Selection" command for Editing, such as the ones in, for instance, Microsoft Word. In case they already exist in version 2.0.5., could anyone teach me where to find them or how to operate them?
      • Steve: Working on multiple selections is quite tricky, but one of the developers is currently working on a solution.

    In the current version of Audacity there are a few edit commands that can be applied to "labeled" sections of the audio.

    • "re-show last action" or "re-show last effect": I would suggest a "re-show last action" or "re-show last effect." This would re-show the dialog (I am using Windows term here) for the last effect but not execute the last effect. I think there is a need almost all the time. An example would be you used the compressor effect at a certain threshold but found that the effect is not exactly what you want, so you want to undo the effect but bring back the compressor dialog easily with a short cut. I imagine many people need such trial-and-error re-adjustment on many effects, and it would be helpful if one can bring up last effect dialog/interface quickly. (Plus 2 votes)
    • Moving tracks: I'm referring to moving the order in which tracks are displayed on the screen. If I'm working on a large project with 20-30 tracks, then any new tracks added, or tracks created by combining existing ones, is added to the bottom of the screen. I need to drag it up to where it belongs with the mouse, which is a laborious process. I propose adding a keyboard shortcut, Ctrl-Arrow, for example, to move tracks up or down. Highlight the tracks you want, then hit ctrl-up-arrow a few times to move them to where you want to go. This would also allow you to move several tracks at once, which Audacity currently cannot do. In combination with this, I would suggest that clicking UNDO after moving a track would return it to its initial position, rather than simply undoing one movement. What I mean is, if you select a track and then hit ctrl-up-arrow 20 times to move it, then change your mind, you should be able to hit UNDO once in order to send it back to where it was, instead of hitting UNDO 20 times.
    • Steve's summary: The OP wants an easier way to change the order of tracks. Gale and myself have voiced agreement, so that is at least 3 votes. The new "Move Track to Top/Bottom" options in the Track dropdown menu goes some way to improving this, but for large multi-track projects further improvement would be helpful.
      1. There is then quite a lot of discussion about "how" to achieve that, but little consensus (so worth archiving the discussion).
      2. One proposed "how to" that does appear to have support is to have a menu items (in the Tracks menu) that can move selected tracks up/down. This could then be assigned a keyboard shortcut, making it a lot quicker to move one or more tracks up/down one or more places. (3 votes)
      3. New tracks added directly below the current selection, or at the bottom if there is no selection. (1 vote - me)
        • Gale: Steve already has a vote counted for that.
      4. Mouse drag of selected multiple tracks up and down (1 vote - Gale)
      5. Also some discussion about moving multiple discontinuous audio clips, though not actually the subject of the original topic.
    • Peter: see archived thread on the Forum for full discussion: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=79397
    • The Equalizer needs a gain control: The EQ is cool and simple but hard to preview when I EQ a lot out because the volume drops, as it should. Which I of course fix after, but as I said, it makes it hard to Preview. One trick I accidentally learned, is doubling the track and and then highlighting both, then go to EQ and set then Preview. Save, then go back and highlight just the one track and apply the saved EQ curve.
      • Steve: +1 for a gain control on the Equalization effect. The way that I envisage this working is as a vertical slider that raises/lowers the Eq curve ("Draw Curves" mode), or all of the sliders in tandem ("Graphic EQ" mode) while retaining the current "shape".
      • Peter: see this archived Forum thread for detailed discussion: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=80668
    • An option to vertically merge or split clips. For example: I have one long track. I split it up into clips. I want to put each clip on its own track. The only way to do that (that I could find) is to manually label each clip, export multiple, and re-import. A "split clips to tracks" feature would be much simpler. I have muliple clips on multiple tracks. I want to put them all on one track, but retain the breaks between them as they are. The only way I can do that (that I could find) is to mix and render, then go back and re-create all of the break points where I had them before. A "combine tracks" feature would be much simpler. I did what I needed to do this time, but it definitely took much longer than it might have if there was a way to merge/explode tracks without making a single clip out of them or without exporting and re-importing.
    • A separate Stop and Set Cursor button - see this Forum post for details
    • Clicking on the black "split line" between clips does an automatic merge of the clips. Can that feature be turned off? - see this Forum post for details
    • Add a new time display format : "seconds + milliseconds": See this Forum post for details.
    • Export as video, mux audio to video, work like ffmpeg gui: See this Forum post for details.
    • Consistent interface for filter effects: For High and Lowpass filter dialogs, the frequency input field is not first in tab order. For notch filter, it is (which I find more convenient personally). Would it be nicer to make them consistent? See this Forum post for details.
    • Integrated Dynamic Range (DR) measurement tool: See this Forum post for details.
    • Macros consisting of existing Audacity shortcuts: See this Forum post for details.
    • Allow the splitting of the frequency into 2Hz buckets - SU-R-97 tonality checking: See this Forum post for details.
    • Zooming and navigating Plot Spectrum: See this Forum post for details.
    • Lock pan and volume sliders in Track Control Panel: I repeatedly bump pan or volume in my efforts to move tracks around and I usually can't figure out what is wrong for a while. Unless there is already a way to lock them, I think that would be a useful feature. See this Forum post for details. Plus 2 votes.
    • "Show Clipping" Options: See this Forum post and this onefor details.


