reduce size of mp3 files

[shinnen]

Hi All,
I have about 60 songs between 8 and 12 mbs in size. I'd like to reduce their size so that I can get them all onto my wife's mp3 player. Is there a way of doing this?
Thanks,
..... john

[kozikowski]

You can give it a shot, but I don't think you can do it in batch mode. You need to do one at a time -- someone will correct me.

Install Audacity 1.3.13 and the Lame software package from the same web page.

http://audacityteam.org/download/

Open one of the songs and Export As MP3. Leave the default value of 128 for quality and see how large the file is. If it's too big, export again and use a smaller quality value. Many people start hearing compression damage at around 64 for a stereo show. Listen critically at each test for gargling, bubbling and honking. That's what MP3 compression damage sounds like.

Now the wet blanket. How long are the songs and what format are they in now? If we're talking already compressed acts of an opera, then all the rules change. The above values and tools work for a 3 minute song. A very fuzzy generality is a 3 minute song in 3MB. That's with AAC compression, not MP3, but you may get similar results in MP3.

Koz

[shinnen]

Hi Koz,
Thanks for the suggestion, however I think I'll look for a package that will do it batch-wise. One-at-a-time sounds like a loooonnnngggg painful affair.
..... john

[kozikowski]

It is. report back if you find one you like.

Koz

[steve]

someone will correct me.

OK, I'll correct you

With Audacity 1.3.13 you can use "Chains" to import, and then re-export the files in a different format.
However, without a bit more detail I can't say whether Audacity will be the best tool for this job.

What format are the files currently in and what is the exact format that you want them to end up as (including compression settings and any other relevant parameters?)

[shinnen]

Hi Steve,
There are quite a few mp3s that I simply want to reduce in size. They currently run everywhere from about 4 to 10 mbs. Most of them are around three minutes long, and have been ripped from CDs. They're pop music. When I had an 8 gig mp3 player it didn't matter, but I recently bought a 2 gig player, and now they don't all fit onto it. I'm hoping that I can reduce the files sizes and maintain reasonable quality. I just downloaded a program called "MP3QualityModifier". It does batchs and one can 'process' a lot of them at one time. If I read it right, it looks like one can set the output bitrate to a certain amount, and it will reduce whatever one shovels into it to that rate. What are your thoughts?
http://mailsonline.net/archives/file/MP ... 452950.htm
Thanks,
.... john

[kozikowski]

My thoughts are you violated one serious rule about music. You should have saved the music in the highest possible quality on a drive somewhere and created lower quality versions for your players. Later, when the player or formats change, you can go back to the very high quality music and make new versions of the songs with little or no additional damage past the simple compression.

We advise strongly against doing production in MP3 because it's a delivery format, brittle and easily damaged.

It's very unlikely you will get away with "simply" reducing the bitrate of the music. The music must be decompressed first and then recompressed in the new sizes picking up compression damage along the way. It's possible you can find software that does that, but the philosophy of destructive compressors is to start with perfect music or video and maintain that quality as much as possible. If the quality is already trashy, then the compression damage will be added to the trashy -- sometimes catastrophically.

Koz

[shinnen]

Thanks Koz,
I'm sure you're right ...... I probably have not handled the whole thing properly.
I appreciate the advice, and will try to be more careful in the future.
...... john

[kozikowski]

I didn't see instructions. Are they bundled into the ZIP file?
Koz

[shinnen]

Hi,
No..... they're individual mp3 files. Right now they're on my computer.
.... john