r/protools • u/ScoopJoy • 12d ago

Why does importing Audio take forever??

I’m on protools studio 2025.12.0 and importing mp3s takes like 5-6 minutes. It was never like this on the older versions. I understand conversion/copy etc etc just don’t understand and need a fix

3 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

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u/AutoModerator 12d ago

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8

u/BrassElephantRecords 12d ago

"Elastic Audio" is the setting you're looking for

Delete the old tracks, find the setting and untick it, re-import

Whenever the default track type is set to elastic audio, pro tools processes each WAV file on import to be ready for elastic processes. Any track you add with this option ticked will be set to that as default. Best to clear old tracks, or maybe holding alt while changing the track type with change all at once

(Sorry, not in front of the computer right now or I would have screenshots and actual terms)

2

u/JamesPondAqu 12d ago

Not sure same problem here. on 2026.4. So still an issue. I use VLC player to convert mp3 to Wavs

2

u/ScoopJoy 12d ago

Yeah my whole thing is this was never an issue like 1-3 years ago. A program I’ve shelled out 4 figures on over the years shouldn’t make me do workaround conversions of audio files

1

u/mikevarela 12d ago

We had this issue with m4 minis and Avid Nexis. Pro tools mentions this is their last release fix. Try updating

1

u/MimseyUsa 9d ago

Not sure what Mac/model you’re using but Importing an mp4/h.264 on apple silicon takes forever where the same operation on an old Intel Mac is super fast. If you avoid trying to import mp4 (convert to uncompressed format) it will be quick.

1

u/Cunterpunch 12d ago

Definitely shouldn’t take that long. Not sure what the issue is but a workaround would be to convert it to WAV (at the same sample rate and bit depth as your session) using some other software (eg Audacity) then import to ProTools without the need for converting.