    • Tools settings: A common feature in graphic programs (Gimp, Photoshop, Inkscape, etc.) is to have a selection of tools, and some sort of panel that has settings/options for that tool. Thus the number of tools required is reduced, while at the same time increasing the versatility of the tools. A similar approach could be applied to Audacity.
    • Two analysis features I'd like to see:
      1. Blind Source (or Signal) Separation: Can pull apart a number of sources into discrete output signals, convolved into a single mono signal. Can be used to separate signal and noise, whether pseudo-random (pink, brown, thermal, etc.) noise, or multiple similar sources (one voice among many -- the "cocktail party effect").
      2. Continuous wavelet transform: A method of spectral analysis far beyond FFT. Can develop an accurate time/frequency plot from signal for doing time selective filtering, artifact detection, all manner of signal/noise separation.
    • Unable to open Audacity project file :i recorded song with more than 15 vocal recorded and i saved whole project and turned my pc off after some hours when i try to open my file i'm getting this error: "Error Importing audacity did not recognized the type of file'E:audacitymy song.aup'if it is uncompressed try importing it using"Import Raw"
      • Steve: It seems that it is very easy to improve the error message.
      • Peter 17Aug15: See this archived thread on the Audacity Forum.
    • Gang all the Gain controls together: When mixing many recorded tracks and I'm satisfied with the mix, but the amplitude peaks (VU) are too high, it would be nice to be able to gang all the Gain controls together - moving one moves them all. I was doing this with the Amplify feature (selecting no particular track), but too much modification can be harmful.
    • Additional options for 'List of Files' import: There are a lot of opensource video editing software projects out there, but no opensource cross platform audio editor as good as Audacity, so for me is the question how to import audio tracks from those video editors into Audacity for superior audio editing? One way is to generate aup files, but it seems that they are too complicated for other applications to do correctly and therefore not advised. Another one is to hope of aaf or mlt(KDEnlive, Openshot, Flowblade and Shotcut) import in Audacity, but it seems that those will be a huge undertakings, and not worth waiting for. Which leaves me with the 'List of files' import option. There seems to be an offset option as it is, but in order to recreate audio clips from time lines of video editors in Audacity, I guess options to set the track number and in and out timings of each clip would also be needed? So my questions are is this at all possible? Is it meaningful enough to ask for? It it worth hoping for an implementation of in the near future? Or are there better ways to tackle this ambition by strengthen open source projects by interconnecting them?
    • Please create more right-click functionality for Audacity: Basically, a few tips can be taken from Adobe Audition nee Cool Edit Pro. The interface is quite similar, one must admit, but ease of use is off the charts on their end. For example: one should be able to long-left-click on a single waveform within a multitrack session, and slide the waveform left or right to match up with certain cues/timestamps, or align with the beginning/end boundaries of another waveform, either below or above. Right-clicking on a waveform should give you an option to time-lock the waveform into place, or unlock it to allow sliding. Also, right-click should allow cues/timestamps to be placed within the track. In other words, If I need to get right back to the part just before the waveform 1 bass kicks in, I should be able to place a marker there in waveform 1 as a bookmark. I grab waveform 2, unlock by right-click, slide it left to where the marker is, and switch the audio from waveform 1 to waveform 2, essentially mixing two tracks together. I don't see why this was never thought of. It's a very simple, user-friendly, and common way to move waveforms around. It seems that in 2015, these two features are long overdue.
      • Steve: One major difference - Cool Edit Pro did not run on Mac OS X. Many Mac users don't have a right mouse button. How do Adobe handle that on their Mac version of Audition?
      • Gale: They can though execute right-click by holding CTRL and clicking.
    • Add up lengths of range labels: It would be quite useful when slicing up a live recording for CD tracks to quickly determine the total length of the labels in a label track. Presently I use an HP15-C calculator program to add up the H:M:S:F lengths, but this is tedious and error-prone. I suggest this tally would appear in the TCP of a label track just like Sample Rate and Data Format appear for audio tracks. If the tally is put here, I think it would make sense for it to reflect the total overlap of range labels and the current selection. Depending on the overhead involved, it might be appropriate to provide for turning it on and off.
      • Steve: I agree that we could show some useful information in the panel of label tracks. The question is: what information to include. I recall from previous discussions that it was suggested to show the number of point labels and the number of region labels (it can be difficult to see by eye if a label really is a "point" label or just a very short "region"). Total length of labels also sounds like a good idea except that I expect that some users will want one time format, and others would want a different format, and others would want yet another format. I'd suggest that the format should either be "seconds" (to say 4 decimal places), or whatever is selected in the Selection Toolbar. The risk here is that we overload the panel with too many details and/or too many options, but I would support adding some basic information that is likely to be useful to many. I'm not keen on providing "lots" of information that will benefit only a few. I think that the processing overhead is likely to be insignificant.
      • OP DickN: I'd opt for the format selected in the Selection Toolbar.
      • Gale: +1 to using the Selection Toolbar format if we want to add total length of labels. I don't think a default label track should display more than three rows of info text, but how about a "Properties..." item or similar for the label track dropdown menu that let you choose what to display in the label track info.
      • OP: A Properties menu nicely accommodates future development while resolving the current issue. Already I can see a check box for applying "snap to" to labels.
