audacity resampling

Question

When I try to resample an audio file I go to track->resample then set the new sample rate and the sample rate appears as the changed one then I click file->export and save it as wav. When I open the file again and it still shows the old sample rate although the sound sounds different as it was resampled. Why is that happening?

S. Ramsden · Answer 1 · 2016-11-16T18:04:43.283

22

At the bottom left of the main Audacity screen when you're editing the audio is a drop-down menu labelled "Project Rate (Hz)". If you import, for example, a 96k audio file, the project rate automatically adjusts to 96000. When you resample the track though, say to 48k, the project rate remains 96000. You need to manually lower the project rate with the drop-down menu after resampling the tracks to 48000 (or whatever). When you export the finished audio it does so at the project rate, not the track rate, so you effectively resampled the thing down and back up again. The project rate setting is there for when people are creating multi-track projects, importing from audio files with disparate sample rates.

edited Nov 16 '16 at 18:04

answered Nov 16 '16 at 17:53

S. Ramsden

221
2
3

3

As of version 3.3.1 of audacity it's now possible by the menu Edit/Preferences // Audio Settings/Quality/Project sample rate. – chris May 12 '23 at 18:19
@chris Is there a way to get it back to the bottom left? :( – AyCe May 26 '23 at 22:37
1

As of 3.3.3, the big "audio setup" button on top also takes you to the project sample rate setting. That's probably the intended / more convenient way. – Mingye Wang Jun 15 '23 at 15:53

score 5 · Answer 2 · edited May 13 '18 at 06:19

Steps to down sample:

Open track to be converted (File|Open).
Select Required Project Rate (Drop down box in bottom left corner).
Select the track by clicking on the left side of the display (below the line Format, Rate, Processing) Example - [Stereo,192000HZ-32-bit float].
Select Tracks|Resample
Select required File Hertz Rate (From Drop Down Box).
Save down sampled file using File|Export.

Done!!!

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 08 '12 at 14:07

3

Well there is a bug in audacity so that's why this is happening. In order to change the sample rate you need to use a different program.

answered Feb 08 '12 at 14:07

Radek

261
2
3
9

Any suggestions for an alternative? It's 2016 and I'm still hitting this bug. Seems like sox doesn't do it either. – interstar Sep 10 '16 at 19:01
1

@S. Ramsden's answer appears to be correct. You have to change the sampling rate on both the track and the "Project Rate" field at the bottom of Audacity's main window. Since multiple tracks could potentially all use different sampling rates, Audacity uses the Project Rate when exporting the final combined file. – Cerin Dec 08 '16 at 03:21
This answer is incorrect. From the Audacity manual (https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/selection_toolbar.html#rate) > Changing the project rate in Selection Toolbar immediately changes the sample rate at which new tracks will be recorded or generated in the current project, and at which existing tracks will be played, rendered or **exported**. – Steve Daulton Jul 26 '22 at 13:19

audacity resampling

3 Answers3