I’m using Windows 10 Pro 21H2, Audacity 3.1.3, and FFmpeg for Audacity 2.2.2.
I’m also using MP3tag 3.11 to check the bitrate of M4A files.
If I open a 128-bit M4A file in Audacity and export it as M4A, setting Quality to 128-bit, the file size increases from 118MB to 276MB, and MP3tag reports that the output file bitrate is 308 kbit/sec.
I downloaded “regular” FFmpeg 5.1.1-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev and used this command to convert the output file back to 128-bit:
MP3tag confirms that it’s 128 kbit/sec. The file size is down to 115MB.
So I’ve got what I need, but thought I should let someone know that the M4A bitrate setting doesn’t seem to work! Or am I missing some setting to get it to work?
I sadly suspect that this means one if the future 3.2.x and > not > the upcoming 3.2.0 scheduled for next week. > >
Fortunately it’s not something I need often.
Regardless, I also want to give at shout out to @steve who kindly let me know that the bug has been reported and provided a link, even though it’s probably reported in previous threads here. Audacity is one of maybe 20 programs I use every week, so I’m not steeped in the current details. Steve (and probably many others here) do a great service by keeping up with the product and especially by acting as an interface between the forum and Github. I can’t tell you how many times I have been dissuaded from reporting a problem because it means filing a bug report or contacting support. Can I do it? Yes. Is it worth an hour or two of my time to carefully duplicate, document, find the right repository, learn the reporting rules, etc.? Rarely. I love it when super-users generously share their knowledge and act as a super-index, recalling what’s been reported where and spreading that knowledge around. Thanks!
