disk-->mp3 files are too large: filling my iPod memory!

[famdoc67]

So, I was ecstatic to purchase my AudioTechnica vinyl-->mp3 turntable, installed audacity and started putting my old vinyl on my iPod.
Well, after a hundred or so songs, my iPod told me its memory was full!
Oh, mighty Audacity users, tell me why my file size is so large and how to make it smaller so I can fit hundreds, nay thousands, of tunes on my iPod.

thanks!

[kozikowski]

Step one, forget MP3. Capture your vinyl in full-on 44100, 16 bit (or better, I use 48000) and export those as your archival master WAV files. They will be large, but they represent a perfect digital copy of your vinyl.

Open iTunes. Preferences > General > CD > Import settings.

Select AAC and start with 128 kbps. Import some high quality WAV song files (NOT MP3s) and see if you can hear any problems. If not, change the bit rate to "Custom" and try a couple of songs at 112, 96, 80. Most people notice serious degradation around 32 or so. That's where most compressors fall off a cliff. You will notice the song data size getting seriously smaller as you reduce the bitrate.

If you can stand the songs in mono instead of stereo, you can double the number of songs on your iPod without doing anything else.

Koz