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  1. Banned
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    What is the best audio editing software that supports the M4A file? Thanks.
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  2. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    Editing how? What kind of editing? Simple overall gainchange? Simple cuts/joins?...

    Scott
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  3. I'm a Super Moderator johns0's Avatar
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    I think,therefore i am a hamster.
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    Originally Posted by Cornucopia View Post
    Editing how? What kind of editing? Simple overall gainchange? Simple cuts/joins?...

    Scott
    To edit bits out.
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    Originally Posted by johns0 View Post
    Thanks but I hate that software. Both version don't allow me to save. When I look up a tutorial everyone in the tutorials always has a version with more options than me so the tutorial is useless.
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  6. I'm a Super Moderator johns0's Avatar
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    Sounds like you don't know how to use audacity,i never had issues exporting files in any version,you dont save the audio,you only save the project.
    I think,therefore i am a hamster.
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  7. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    Make sure you have the most recent version, and make sure you've added the extra support provided by using ffmpeg as a plugin.

    Note: using MOST editors (including Audacity) to edit m4a/aac files will necessitate a re-encode, as they aren't "smart-rendering" capable for m4a. Sometimes not even for mp3. If you need that kind of capability, try mp3directcut. Even though it has mp3 in it's name, it can now work with m4a (aka aac) also. And don't let the filename filter fool you - if it doesn't see your files right off the bat, rename the extension.

    Scott
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  8. Audacity: Yes, you need the ffmpeg plugin.

    http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_installation_and_plug_ins.html#ffdown

    And be sure to use File -> Export, not File -> Save.
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  9. I'd also recommend trying Mp3DirectCut. You'll need to download the appropriate AAC decoder (to hear what you're doing), but it'll cut, copy and paste AAC audio the same as it does for MP3 and save it without re-encoding. I'm pretty sure Mp3DirectCut will point you in the direction of libfaad2.dll the first time you try to open AAC audio.

    It won't open M4A files as such, but assuming the M4A contains AAC audio you can extract it first, then open it with Mp3DirectCut. You can extract the audio (demux) with MyMP4BoxGUI.... when trying to open an M4A file to extract the AAC, change the drop down box from "supported" to "all files" otherwise you'll only see MP4s. It'll open M4A files fine though.

    When you're done you need to put the AAC audio back into a container. If you don't care which one, it's nice and easy to open AAC audio with MKVMergeGUI and save it as MKA. If you particularly need M4A.... well I don't do that much myself. Video to Video Converter can open MKA files and remux them as M4A (copying the existing audio). Maybe there's an easier way.

    That's the only way I know of to effectively edit AAC audio without re-encoding it. Extract it from the M4A, edit, put it back in an M4A or MKA etc.
    If you want to re-encode, you can convert it to a wave file with lots of conversion programs and edit the wave file with a program such as Wavosaur, resave it, then convert it back to AAC/M4A.
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  10. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    For MP4/M4a re-muxing, I'd just use Yamb or QT Pro, or ffmpeg.

    Scott
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