converting mp3 bitrate

[elliotay]

Hey all, I'm wondering if anyone out there knows a way to change the bitrate of an mp3. I've recently noticed that almost a third of my music collection is at a bitrate above 128 kbps. I'd like to convert all of those down to 128 in hopes to decrease the overall size of my music. If anyone knows a program that can do this or if iTunes can do this somehow could you please let me know. Thanks for the help.

[Beej]

You can use iTunes to convert your MP3s to AIFFs, then re-encode them back to MP3 @ 128.

[GeeYouEye]

Originally posted by Beej
You can use iTunes to convert your MP3s to AIFFs, then re-encode them back to MP3 @ 128.

Are you sure about the AIFF part? I've done it without.

[cb911]

you mean you can change the bitrate in iTunes without the AIFF part??! well don't just sit ther, tell us how!!:D

and if that doesn't work there are a few audio apps you can get from versiontracker.com

theres Amaedus II, Sound Studio and AudioX. i've got them all. i know one of them allows you to just open an mp3 file and then save it at a different bitrate. and they're all free, so just get them and try them.

[Beej]

He he... I just tried it. You'll kick yourself when you see how simple it is. I'm using iTunes 3.


Go to iTunes > Preferences > Importing and select the quality you want.

Click the song you want to re-encode.

Go to Advanced > Convert Selection to MP3.



Done. You kicking yourself yet?

[arn]

Originally posted by elliotay
Hey all, I'm wondering if anyone out there knows a way to change the bitrate of an mp3. I've recently noticed that almost a third of my music collection is at a bitrate above 128 kbps. I'd like to convert all of those down to 128 in hopes to decrease the overall size of my music. If anyone knows a program that can do this or if iTunes can do this somehow could you please let me know. Thanks for the help.

I recommend NOT doing this.

If you must, try to find originals of these songs (from CD, or whatnot) and encode them to 128 from that.

If you take 192kbps and reencode it down to 128kbps you will lose a lot of quality. the quality of the song well _definately_ be less than if you encoded to 128kbps directly from the original source.

arn

[Beej]

Originally posted by arn
If you take 192kbps and reencode it down to 128kbps you will lose a lot of quality. the quality of the song well _definately_ be less than if you encoded to 128kbps directly from the original source.True. Why do you want to take everything down to 128? Unless you're running out of HD space it really isn't worth it. And even if you are running out of HD space... just get a new one. They're cheap as...