For songs, is it recommended that you convert mp3 to wav?

For songs, is it recommended that you convert the mp3 file to wav? Or does it matter?

It's always better to convert mp3 songs to WAV and 48 kHz for editing.

It's always better to convert mp3 songs to WAV and 48 kHz for editing.

+1000

I favor converting everything to 24/48 .wav files before importing into Resolve.

I don't convert them, but I agree it is better to do so. I usually am just dropping an mp3 into a channel, perhaps trimming the start and end and having a fade at the beginning and end. If I was doing more complex audio editing I would probably convert them

Also recommend to do so, although sometimes a lot of work, if the original material is available as mp3 only. Best is of course to make all recording in wav format.

One of the main reasons I use music from Epidemic Sound. All of the tracks are 24bit 48k WAV. I steer clear of MP3s.

It's always better to convert mp3 songs to WAV and 48 kHz for editing.

Can you explain why this is? MP3 is lossy, and WAV is lossless - what's the difference between converting it ahead of time vs. letting Resolve convert it (and then re-encode) upon rendering? Is it the case where Resolve's decoding is inferior to some other tool that you might choose to use?

Using proxy files for H.264 or H.265 footage I get. But surely decoding the MP3 on the fly for playback while scrubbing and editing isn't so high as to have much effect on performance...?

It's always better to convert mp3 songs to WAV and 48 kHz for editing.

Can you explain why this is? MP3 is lossy, and WAV is lossless - what's the difference between converting it ahead of time vs. letting Resolve convert it (and then re-encode) upon rendering? Is it the case where Resolve's decoding is inferior to some other tool that you might choose to use?

Using proxy files for H.264 or H.265 footage I get. But surely decoding the MP3 on the fly for playback while scrubbing and editing isn't so high as to have much effect on performance...?

Well, over decades I've experienced all sorts of hiccups with editing suites when mixing in WAV and mp3 and different sample rates. It'll almost always happen when you are in the middle of a heavy project, never in the beginning. It seems to be connected to a relationship between the editing suite, audio drivers, operating system and audio hardware.

If the mp3s are encoded with 48 kHz there might be little or never problems, but with 44.1 kHz I've experienced problems almost every time sooner or later.

While it might look like mp3 decoding and sample rate conversion on the fly is a simple task for nowadays hardware - don't underestimate that audio has a much higher bound to time sync than video.
Video is synced e.g. 24 times per second or every 41,667 ms per frame, while audio gets synced 48.000 times per second or 0.0208 ms per sample.

Hi and good morning,
I am doing lots of music videos.
First question: where do you get your files from? Standard for every recording and mixing is wav, if the purpose is pure audio 44.1, if video 48 khz.
Meanwhile I switched all my hardware to 48 khz and convert the result to 44.1 if needed.
Though resolve is offering fairlight I am using reaper for recording and mixing and render the audio to import in resolve as single file.
Greetings, horst

Well, over decades I've experienced all sorts of hiccups with editing suites when mixing in WAV and mp3 and different sample rates. It'll almost always happen when you are in the middle of a heavy project, never in the beginning. It seems to be connected to a relationship between the editing suite, audio drivers, operating system and audio hardware.

Ah, OK - I can understand that. Thanks for the explanation!