KHz Rate for podcasts

Special Interest Groups Audio Processing
1

Hi,

I have a Drupal-based website and have begun to experiment with podcasts. However, when I load them up, I get a message, “This file is not compatible with the Flash audio player. Flash can only play MP3 files with a sample rate of 11, 22 or 44KHz.”

So, given those choices could someone suggest the best KHz rate for podcasts? (They are speech – not music) The rate I presently have is 32 but Ill have to change that I suppose.

Thanks for any help.

2

Audacity’s default sample rate of 32-bit floating causes problems now and again by making MP3 music files that not everybody can play.

Reset Audacity preferences to 44100, 16-bit, Stereo and try that. That’s the digital standard for Music CDs.

Koz

3

Hi, thanks for the tip :slight_smile: although I may not need 44kHZ since it is speech, not music.

On a related subject, let us say some one gives me an MP3 at 44kHZ and I wish to reduce the speed on Audacity. I import it, then reduce the audacity (aup) file to say, 22kHZ? My problem is that the sound gets distorted so much that it sounds like someone snoring.

Is there a way to slow (or increase) kHZ speeds on audacity without distorting the sound?

Gid

4

There’s a festival of misinformation.

The AUP file is an Audacity Project Manager. It’s not a sound file. If you want to create a sound file, you need to Export one – and I would. I do constant simple production in three different Audacity versions and I’ve never used a Project except to explain it to someone else. Export as WAV for a stable, self-contained sound file.

<<<an MP3 at 44kHZ and I wish to reduce the speed on Audacity.>>>

To do that you would select the clip and Effect > Change Speed.

However, what you probably really want is reduce the sample rate from 44100 to 22050. You can do that with the Project Sample Rate setting in the little window lower left. The fidelity of the show will dive if you do that leaving you with quality a little better than AM radio. Export to get a new sound file.

However what you really, really, really want is to produce an MP3 at a smaller file size. You can do that with the MP3 export settings in Audacity 1.3.8. In that case, you should leave the basic show in as high a fidelity as you can muster and let the compressor (MP3) take care of all the work. Compressors like MP3 always strive to preserve the high quality of the original work. If the quality of the original work is garbage, then that’s what gets compressed. The only exception to that is producing in Mono instead of Stereo.

Koz