Installing Audacity on Windows

13 March 2007

Audacity is a cross-platform, open source audio editor.

  1. Download Audacity and the LAME binaries (for encoding to MP3)
  2. Run the Audacity installer
  3. Unzip the LAME package
  4. Move the lame_enc.dll file to the plugins folder for Audacity; by default, c:\Program Files\Audacity\Plugins
  5. Run Audacity, click the record button and then the stop button
  6. File > Export as MP3
  7. When Audacity complains about LAME, click the button to locate the library
  8. Browse for the lame_enc.dll file, which you should have moved to c:\Program Files\Audacity\Plugins
  9. Enjoy using Audacity!

2 Responses to “Installing Audacity on Windows”

  1. cris

    I found recently that, while the installation of Audacity and LAME is not difficult for me, it is difficult for some tech-challenged users I have been helping. I created a one-step installer that installs Audacity, copies the lame encoder and inserts the registry key so Audacity knows the location of the LAME codec, and wrote a step-by-step tutorial here:

    http://www.thelifeledger.com/2007/04/18/installing-audacity-and-lame-in-one-step/

    I suspect this installer app is not distributable due to patents protecting the mp3 format, but when you’re installing on multiple computers or getting a tech-challenged person interested in Audacity, every confusing step eliminated makes it that much easier.

  2. Big IDEA » Blog Archive » League CIT 2007 links

    […] The blog post and comment for creating an installer for Audacity that includes the LAME mp3 encoder can be found here. […]

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