n-Track Frequently Asked Questions

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Why doesn't n-Track allow to use mp3 files instead of wave files for the tracks audio data?

Compressed audio formats, such as mp3, real-audio or wma, are suited for distributing audio files over the internet or in any situation when the size of regular wave files will make their transmission impractical. On the other hand this formats achieve high compression ratios using algorightms that degrade the audio quality, and so they aren't suited for storing audio data in situations where the sound quality must be kept as high as possible. Also an mp3 file requires a sizeable amount of cpu time for the decoding process. If you multiply that for say 10 or 20 tracks, you'll have a fast P-III struggling just for reading the audio files, without any CPU power left for using effects. And since todays entry level PCs come with at least 20 Gb hard disks, the size advantage of mp3 files stored on the hard disk has become irrelevant. For this reasons n-Track Studio doesn’t support compressed file formats for recording or importing tracks, but it only allows conversion from finished wave files (i.e. created after mixing down) to mp3, ogg or wma.

How can I import mp3/wma or other compressed formats into n-Track?

n-Track can directly import .mp3, .wav, .aif, .ogg, .flac files. You can convert from other formats to .wav files that can be imported into n-Track for example with the free tool DbPowerAmp

I can't save to mp3 or convert existing .wav files to mp3

To get n-Track (6.0 or later) to create an mp3 file simply select "File/Save As" and select .mp3 as the extension of the file to save to, from the "Save As type" extension drop-down box.

n-Track Studio uses a third party mp3 encoder called Lame Encoder. The program will prompt you to download the encoder on the first attempt to convert to an mp3 file. For instructions on how to install Lame Encoder please see n-Track can't find mp3 encoder even after I've installed it.

n-Track can't find mp3 encoder even after I've installed it

You can download the Lame Encoder dll from https://ntrack.com/redist/lame.php
Then
- double click on the downloaded file
- select all the files in the zip folder (for example press Ctrl+A), then right click on the selection and select "Copy" from the popup menu
- create a new folder on the computer disk (for example My Documents/Lame), enter into the new folder and select "Paste" from the popup menu
- then select the file when n-Track asks you to find the Lame encoder dll.
If you have previously installed a different version of Lame encoder that for some reason doesn't work correctly with n-Track, before following the procedure above close n-Track, remove the previous version of the Lame dll from the computer disk (or move it to a different, backup location), then follow the procedure above, making sure that n-Track asks you again to find the location of the Lame dll.
n-Track has been tested with Lame version 3.97 and later.

64 bit: Note that the 64 bit version of n-Track requires a 64 bit version of the Lame DLL, it will not accept/work with the regular 32 bit version of the Lame DLL

How can I remove vocals from an existing song?

Basic Vocal removal works by recognizing that on most popular music vocals are panned in the center of the mix, which means that the same vocal signal is in the left and right stereo channels. You can remove a common signal by subtracting the left channel from the right channel (or vice-versa).
The result will be a signal made of elements that are different in the left and right channels.
To do this with n-Track you can:
- Import the song as a stereo audio file (wav, mp3 etc.)
- split the stereo track into two separate tracks (Track/Split stereo track menu command)
- then select the EQ button on one of the splitted mono tracks
- activate the "phase shift" button in the upper part of the EQ box. The 'phase shift' button inverts the track audio signal (i.e. multitples it by -1)
- you end up with the two tracks being subtracted
Alternatively you can use a 3rd party Vocal Removal plugin such as:

Can I use n-Track to remove a vocals from an mp3 or to separate an audio file into separate tracks?

Mixing audio tracks is a non-reversible process, so you can't “unmix" a song into separate tracks or remove vocal tracks. There are a few 3rd party audio plug-ins (that you can use inside n-Track) which achieve decent results removing/extracting vocals: try searching the internet for ‘vocal remover VST plugin'.