Audacity conversion to MP3 ... Error

[Banzai]

I've got an audio file that I'm trying to convert to MP3 in Audacity but when I import it I get the following error message:

"File in ULAW format"

Anyone know what that is about?

[sterno]

ulaw is an audio format. It looks like Audacity is telling you that it can't import it. I think Audacity can only load standard WAV files, MP3, and Ogg Vorbis.

[Banzai]

As far as I can tell the file I'm trying to import IS a wav file.

[housepig]

".wav" is kind of like ".avi" - there's more than one type of file that can end in ".wav".

[MOVIEGEEK]

U-Law(4 or 8bit) is one form of WAV,use CDex to convert.

[Banzai]

Ok, I've converted the file in CDex and it plays in WMP as an mp3. But when I put the recorded disc in my mp3 player the track does not advance. It appears my player recognizes it as an MP3 file but the track time sits at 00:00 and it never plays.

[MOVIEGEEK]

What MP3 settings did you use? Most portables will only play 44.1khz,>64kbps CBR with ID3v1 tags.

[Banzai]

Ok I'll try that. I think I used the 44,000kbps setting which I use for video audio.

[Banzai]

Ok, I've got CDex set at 64kbps and ID3v1 (I guess this is the format for the scrolling menu on my player) and it still won't play. Not to mention the fact that the file size is 41MB which was the size as a wma. I thought mp3 conversion was supposed to compress the size.

Any other suggestions?

[MOVIEGEEK]

What are you using to play?If it's a portable did you select Data and burn DAO,closed?
Your MP3 is 41MB!? Something is definately wrong,what I said was your MP3 bitrate should be at least 64kbps and CBR.

[Banzai]

I don't think there is anything wrong with the file. It's basicly a seminar that is 1.5 hrs in length.

I used Veritas RecordNow DX and selected "record data". Not sure what you mean by "DAO, closed". As far as I can tell the only bitrate I could select was the minimum which I set at 64kbps. What is "CBR"?

[tompika]

Not to mention the fact that the file size is 41MB which was the size as a wma. I thought mp3 conversion was supposed to compress the size.

Because ulaw is already compressed

Compressed WAV format. U-Law (or CCITT standard G.711) is an audio compression scheme and international standard in telephony applications. u-Law is very similar to A-Law, a variation of u-Law found in European systems. This encoding format compresses original 16-bit audio down to 8 bits (for a 2:1 compression ratio) with a dynamic range of about 13-bits. Thus, u-Law encoded waveforms have a higher s/n ratio than 8-bit PCM, but at the price of a bit more distortion than the original 16-bit audio. The quality is higher than you would get with 4-bit ADPCM formats. Encoding and decoding is rather fast and generally, widely supported

I would use Nero Burning Rom / Extras / Encode files
128kb/s CBR (Constant BitRate) just to make sure its compatible
(will be 80MB though)

Then burning with Nero Express / CD recorder / Music / MP3 disc