Why must MP3 Trimmer analyze each file?
MP3 Trimmer features an advanced MPEG audio parser that validates the integrity of each frame of the MP3 file. It's necessary that every frame is intact if you are going to edit the file, otherwise you might end up with a totally messed up file. Skipping this validation might work fine in 99 out of 100 sessions, but few people wish to gamble with their MP3s. In addition, it's often valuable to be alerted if the MP3 file is in bad shape. If the file is not too damaged, MP3 Trimmer is often capable to repair the file with the built-in repair feature.
Is it possible to edit AAC/mp4-files?
No, the AAC/mp4 format is very different from MP3. All internal routines is specially written to handle the MP3 audio format. In addition, AAC-files downloaded from the iTunes Music Store are DRM-protected, which makes it impossible to alter them without violating copyright laws.
How come there is no quality loss?
MP3 Trimmer works with the actual binary data and extracts the audio frames at their boundaries. In order to do this with precision, MP3 Trimmer needs to analyze and 'learn' all frame boundaries when it imports the file. Incorrect editing of MP3s will inevitably result in a corrupt file. During waveform analysis, gain adjustments, and fade-in/out MP3 Trimmer needs to 'dig even deeper' inside the data (to single bit level) in order to parse and alter the bits necessary - thats why such actions takes somewhat longer to perform. But - the big reward is that the audio quality of each single frame (an average song consists of almost 10,000 frames) is exactly the same as the original!
My music file will not work with MP3 Trimmer!
MP3 Trimmer is specially written to perform binary editing of compressed MPEG audio files (Layer 1, 2 and 3, i.e "MP3"). If you try to import other audio files (WAV, Aiff, etc) it will simply not work. There are plenty of regular audio editors available for this.
Trimmer says my MP3 needs repair, but it plays fine in iTunes...
Many playback application (like iTunes) have built-in "error-correction" during playback. Instead of rejecting the song, or simply halt the playback, it will skip, or fill-in, bad parts during playback. Very often, this is hardly noticable to the listener. On the other hand, when editing the file, these bad parts could really mess things up!
Why can't I join these two files together?
When joining MPEG audio files, there are some audio characteristics (like bitrate, frequency, etc) that needs to match in order to join the files correctly. In order to conform to MP3 standards, and be sure that the joined file will play in all applications and portable MP3 players, these restrictions cannot be overridden. More in-depth information about joining is available by clicking the Info-button in the Joiner window.
Could I change a song from stereo to mono without re-encoding?
Unfortunately, this can only be achieved by re-encoding the files. The MPEG compression algorithms are simply too complex. When a file is encoded in a particular audio mode (like stereo or mono) every single frame in the file contains information about this.
I want to reduce the size of my files without changing the length!
Unfortunately, this can only be achieved by re-encoding the files. You need to convert the MP3 files to Aiff, and then encode to MP3 again, but with a lower bitrate (needless to say, audio quality will suffer). This can be done with iTunes, but if you need more encoding options there are freeware alternatives as well (try versiontracker.com).
Should I encode my files to MP3, AAC, m4a or what..!?
This is a reoccuring question, and my answer is always to investigate each option thouroughly, and then decide - before doing massive encodings. Each technique has its pro's and con's. "MP3" is the only format that will work on almost eveything imaginable, but you can achieve smaller files with the same audio quality in other formats, but perhaps at the cost of incompatibility with various hardware and players.
I have written to you, but got no response...
Unlike big software companies, I develop MP3 Trimmer on my spare time. I have a regular day-time work and a family as well. Be patient, or in urgent matters, send me a reminder about your email.
I have paid for MP3 Trimmer, but not received a license
In any normal case you should receive your serial number within a day or two. If you still have not received your license, and get no response when sending e-mails to me, please consider using an alternative e-mail address. It's very frustrating, for both me and the customer, when a mailfunctioning e-mail address makes correspondence impossible.