14 DAY TRIAL // Listening to music has always been a favorite pastime for many and, these days, with all the advances in technology, it is becoming so for even more. Portable devices, such as MP3 players, with ever increasing storage capabilities, allow us to carry more and more audio files so we can enjoy several hours of our preferred music. For those who like to listen to their songs playing without any fade outs or breaks between tracks, there?s the simple solution of creating a mix of more than a few MP3s stitched together. This way, you can link more files in the order you want them to be played, without having to use the player?s functions. Just load and play!
There are many applications that can join audio files, but only a handful of them don?t require you paying a single cent. Such a tool is Meda MP3 Joiner, a freeware utility that helps you easily merge music files, and even write ID3 tags for each mix you create. This software is plain and simple, as all you need to do is load and merge the MP3 files. In fact, the only "supplementary" feature is the built-in ID3 tag editor.
The interface of Meda MP3 Joiner is very easy to understand, having been designed to be functional in the hands of all computer users. The emphasis was obviously placed on practical aspects, namely, functionality and effortlessness in use, with only the necessary commands. Consequently, you can load the MP3 files with no trouble at all, choose the output directory, and save the merged audio file.
The application allows you to move the loaded tracks and to arrange them in the exact order you want them to be merged. You can also write ID3 tags to better identify the audio file but, first, you need to activate this feature from the Preferences tab you?ll find by accessing the File menu, or from the commands toolbar available in the main window.
As far as file handling is concerned, it?s worth noting that Meda MP3 Joiner offers you the possibility to use shortcut keys in order to change the current place of the selected MP3 file sequence. So, to move the highlighted audio track(s) up in the list, you can simply press CTRL and UP. Conversely, the CTRL + DOWN key combination will make your selected songs move down in the sequence.
The saved tracks sound identically with the original files, that is to say, there is no loss in terms of quality, mainly because Meda MP3 Joiner doesn?t need to decode and then re-encode the music tracks. The processing speed is also remarkably good, as it took it under 5 seconds to merge 21 minutes of audio. Now, imagine just how fast you can create a 7 or 8-hour mix with all your favorite songs!
The ID3 tag editor window will enable you to input the necessary information to better distinguish the unique characteristics of your MP3s. Consequently, you can add the basic Album, Artist and Title data, as well as the Year and an additional comment for that specific track. Essentially, this is all you need to know about a song in order to easily differentiate it from the other music files in your collection.
As the application is so intuitive and easy to use, the help file that comes with it plainly answers three possible questions you may have in reference to the actual usage of the software. This minimalism is also evident in terms of system resources used, an area where Meda MP3 Joiner is barely noticeable. However, this marked simplicity is not so welcomed as regards the software?s extra features, since, as noted above, there is none except for the tag editor. However, for a plain MP3 merger, this tool definitely does the right job.
The Good
The main strong points of this utility are the ease of use and high operating speed. A big plus is also the fact that Meda MP3 Joiner is very light on both RAM and CPU usage.
The Bad
On the downside, I noted the lack of some basic audio playing and editing features that should have come bundled with the package. I was rather surprised not to find any possibility of listening music files from within the main window of the software.
Also, it would have been very nice to have the possibility of choosing at least the start and end times for each loaded track so any unwanted silence/pause could have been simply removed.
Furthermore, there?s the problem of the Spartan interface of Meda MP3 Joiner, which makes it not too appealing, given that it features rather small buttons to operate the application?s functions.
The Truth
Play, Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind. These are the basic functions that are missing, along with the MP3 trimming options that would have made a great tool. On the other hand, Meda MP3 Joiner works like a charm if all you want to do is merge a bunch of music tracks into one large mix you can then transfer to a portable device and enjoy hours of good music.
So, all things considered, I think the balance between great speed and ease of use on one side, and the lack of playing and editing functions on the other make for a good, simple utility that can save you lots of time when all you need to do is join together several audio files.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
