Joining MP3's

[dfisher052]

There must be a simple way to join MP3's. I have Goldwave, but can't figure out how to do it or even if Goldwave is able to do it. I have a recording that is in 4 parts that I want to combine into 1 so that it runs together gapless. If not Goldwave, then what? I know that Winamp will play them gapless, but I want to put it into an MP3 player that does not play gapless.

[Baldrick]

mp3directcut, use the copy and paste, see https://forum.videohelp.com/topic345309.html#1807851

[dfisher052]

That worked. THANKS!

[DarrellS]

This is easily done in Goldwave also.

Open first mp3
Open 2nd mp3 and choose Edit, select all, copy and paste at end of 1st mp3, close 2nd mp3
Open 3rd mp3 and choose Edit, select all, copy and paste at end of 1st mp3, close 3rd mp3
Click Edit, Select all, click File, Save selection as, mp3 and save new file

[dfisher052]

Baldrick, actually, it didn't work with MP3Directcut. It let me join the first 2, but following the directions you linked to it would not let me add part 3 or 4. I trried every combination with no luck. I'm gonna try DarrellS Goldwave info & see how I do with that.

[byteguy]

I've used all the above and finally settled on Direct MP3 Joiner

It's blindingly fast and easy to use.

[dfisher052]

DarrellS. Followed your instructions exactly, several times, & all it saved was the first MP3. It never did join the other 2.

[t0nee1]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Goldwave re-encode when joining and saving new mp3? In which case MP3Directcut should be your first choice..And BTW,you say it worked for you..

[dfisher052]

When I made the first reply that it worked, it did, but that was only joining 2 MP3's together. After I posted that first reply I then went back into the program & then tried to join the 4 together that I originaly wanted to join & it would not do it. The problem with Goldwave is that following DarrellS instructions when I made the save it would only save the first MP3, it never did join the other 3. And yes, Goldwave does re-encode the file. I would be happy to use MP3Directcut, but so far I can get it to only save the first 2 files. It will not let me add files 3 & 4, using the instructions supplied. I did try several other methods, but nothing worked. If someone else has used the program & had success getting it save more that 2 files I sure would like to hear from them. I did check out the web site but no instructions that I could find.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Try Audacity and use the programs Copy and Paste functions(not Windows).

[t0nee1]

Go back and re-read the steps using MP3DirectCut,it works....

[poisondeathray]

Just open several instances of mp3directcut => copy file 2 => paste into file 1 => copy file 3 => paste into file 1 =>copy file 4 => paste into file 1...etc...

[olyteddy]

And make sure they are all the same bitrate or type (VBR, CBR, Joint Stereo, etc...)

[dfisher052]

They are, but thanks for the headsup.

[DarrellS]

DarrellS. Followed your instructions exactly, several times, & all it saved was the first MP3. It never did join the other 2.

You obviously didn't follow the directions exactly then.

What version are you using? Version 5.22 is a lot harder to use. The instructions I gave you were for version 4.26.

Using version 5.22, you have to make sure you're not closing the file that you just pasted the next file to or you'll just end up with one song. Once you've pasted all the files together, you have to make sure that you choose SELECT ALL and FILE > SAVE SELECTION AS or you'll just save the one file that is highlited and if not careful, overwrite your original file.

I just joined five mp3s. It look 13 seconds to save the file which is 20 minutes and 36 seconds long. Last night when I gave you the instructions, I joined three mp3s with version 4.26.

When you paste the file into another you can choose paste at Finish Marker also which will paste at the end of the last highlighted file. Notice when you paste another file, that the new file will be the only one that is highlighted which is why it is important that you choose select all before saving the file.

[AlanHK]

Baldrick, actually, it didn't work with MP3Directcut. It let me join the first 2, but following the directions you linked to it would not let me add part 3 or 4. I trried every combination with no luck. I'm gonna try DarrellS Goldwave info & see how I do with that.

MP3DirectCut only lets you have one MP3 file open at a time.

However, you can open two or more copies of the program at once.

So open the program (1).
Open again (2).

Use (2) to open a source file, select and copy (control-C), swap to (1), paste.
Go back to (2), open another MP3 file, copy, back to (1), paste, etc.

Finally, in (1) File/"Save all audio" and choose a filename.
(Just "Save" will save a "cue sheet", not an MP3 file.)

