How To Shrink Sound Files
Thanks for a great newsletter! I have a lot of MP3 voice-only recordings that were originally made at 64 Kbps. In order to maximize storage, I was wondering if it was possible to reduce the bit rate from 64 Kbps to, say 32 or 40 Kbps. Are there utilities that do this kind of downward conversion?
Yes, there are quite a few utilities out there, and
many mainstream "jukebox" applications also do this kind of conversion. Figuring
out how to simply reduce bitrates, however, can be very cumbersome and require
some time-consuming experimentation. The reason appears to be that utility and
application software makers assume that any conversion will either convert to
another file format and/or convert-and-move to some mobile device, such as a
cell phone or music player. So those of us who want merely to lower bitrates
tend to be out of luck, at least from an ease-of-use standpoint.
Fortunately, there's at least one straightforward utility that simply reduces
bitrates. It's called Mp3go128 from HelpfulSoft Software, Inc. Use it by simply
launching the application, clicking on the Open button, and browsing to and
selecting the MP3 files you want to convert. After file selection, Mp3go128 pops
up a dialog box that offers a wide range of bit-rates to choose from--- 32, 40,
48 and on up in small increments to 320. Simply choose one, click OK, and the
files are converted.
Mp3go128 costs $10, and you can try it free for 30 days:
http://www.helpfulsoft.com/index.php?mp3intro
More on sound-file bitrates:
http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-07-28.htm#1
http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-05-29.htm#9
Plus!:
http://langalist.com/plus/newsletters/2006/2006-06-22plus.asp#15
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