Reducing mp3 File size

steyener said:

I am trying to put mp3 ringtones on a pantech matrix cellphone. I love the phone but the bad thing is that any ringtone has to be under 300 kb. Is there a way to download the mp3 and reduce the file size so I can use it?

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iTunes will do this. In preferences set the bit rate down to whatever you like. This is where you set the bit rate for ripping from CDs. Next, highlight the track with the mouse and right click, One menu option will be "convert selected tracks to...". This will create a dupllicat track with the new setting applied.

The other option is to use any of the various audio editor like Garage band or Audicity and open the MP3 file, and then do a "Save As" but with the setting changed.

I'd also suggest Audacity to do the trimming. Mainly, because to get the file to 300kb, you'll also want to trim the song down to 30 seconds or so. Here's how:

Install Audacity, and follow the instructions on their homepage to install the MP3 codec (it's really pretty easy). Once that's up and running, open the file you want, select the region of the song you want to use, and click Edit>Trim. Then (if you didn't start at the beginning of the song), Project>Align Tracks>Align With Zero, to bring it to the front of the file.

Under preferences, the File Formats tab will let you select your mp3 option. I'm not sure what will give you 300kb for 30s, but maybe try 64kbps to start. Save it and see how big the file is, and adjust the bitrate if necessary.