We do a bunch of stuff with audio files in our family. Lots of converting, cleaning up, etc. I’ll be adding more tools for this later.

One of the things that I do with audio files is listen to them (duh…) while I do the dishes. One of the things I listen to the most is audio teachings/messages, etc. My cheap little MP3 player works fine but is not too sophisticated. So, if I’m listening to a 45 minute message while I do the dishes for, say, 25 minutes, I like to start the next time where I left off. Obviously this is bit different situation than simply background music and playing a random set list. My MP3 player simply starts on the same file it finished on. So with my 45 minute message, I’m back to the beginning and figuring out where I am and then getting there again is a hassle.

Enter mp3DirectCut, by Martin Pesch…

mp3DirectCut is an application that allow you to do a number of editing tasks on MP3 files directly. There are zillions of fine audio editing tools that import/export mp3 format files but do all their editing tasks in a WAV format. This is the logical way to go in most situations. But if you just want to do some quick trimming (and several other helpful quick tasks) but directly on the MP3 file with no nagging import/export wait time, mp3DirectCut may be your answer. Your file (even those big 45 minute messages) is loaded immediately and you start to work.

Back to dish washing…

I though that if I could split my files into 5 minute segments, then my dish washing dream would come true. I could stop in the middle of one of the 5 minute segments and when I restarted my listening (next batch of dirty dishes), I’d restart at the beginning of that 5 minute segment…not the beginning of the 45 minute message! Well, mp3DirectCut has a feature called “AutoCue” which allows you to split your file in to segments of equal length. You open your file, choose AutoCue for a length of 5 minutes, and save the split segments as individual MP3 files (which it does with some great file naming features). Load up the MP3 player and start washing your dishes! Great stuff!

You can find mp3DirectCut at: https://www.mpesch3.de