Compact MP3's

[Rudi]

Hi all,

I would like to know if any one knows of a worthwhile freeware program to convert MP3's to a lower bitrate. I have ripped songs from my CD collection but only afterwards saw that the bitrate was set quite high at 256KB. I have used the ALT Bitrate converter (see below) to convert a couple of my favourite songs, but since it is shareware it has a built in delay and prompt that requires you to convert each song individually. I am looking for a simple freeware converter that can run in the background converting songs to about 160KB or even 128KB without prompting to continue after each convert. The songs are for my MP3 player that I use when I gym. The quality of the convertion does not have to be high, its just for keeping pace when gyming! Anyone with a great program download, I will appreciate it. TX

Shareware converters:
Alt BitRate Converter : http://www.nesoft.org/alt-mp3-bitrate-converter.shtml
and
MP3go128 : http://www.shareup.com/Mp3go128-download-26659.html

[IanWilson]

I'm afraid that I don't know something that will do it automatically in the background, but with Audacity you can produce tracks with a wide range of bit rates.

Ian

PS - on behalf of the Lounge pedant, may one ask when gym became a verb?

[Rudi]

Tx for the link Ian, this program looks like a catch! Its interesting to note that it is open source to enable further customisation etc!

What I meant by "automatically in the background"...you will notice in the screenshot below that ALT allows one to select MP3's from a folder and then it converts them all, one after the other. So you can go ahead with other multi-tasking work as the conversions take place in the background.

PS: <img src=/S/sneaky.gif border=0 alt=sneaky width=15 height=15> - that is very pedantic! OK, is it more correct to say : I use it when I exercise in the gym <img src=/S/smile.gif border=0 alt=smile width=15 height=15>

Cheers

[stevehocking]

Hi Rudi

I don't know if this helps but in answering another queery reference music I noticied that in the Window Media Players 'Rip' options you can choose a recordable type including MP3 and in the Bit Rate options it goes from 48 - 192 kbs, maybe this will do what you want.

Cheers

Steve

[Rudi]

Tx Steve,

I am aware of the options in WMP. Unfortunately I did not set them before I started ripping my CD's. Only after I ripped about 250 odd tracks did I note that the bit rate was at 256K. This is OK for my PC where I am storing the tracks, but they are way too large to cram onto a MP3 player. So when I rip in the future for my MP3 player, I will change the bit rate to lower. For now though, I have existing tracks stored as MP3 that I want converted.

This is not urgent. I thought I'd ask if anyone has a link to a freeware package that they know can do the convertion without me having to download each and every one to test.

[JohnBF]

Look at this Microsoft Plus package which I believe includes a converter. (I got a program called AudioConverter.exe from Microsoft somewhere, sometime. If it's not in that package I have no idea where it came from, but I have Windows XPMCE, so it may be included in MCE. The Help appears to imply that to convert to MP3 you need a plug-in - it's been so long since I set this up I'm not sure if I used one supplied by Microsoft, or if I used a 3rd party CODEC) It will convert MP3s from one bitrate to another, limited to 128, 192, 256 & 320 kbps, Variable Bit Rate is not available (and I'm playing a test Zydeco file to prove it <img src=/S/grin.gif border=0 alt=grin width=15 height=15>).

Also you might have a look through the LAME list here for products that may suit your needs. (LAME is an open source MP3 codec development hosted by SourceForge.)

In the future you may also want to set your MP3 encoding to use Variable Bit Rate (VBR), as it can reduce the file size a little more while preserving some quality.

[Rudi]

John, thanks. You have given me plenty to look through. Cheers

[Don]

try dbpoweramp

[bigaldoc]

That's a pretty brief post, Don! Is this the program you have in mind: dBpoweramp?

(It sure makes it easier for Loungers if you include a live-link in your posts.)

[Rudi]

Tx for the link Don (and BigAlDoc)