It works very well!

Despite my concern that it is, indeed, a full-fledged audio editor, the user interface is so compartmentalized that the experience of doing any one single type of job is not overwhelming. I was able to split my file into 30-minute segments without any reference to help files or instructions.

The necessity to re-encode turned out to be a bonus. I was able to convert the file from 128 kbps fixed bitrate to a 64--320 kbps VBR file, and audio quality appears to be considerably improved. I say "appears" because I don't know if it was the re-encoding to higher bitrate VBR, or a different encoding engine, or the big improvements to my computer since listening to the original encoding that is responsible. Filesize is 5.4% larger in VBR, and I chose a high quality setting for the re-encoding. But, even with the little earbuds on the iPod Shuffle, I hear more bass and less sibilance.

It doesn't seem reasonable that just re-encoding the original 128 kbps file into higher bitrate VBR would improve the quality-- that 128 kbps is all there is to begin with. But bass response is considerably enhanced, and sibilance is reduced. Different default parameters on the VBR engine?

The other variable is my computer itself. A few months ago my motherboard was dying: first the PS2 port went away, then the USB-3 ports died, so it was likely that fatal problems would soon emerge. The computer store here in Mexico is accustomed to customers trying to save every peso, so they put in an inexpensive board that was compatible with my CPU and my existing RAM. As it turned out, it was unable to access more than 8GB of RAM.

So, he took back that board and the sound card that went with it (no on-board audio) and I convinced him that I was NOT trying to save money on this upgrade, and he put in a gaming motherboard, a new processor: Wikipedia: The Ryzen 5 3400G is touted as having the world's most powerful integrated graphics on a processor. The chip is equipped with four cores, eight threads and 6MB of cache. It runs with a 3.7 GHz base clock and 4.2 GHz boost clock.,16 GB of whatever the newest type of RAM is, and the results are amazing. I have played a few songs that I am really, really familiar with and I hear nuances of enunciation and breath intakes that I had never heard before.

The graphics are staggering. Even DOOM II now "pops" with richer, deeper color and improved definition.

And speed? MS-Word loads, ready to type, in one-half second. Excel takes a lot longer -- about 3/4 of a second. Not bad for an eight-year old computer, but of course it's like grandfather's axe. Is it the same axe after two new handles and a new blade? I guess the tower case, the power supply and the had drives are all that's left of the original.

Oh, and it is essentially silent in operation. With the previous motherboard it whined and howled every time I made the unreasonable request of it to play DOOM or Quake. (I am such a serious gamer that those are the only games I have in my computer.)

The massive cost of this upgrade: $6,600 pesos. That's about $366 USD. And if/when he sells the returned motherboard and sound card, and possibly my old processor and RAM, I'll get some of that back as well.

Life is good.

tanstaafl.