WAV file size vs. recording time

[rtcary]

I am a newbie, so there may be something obvious that I overlooked.

I have a track that is 41 minutes in length , yet when I export it as WAV, the file size exceeds the capacity of a CD (867 MB).

The format is 41,100 Hz with 32 bit float.

Am I missing something?

Many thanks....

Todd

[kozikowski]

<<<Am I missing something?>>>

Several somethings.

The capacity of a Music CD is 80 minutes. The Music CD authoring program (which you must use) converts whatever you have into 44100, 16-bit, Stereo. Period. No options. No compression. That's why it always comes out very, very high quality 80 minutes -- or as we're finding out, 79 minutes 55 sec.

You can get a much more accurate correlation between what you have and what you're going to get by changing Audacity Preferences to 44100, 16-bit, Stereo, and do all your work in that. Most people don't need the 32-bit Floating format and it can cause problems downstream.

You can also produce an ISO Data CD. That looks like a little flat, shiny hard drive and you can put anything on there you like. Picture files, spreadsheets, PDFs, MP3s, anything. You can get hours of music on there in MP3 format with one problem. Only computers and special, newer CD players will be able to play them. Chances are, your mum's CD player will not play them. My old truck will not play them.

Koz

[kozikowski]

One followup. For a Data CD, forget the minutes and use the 700 MB number. And don't fall madly in love with getting hours of music on Data CD in MP3 format. Sound Damage goes up as the music filesize goes down. You can smash eight or more hours of music on there, but each song will be mono and sound like a bad voicemail.

If you were on a Mac or had iTunes, you could use Apple's AAC format instead of MP3 and double the music at the same quality level. Compression technology, picture or sound, is a college level course.

Koz

[rtcary]

Koz -

Thank you for your detailed and clear explanation of the in's and out's of Music CD's.

Todd