n-Track Frequently Asked Questions

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9. Mp3 encoding, CD burning, importing audio

• How can I create two or more CD tracks that cross-fade into each other, without silence in between?
  
  You can do this with n-Track using the crossfade function (overlapping the two wave files on the same track and pressing the crossfade button) or alternating the songs to be mixed in two separate tracks and using the volume drawing to apply the fades. Then you would be able to create a final wave file with the whole mix (File/Mixdown command) and use it to burn a CD. Some CD-R programs allows you to create multiple CD tracks from one wave file specifying each track start (index) time. Otherwise you can manually split the wave file in pieces, using n-Track's cut and paste functions. To do this efficiently it's better to start cutting from the end of the song. When you physically create the CD, make sure you use the "Disc At Once" burning mode (which is not supported by some older CD-R device). "Track At Once" mode always introduces 2 seconds (or sometimes less) of silence between CD tracks.
  
  
• 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
  
  
• How can I import tracks from audio CDs?
  
  You can import tracks from audio CDs with the Add Channel/Import from Audio CD menu command (n-Track Studio version 4.1.5 and later)
  
  
• How can save my song to an CD audio track?
  
  n-Track Studio v4.0 and later has built-in support for burning wave files to CD audio tracks. You can open the "Burn to CD" window with the View/CD Burning menu command. You can then drag (for example from the recently used wave files window) or import the wave files to be burned into the tracks list window. You can also mixdown a song and directly burn it to CD checking the "Burn audio CD track" option in the mixdown dialog box.
  
  
• 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 burn a single n-Track project (i.e. .sng file) into an audio CD with multiple tracks?
  
  You can mixdown sections of the n-Track project to separate wave files, one for each song you want to appear on the audio CD, then import the resulting .wav files into the n-Track "View/CD Burning" window.
  To mixdown a section of an n-Track project to a .wav file:
  
  • select the section you want to mixdown by dragging on the timeline axis. You can use markers to precisely define the beginning and ending points of each song and then right click between the markers and select "Select between markers" from the popup menu
  • select the File/Mixdown menu commad, select an output file, click on "More options" and make sure that the "From / to" option is active in the "Interval to mixdown" pane
  
  Make sure that the mixdown format is stereo, 16 bit, 44100 hz, as that is the "native" format used by audio CD tracks.
  
  

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