    • Link Latency preferences with Hosts: I use to change the audio Host between MME, Wasapi and ASIO quite often, and one thing that bothers me is that I'm always needing to adjust the Latency correction individually (since each host has a different latency when recording). I don't mind latency at all though.. the Latency correction Preference takes this problem away from me... ..but changing Hosts, always brings it back. Hosts and the Latency correction Preference seem very related to me, so maybe they could be linked together in the future? By that I mean that, Latency correction adjustments would be saved separately for each Host (they could be all the same number initially, by default.. ..but once you change it, it could consider that a change only for the host currently being used).
      • Gale: I'm in favour of moving the "Latency" panel into Devices Preferences, then the two values in the Latency panel would depend on host. This would have the advantage of making clear that Audio to buffer affects playback as well as recording, which is currently a very important issue on Mac OS X (playback can crackle unless Audio to buffer is reduced to near zero). (+1 to that from Peter).
      • Peter 17Aug15: See this archived thread on the Audacity Forum.
    • Multitrack SETLIST feature wanted: I am currently using audacity to edit multitrack files that I had bought via "Karaoke Version". I am panning the click to the left, track to the right, and erasing start off count-ins from the beginnings of music tracks… sometimes also splicing out sections or transposing all tracks. I have quite a large collection of files which I use to make three different mixes… A stereo mix for a one man band, a mix minus drums and a mix minus drums and bass guitar, then saving them out as stereo files currently. I am creating files that end up being used for three different band configurations live and at the moment playing them in the "Onsong" app. Rather than doing all this work ahead of time, I'd rather just mute a certain instrument as needed as I pull up the multitrack audacity song. The FEATURE that I am asking for is basically to be able to load a lot of songs into a playlist… But the songs being the multitrack files that audacity is already capable of loading. I just wish to be able to very quickly arrange a large number and click on the appropriate song file to play back rather than have to file / open / search each song as I would be playing it live. There is not enough time to do that for every song.
      • Steve: You can make a "LOF"file using a plain text editor (such as Windows "NotePad"). When you open a valid LOF file, Audacity imports the files that are listed in the LOF file. The files are loaded into Audacity so that they appear as tracks, one below the other.
      • OP: Thanks for the answer. So I guess it is possible, but that far too confusing for me to use. I'll just have to hope that eventually some drag n drop style cue list or something is created.
    • Move Selection: I love using the left and right arrows in combination with <shift> in order to select parts of the track. Combining the functionality with <crtl> is great in order to correct/re-adjust the boundaries. In addition, I would love to have the new functionality of <alt> + left and right arrows in order to move the selection. (I often cut parts of pre-defined length out of the tracks and I do this at different track positions. So a simple keyboard shortcut would speed-up my workflow.)
      • Gale: OK. There is a quick non-keyboard method. Label the selection then drag on the white circle on either label edge to move the label.
    • Colorblind-friendly spectrograms: There has been some talk about letting the user vary the palette of the spectrogram, including custom palettes and a few presets. I have suggested we devise presets that are good for colorblind users. But I don't know any personally who could judge our color choices. Does that describe anyone reading this? And do you know which specific type of color vision anomaly is yours? There is more than one... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness#Epidemiology
    • "Split stereo to mono" apply to all tracks simultaneously: I want to split all stereo tracks into mono tracks all at the same time. I know I can do each one individually by clicking the drop-down arrow and selecting "Split stereo to mono", but how can I apply that to all stereo tracks in Audacity? Is it possible?
    • Split stereo to mono" apply to all tracks simultaneously: as for now Audacity undoes layout changes when undoing an edit. E.g., it could be that a previous track height is restored. That should be changed. I would suggest to have two undo/redo lists: one for edits, one for layout.
      • Gale: Thank you for your suggestion which is noted. Having more than one undo stack is a significant change, but generally I agree there are cases where undo should not change selections/track selectedness/focus or purely visual states.
      • Steve: As Gale wrote, that would be a very big change. In addition, I think that it could be highly problematic in some circumstances. The main problem that comes to mind is that the two lists could easily become desynchronised. Perhaps an alternative approach could be for the normal Undo command (Ctrl+Z) to "undo and return to previous view/selection", and add a "modified undo" that would "undo but retain current view / selection". The user could then choose to use whichever is more appropriate for the specific situation.
      • Peter 09Sep15: See this archived Forum discussion
    • High-dpi awareness: I let Windows 8 scale all UI elements by 200%. As you might know, an application that doesn't support this, renders only at half the size. Then the window is shown twice the size rendered. My request is that Audacity should please render at full size, scaling its UI elements properly. It should also work with the font that is set in Windows with the correct size.
      • Gale: Audacity is not yet fully DPI aware. Until it is we have had to turn off Widgets HighDPI awareness support.
      • OP h-h: Yeah, this is going to be a big issue in so many programs. Like 6 or 7 years later we are gonna start to see 15.6" notebooks with resolutions of 8K or may be more. Then, the clever thing to do is to set Windows to scale all the UI to 300% or 400%, so we can take advantage of the huge definition we have, and watch the crispiest and nicest icons ever. But many, many programs are going to be displayed tiny due to lack of support of high resolutions. The solution is patience and wait, and don't buy too much "future" proof hardware so we can use it comfortably from the first day. I'm so exited about future screen resolutions. I'd totally love to have a notebook with an 8K resolution screen, that's 4320x7680 in 15.6", a total beast. But the software must evolve so much more before I buy one of those. Right now, in 2015, having a Full HD screen is the best bet. You have almost not a single problem and all UI's look fine. Still 4K screens have many problems with programs and UI's, so imagine a 8K screen.


