Avidemux+cannot+use+that+file+as+audio+track !!hot!!

If your audio file is shorter or longer than your video, Avidemux might not know what to do with it, especially if you're trying to append or replace audio without re-encoding. It may reject the file outright to avoid unexpected behavior.

| Problem | Solution | |---------|----------| | MP3 VBR | Convert to CBR MP3 or WAV | | AAC from MP4 | Convert to WAV | | Opus / OGG | Convert to WAV | | 96 kHz sample rate | Resample to 48 kHz | | Multichannel audio | Downmix to stereo | | Video file as source | Extract audio to WAV first | | Still fails | Use (always works) |

The audio file itself might be corrupted or improperly encoded. Solutions to the "Cannot Use That File" Error

To simply replace the audio in a video file without re-encoding, you can use a command like this: avidemux+cannot+use+that+file+as+audio+track

Since Avidemux cannot magically interpret incompatible files, you will need to prepare the audio track using a third-party tool before loading it. Method 1: Convert to a Standard Format (The Easiest Fix)

One user described this exact scenario: they recorded a 1-hour video with OBS, needed to replace a 2-minute section of audio, and left the rest untouched. The solution was to use the method described above. They went to Audio → Save Audio , imported the resulting file into Audacity, edited it as needed, exported it as a 16-bit low-endian PCM WAV file, and then added this WAV file as an external audio track in Avidemux via Audio → Select Track → ...Add audio track . This approach successfully replaced the audio for the entire video.

Since Avidemux is an all-in-one tool, you can actually use Avidemux itself to convert the file before you import it. If your audio file is shorter or longer

The error occurs because many common audio files, like those downloaded from online stores or exported from editors like Audacity, are saved in a container. An .m4a file is a typical example; it’s an MP4 container holding an AAC stream. Similarly, an MP3 file with an .mp3 extension should be a raw stream, but if it contains extensive metadata (like ID3 tags), Avidemux can get confused and reject it. The key point is that Avidemux does not support containerized audio files.

Avidemux works reliably with:

ffmpeg -i input_video.mp4 -i input_audio.mp3 -c:v copy -c:a aac -map 0:v:0 -map 1:a:0 output.mp4 Solutions to the "Cannot Use That File" Error

I can give you the exact conversion settings or console commands for your file types. Share public link

The most common culprit?

Avidemux's demuxers are built to parse container formats that contain both audio and video streams. They rely on the presence of a video track to properly initialize and read the file's structure. An audio-only file breaks this assumption, causing the demuxer to fail.