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What Is the Best Way To Record Voice for Use In an MP3 or MP4 Format?

I am wanting to record my voice for a podcast. I would like to know what is the best way to do this. The podcast has to be in MP3 or MP4 when I upload it, so I also may need to know how to convert what I record on the MacBook Air M1 to that format.

What is the best app to use for this task. How can I get all the recordings into a MP3 or MP4 format.
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John Lawrence

Comments: 3 Responses to “What Is the Best Way To Record Voice for Use In an MP3 or MP4 Format?”

    1 year ago

    Which aspects of recording are you asking about? If you mean the software, then you can use GarageBand for this. Or, Voice Memos. Or, get the free third-party app Audacity. Any will work fine. Not sure if you need to do any post-processing or anything. I would use what you are familiar with if you already have used something in the past.

    You can also use GarageBand or Voice Memos on your iPhone to record. That could be desirable if it is the difference between a bunch of people sitting around in a comfortable living room vs around a desk in a cramped office.

    As for exporting to mpeg-4 (m4a) format, any of these should work for that. You'd get a file that should be usable by any podcast or streaming system.

    Probably what is more important are factors like the microphone, a quiet room, how to record multiple people, etc. If the recording is taking place in multiple locations, then you'll need to use some online system like Zoom to record it.

    I don't really record podcasts like that, so you probably also want to ask the advice of a pro sound person who can recommend microphones or a sound board for recording. I just don't know what level of quality you are looking for here.

    Sherry Wilmes
    11 months ago

    My question is a variation on this. I have a series of recorded Apple Voice Memos on iPhone 12/latest ios. I want to convert them to mp4 o the apple version of that and maybe ultimately to text. How do I do that?

    11 months ago

    Sherry: Is there a reason you need them in "mp4" format and what mp4 format exactly, as there are many many different types. Do you only have an iPhone, or do you also have a Mac? If you only have an iPhone, you can tap on a Voice Memo, tap the three-dots button, and then Save To Files. You'll get a .m4a file which is an audio-only MPEG-4 file (is that what you mean by mp4?) Then you can use one of many online/app services to convert audio files like that to text. Otter.ai for instance.

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