How to Convert Mp3 to Wav using Audacity?

How to Convert Mp3 to Wav using Audacity? what there is to know

  • In Audacity, open the WAV file you want to convert to MP3 and navigate to Archive > Export > Export to MP3 .
  • If Audacity cannot find the LAME encoder, go to To modify > preferences > Libraries > To locate and select the LAME plugin

This article explains how to convert WAV files to MP3 using Audacity on Windows, macOS and Linux.

You don’t have Audacity or LAME?

To download Audacity if you don’t already have it.

Download the BLADE file that matches your operating system.

If you’re not sure which LAME package to install, here are some quick instructions.

– The Windows: Download the LAME encoder installation package. Double-click the EXE file and accept the default file destination path.

– Mac OS: Download the DMG package from the LAME library. Extract the contents of the DMG file then open the PKG file to install libmp3lame.dylib in /usr/local/lib/audacity.

How to Convert Mp3 to Wav using Audacity?

Boldness is one of the best ways to edit audio files , so it’s natural to also want to convert files with the program. However, when you need to export an audio file in a format such as WAV a MP3 you’ll quickly learn that by default you can’t do this unless you tell Audacity where to find the LAME MP3 encoder.

When using the LAME MP3 encoder in Audacity, you can reduce the space used by audio files on your Hard disk because MP3 is a lossy format (i.e. not a bit-perfect conversion) which saves audio in a compressed format.

With Audacity installed and the appropriate LAME files ready to go, you can now convert from WAV to MP3.

  1. Go to Archive > To open in Audacity.
  2. Select file WAV you want to convert to MP3 and click To open .
  3. Go to File > Export > Export to MP3.
  4. Find and select a case where do you want to save the MP3. You can also rename the file here if you wish.
    Click on To safeguard.

    Optionally, before saving, you can change the rate mode bits, quality, variable speed and other settings for MP3. These options are located at the bottom of the window Export sound.

  5. Change the labels of metadata if you want something else included in it. You can change the artist name, title of track, genre, etc..
    click on Accept.
  6. Audacity converts the file to MP3 in the folder you chose earlier. You will know that the conversion you are done when the conversion window disappears and you are left with the file WAV original that opened in Audacity.

Audacity cannot find the LAME encoder

If you get a lame_enc.dll error or similar message that Audacity cannot convert to MP3, you need to tell the program where to find the LAME encoder library.

  1. Click on Examine .
  2. Locate the folder where you extracted the binaries LAME, and then click Open.
  3. The file is called lame_enc.dll on Windows and libmp3lame.dylib on macOS.
  4. Click on Okay in the Locate BLADE window.
  5. Audacity then continues the conversion.
    Alternatively, you can go to Edit > Preferences > Libraryyes and click To locate to select the LAME plug-in. On Windows, you can expect to find the file in C:\NProgram Files (x86)\NLame for Audacity; users of Mac should look in /usr/local/lib/audacity/.