[dfisher052]

DarrellS, I'm using version 4.26 of Goldwave. Thanks guys for all the info. I'm gonna be gone for 3 weeks from my computer so I'm gonna have to continue this at a later date. Thanks for all the help.

[DarrellS]

Try Audacity and use the programs Copy and Paste functions(not Windows).

Here is the answer from Audacity to join files. I just joined nine mp3s with it.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=editing&i=join

Foobar will also join multiple files but again, it recodes the file.

File > Add Files > select all the files you want > right click > Convert > Convert to Single File.

MP3DirectCut sounds like the best option since it doesn't recode but the hardest to use. I've tried three times and can't get it to save more than seven minutes of audio. It saved the first and last song but not the six songs in between. As dfisher052 stated, it will only let you join two files at a time so you need to keep saving the file, opening the saved file up and adding another file, save that file and do the same until you get all files joined. That's a lot of work.

Not sure why Goldwave only takes a few seconds where the other programs take a couple of minutes.

Another option which is a lot of work is to make the mp3s into AVIs using a bitmap image and then joining the AVIs and saving a wave file using direct stream copying and changing the extension to mp3. No quality loss here since there is no recode but it's a lot of work also.

[poisondeathray]

MP3DirectCut sounds like the best option since it doesn't recode but the hardest to use. I've tried three times and can't get it to save more than seven minutes of audio. It saved the first and last song but not the six songs in between. As dfisher052 stated, it will only let you join two files at a time so you need to keep saving the file, opening the saved file up and adding another file, save that file and do the same until you get all files joined. That's a lot of work.

You must be doing something wrong. It is very easy to use, at least on XP....

1) Open 4 instances, song 1,2,3,4

2) In song 2 , CTRL-A to select all, CTRL-C to copy, now move to song 1, point and click at the end of the song, CTRL-V to paste.

3) In song 3, CTRL-A to select all, CTRL-C to copy, now move to song 1, at the end of the already appended song 2, CTRL-V to paste

4) In song 4, CTRL-A to select all, CTRL-C to copy, now move to song 1, at the end of the already appended song 3, CTRL-V to paste

5) In instance 1, you will have 4 segements attached end-to-end. File=>Save all audio.

DONE. This takes <30seconds. It doesn't re-encode, the actual saving takes <0.5sec. Tested & working, played the output song, perfectly in winamp

Cheers

[dessieclive]

use Twins File Merger just add files its so easy

[AlanHK]

MP3DirectCut sounds like the best option since it doesn't recode but the hardest to use. I've tried three times and can't get it to save more than seven minutes of audio. It saved the first and last song but not the six songs in between. As dfisher052 stated, it will only let you join two files at a time so you need to keep saving the file, opening the saved file up and adding another file, save that file and do the same until you get all files joined. That's a lot of work.

See my previous post. You just open two copies of the program. And I've used it on files a couple of hours long, never had an issue with "7 minutes"?

[DarrellS]

I did exactly as you said. I had no problem getting all the files into the timeline of the first opened instance of the program but when I saved the file, only the first song and the last song was there. Using only two instances of the program is a lot easier than opening one instance for every file.

I'll try again with a different album folder and see what happens. The songs I tried to join were the same files that Goldwave, Audacity and Foobar joined without a hitch.

[DarrellS]

I tried 4 more files and it worked just fine. I looked at the files that I tried to join before and one was 160kbps while the others were 128. Not sure why that would've caused it to only save the first and last track but that's all I see different in the files. It didn't give me any warnings although it did on another album I tried to join.

I may have made the mistake that dfisher052 made with Goldwave by not selecting all before using File > save All Audio. BTW, if you choose Select All under Edit, you can use either Save All Audio or Save Selection.

[jgg]

I see that this thread is a million years old, but I just found THE easiest program for this purpose, and it's free, so I thought I'd post it.

http://www.shchuka.com/software/mergemp3/

[AlanHK]

I see that this thread is a million years old, but I just found THE easiest program for this purpose, and it's free, so I thought I'd post it.

http://www.shchuka.com/software/mergemp3/

It's crazy to post to a 5-year-old thread.
But if you're sincere, and not spamming, submit it to the tools list:

https://www.videohelp.com/toolsedit?newtool=1