    • Adding menu icons to the GUI: menu icons would make it much easier to find the items you are looking for. It might already have been considered. Does this mean that menu icons will be there when Audacity supports themes in the future? Otherwise I would suggest that.
      • Gale: Do you mean that items in menus would have an icon to left of the menu text?
      • OP h-h:Yes, exactly that. It would be a real help to have clear distinctive icons in the menus.
    • Kontakt NCW File support:It would be nice to have support for Native Instrument's Kontakt's NCW file format. Any thoughts?
      • Steve: That will probably never happen as the NCW file format is a proprietary format and probably not allowed by Kontakt's license conditions. However, Kontakt does allow you to save NCW files in WAV format.
    • Fourier: musical spectrum: I would like to propose the feature of adding a fourier analysis that shows the musical notes in the spectrum. See the attached picture as an example of another software doing that.
    • Allow Chains to continue after failure: Allow Chains to optionally continue processing the next file after processing a file fails. Currently, when a batch process encounters a problem with one of the files in its list of files-to-process, the entire batch process aborts. For unattended operations this can be inconvenient.
    • Lock tool bar arrangement: I've been looking for a way to lock the tool bar arrangement so it doesn't shift around when I change the window size. Have I missed something or can an option be included in the Preferences to allow that? (Plus 1 vote)
    • Record two mono channels simultaneously: it occurs to me that it might be beneficial for Audacity to provide an option to record 2 mono channels. That would be ideal for those users that wish to record two mono sources at the same time (such as guitar in one channel and vocal in the other). For unattended operations this can be inconvenient. (Plus 2 votes)

