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Reducing size of MP3 File

by sanhal
10 replies
I have made an audio recording of my eBook and converted it to an MP3 file but it is too large to upload to my Web host. It is 4 hours long and 248 MB. I had thought of splitting it up but I don't think it will make too much difference.

There must be a solution only I can't find it.

Can anyone help please?

Sandy
#file #mp3 #reducing #size
  • Profile picture of the author HomeBizNizz
    Try to drop the bitrate a bit to 96 (128 is CD quality).
    Speech don't req. so much bitrate.

    http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-go...-mp3-files.htm
    For a speech, a sampling rate of 8,000, 11,025 or 12,000 Hz should be fine.
    Further, the sound can be recorded as one channel Mono
    as opposed to Stereo for further space savings.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    Sony Soundforge is a great program for adjusting bit rates. I got it on sale but I think the regular price is about $60. If the file is just speech and not not top quality music for top end sound systems, I've read a few times that 24 kbps is enough. I've adjusted mine to 32 kbps just in case that would make a difference to someone with sensitive hearing on a couple of files that are important to me, but I can't tell the slightest difference between them and the original 128 kbps (or something like that) recording.

    I'll pm you the location of a couple on a noindex, nofollow etc page that I don't want to get out to the world.

    Just lowering the bit rate makes a huge difference in file size. I have just over 99 hours of talk on a 1 gb SD card, all at 32 kbps.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
      Winlame works great for this, and it's free...

      winLAME home page

      Once you download the program, simply drag and drop the mp3 file into the program, then choose 'custom settings' and set the output to mono and the bitrate to 24 or 32. If it's just speech it will sound fine at bitrates that low, and the file size of your new mp3 will be WAAAAY smaller.
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      • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
        Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

        Winlame works great for this, and it's free...

        winLAME home page

        Once you download the program, simply drag and drop the mp3 file into the program, then choose 'custom settings' and set the output to mono and the bitrate to 24 or 32. If it's just speech it will sound fine at bitrates that low, and the file size of your new mp3 will be WAAAAY smaller.
        That's exactly right. Also better than the Sony Soundforge solution that I mentioned. With Sony, your 2 bitrate choices in that neighborhood are 16 and 32 kbps, 24 isn't an option. The Sony program automatically does produce a mono file if both stereo tracks are identical.

        It's nice to know about the winlame option if I ever do want to set something at 24 kbps. Thanks.
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      • Profile picture of the author sanhal
        Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

        Winlame works great for this, and it's free...

        Once you download the program, simply drag and drop the mp3 file into the program, then choose 'custom settings' and set the output to mono and the bitrate to 24 or 32. If it's just speech it will sound fine at bitrates that low, and the file size of your new mp3 will be WAAAAY smaller.
        Thanks Brandon. I will try that.

        Sandy
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      • Profile picture of the author sanhal
        Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

        Winlame works great for this, and it's free...

        Once you download the program, simply drag and drop the mp3 file into the program, then choose 'custom settings' and set the output to mono and the bitrate to 24 or 32. If it's just speech it will sound fine at bitrates that low, and the file size of your new mp3 will be WAAAAY smaller.
        Hi Brandon

        If you see this I downloaded the Beta1 version but cannot find the custom settings to change the bit rate.

        Is this a different version? I cannot find the download for an older version.

        Can anyone advise please?

        Sandy
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        • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
          Originally Posted by sanhal View Post

          Hi Brandon

          If you see this I downloaded the Beta1 version but cannot find the custom settings to change the bit rate.

          Is this a different version? I cannot find the download for an older version.

          Can anyone advise please?

          Sandy
          Drag the original MP3 onto the main screen then click 'next'. Then choose the output folder (choose a different folder than the original), and click 'next'. Then under preset list choose 'custom settings' and click 'next'. Then adjust the bitrate, click next one more time, then click the 'play' button to start the encoding.

          Hope that helps!
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          • Profile picture of the author sanhal
            Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

            Drag the original MP3 onto the main screen then click 'next'. Then choose the output folder (choose a different folder than the original), and click 'next'. Then under preset list choose 'custom settings' and click 'next'. Then adjust the bitrate, click next one more time, then click the 'play' button to start the encoding.

            Hope that helps!
            Thanks Brandon,that's been a great help. It has reduced the size of the file a lot and although it was still too large to upload from C-Panel I was able to upload it with FTP and it will not take so long for my buyers to download.

            Sandy
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  • Profile picture of the author Quentin
    win lame is good and I use another version called Razor Lame but both do the same job.

    Quentin
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  • Profile picture of the author Keith Choy
    Originally Posted by sanhal View Post

    I have made an audio recording of my eBook and converted it to an MP3 file but it is too large to upload to my Web host. It is 4 hours long and 248 MB. I had thought of splitting it up but I don't think it will make too much difference.

    There must be a solution only I can't find it.

    Can anyone help please?

    Sandy
    Hi Sandy,

    The following will help:

    1. Split up your MP3 into chunks.

    2. Lowered your bitrate during recording/conversion. [HomeBizNizz got a good suggestion above.]

    Using the above 2 steps, I previously reduce a 100MB+ file to 50MB+ size.

    - Keith Choy
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