    Temporary placeholder for new ones to make editing easier

    • Protect a track from edits: OP: To keep track of all of these different points I create a label track. Sometimes I accidentally grab a handle on a label and move it where I didn't want to. Being able to protect the track would help to avoid those types of mistakes. I could also see where protecting a track might be handy when editing multiple tracks at once. By protecting a track that I did not want to edit, I could select all others above and below it by still clicking and dragging across the multiple tracks I want to edit. I haven't been able to find any sort of track protect option though.
      • Gale: think the Track Lock takes precedence over Sync-Lock. You could argue that you should not even be able to change the track order. If you had tracks 1 to 3 and 2 was track-locked, dragging track 1 downwards did nothing until you reached track 3. The track can be seen and heard but does not exist for purposes of any manipulation. I envisaged in that scenario that all the "Move Track" items in the second track's dropdown menu would be greyed out.
      • Steve: So if there are three tracks and the top track is protected, then moving the third track to "top" will move it up one place so that it is below the protected track rather than at the top?
      • Gale: Correct, if that is what we wanted to do.
      • Steve: r if you want the protected track at the bottom of the track list and you "mix and render" some other track, then the protected track would / wouldn't remain at the bottom?
      • Gale: the rendered track would stay put just like it would if it was the bottom track.
      • Steve: What is the benefit to users of locking the track position of a protected track? Does it outweigh the inconvenience of having to work around an immovable object?
      • Gale: Presumably the benefit is that no actions relating to it can be in the undo stack, unless we allow gain/pan.
      • Steve: if mute / solo are disabled. then the usefulness of locked tracks is crippled (severely restricted).
      • Gale: Mute/Solo is OK I think. Not sure about gain/pan.

    Reviewed but not added - unclear

    • A "Macro" facility for menu items: A "Macro" facility that allows one or more of the standard menu items to be applied in sequence to the current selection or project. These macros to be definable by the user and assigned to key combinations (for example M+1 to M+9). It would be useful if effects could be added with their current/last used settings so that the user does not need to memorise lists of parameters for each effect. (Plus 1 vote)
      • SteveTF comments: I suspect that if a macro facility was developed, it would probably open up ways to implement the "Add missing menu commands in keyboard preferences" FR
        Gale: What is the distinction between macros and extending the chains feature?
      • Edgar adds: the only conceptual difference that I can imagine is that users expect to be able to "record" a macro whereas with a chain the user must create the chain and an editor (in this case a dialog). My guess is that in the user sophisticated enough to want to employ either a macro or a chain would be comfortable with the "chain" environment. I have not looked at the chain dialog extensively for implementation, I would expect that it could be extended to include any command listed here: http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.php?title=Talk:Keyboard_Shortcut_Reference
      • SteveTF adds: The main difference in the idea that I was putting forward is the idea of "Favourites". If there is an effect, or series of effects (macro/chain), that the user is using frequently, then they can add it to the list of favourites. The effect, or macro can then be recalled with a keyboard short cut (suggested M+1 to M+9 for the favourites - M+0 would open the Macro dialog to create a new macro/favourite). Making a string of effects may indeed cross over with the "Chains" feature - I'd not considered that. Perhaps there could be an option in the "Edit Chains" dialog to add a chain to the Macro menu (thus making it available within a project through M+number) and/or in the Macro dialog > "Save Macro as Chain". Following the conventional way of creating Macro's, it would work something like this:
    Recording.
    1. M+0 (open macro dialog) > "Start Macro Record"
    2. Apply one or more effects.
    3. M+0 > Stop Macro Record
    4. Select "Options" and Save.
    "Options" would include:
    1. The number of the macro "slot" that the it is being saved in (M1 to M9)
    2. "Pause at each effect / Run without pause".
    If "Run without Pause" is selected, then pressing the appropriate M+number will run the effect(s) with the settings are stored in the macro. (For a single effect, this would be identical to "Repeat Effect").
    If "Pause at each effect" is selected, then the user has the opportunity to change the effect settings for each effect (running the macro calls up the Effect dialog screen, but does not auto-run the effect). An obvious use for this is for people that regularly use "Noise Removal". They could set (say) M+1 to call up the Noise Removal effect, then it would just be : M+1 > Get noise profile > M+1 > apply noise removal.
    "Typical" uses of the macro feature could be something like:
    1. (with "Pause" option) M+1 > Get noise profile > Apply Noise Removal > Equalize > Fade In > Fade Out > Export.
    2. (with "No Pause" option - uses settings stored in the macro) M+2 = Apply Noise Removal > Equalize > Normalize.

    Reviewed but not added - discussing internally

    • Improving the Noise Removal effect in Audacity by adding the "threshold" control that was used in Audacity 1.2.x and offering both a full version (with the additional slider) and a simplified interface that used a single slider for more/less noise reduction. I think that in the simplified interface, could combine both the "threshold", and the "amount by which the noise should be reduced" in a single slider, and fixed values for "attack/decay" and "smoothing" (probably fixed at the current default values that are used in Audacity 1.3.x). At low amounts of noise removal, the effect would be more like the 1.3.x effect, then as the slider was increased it would become more like the 1.2.x effect. Plus 1 vote
      • SteveTF adds: The upshot of all this, is that it would be good to have the threshold slider back, but in addition to the refinements that we currently have in 1.3.x - If the developers think that this makes the effect too complicated, perhaps with the categorisation of the effects menu, there could be two versions, a simple, and an advanced interface.
      • See this Forum topic.

    Reviewed but not added - intending to delete

    These pending FRs were posted here but on review, appear to be inappropriate for the reasons stated (for example, current Audacity already supports this feature). Unless reasons for adding them/more explanations of usefulness/purpose are given, they will be deleted.
    • Would you like to recover?: If your computer's eyes roll up and it stops breathing during a capture, I believe you can use the next program launch (after fixing the problem) to recover most if not all of the captured work. Is there a [X] Do You Want Audacity to Recover the Work Later? check box? Crashes never happen at convenient, opportune times and it's very likely that you would want a capture to continue if at all possible.
      • Koz (OP) adds: Field Operations are always such fun. Yes, assume pull-out-the-plug scenario or I Ran Out Of Space. Anything that prevents Audacity from competently writing that last snippet. The requirement is a successful restart of Audacity after fixing the problem and not damaging the work captured until then.
    Gale: I don't understand what Koz is asking for. If Audacity or the computer crashes you cannot continue recording until you restart? Is it a request to defer the recovery when you restart, so you can avoid loading and saving the recovery data? If so this requires a solution like http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?p=206664#p206664 .
    Retrieved from "https://wiki.audacityteam.org/w/index.php?title=Pending_Feature_Requests&oldid=28603"