Hi again,
does anybody know how to make a mixdown smaller for easy mailing? I tried winzipp but that’s not enough. Hope somebody knows (for example a song 35 MB should be less than 5 MB and if it’s possible to make it to around 1 MB it would be great.
Thanks Maria
Hi Maria
You really need to mp3 it. That is a compression algorithm that compresses the wav files for transmission over the net. I haven’t used this option in N, but there are several programs out there for creating mp3’s. I have noticed that a song saved at a higher bit rate (160 kbs-192 kbs) sound a little better than 128 kbs. I can hear the fragments of the high end at 128 kbs, especially on cymbal crashes. Some software like Advanced mp3 maker would probably do the job for you. Good luck.
Thanks Jeromee, I trie immediately. Maria
Most people use this free converter tool.
It converts your wave files to any format if you install all the codec support files needed.
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/
Guy
I second Guy’s post, works great. I’ve even used it to convert files that wouldn’t play and they now play—sweet.
I don’t know it wma. is actually smaller than Mp3. anyone?
I don’t know that wma is any smaller than mp3’s. To my ears wma sounds better though. I’ll trade a few kilobytes for better audio myself.
TG
Quote (Guy Boden @ Oct. 05 2004,10:57) |
Most people use this free converter tool. It converts your wave files to any format if you install all the codec support files needed. http://www.dbpoweramp.com/ Guy |
Guy Boden,
When I go to that site you mentioned I don´t know what to download exactly, is it possible for you to write down the items I have to download? Thanks Maria
maria, you have to go to dbpoweramp download page and get dBpowerAMP Music Converter Release 10.1. Download it via download.com right next to the green box.
Additional info:
dbpoweramp is free, so is most of the codecs (for other file formats, OGG Vorbis, WMA, etc.), but resist the temptation to get the PowerPack - it is shareware and costs money to use beyond a trial period. You may not need additional codecs at all - dbpoweramp reads/writes MP3, WAV, and CD-audio right out of the box…
regards, Nils
I assume dbpoweramp music converter is the util they’re talking about Maria. But I don’t know, I’ve never used it. I usually just save as MP3 straight from SoundForge.
But, if you’re not familiar with compression, then perhaps there’s a few things you might want to consider.
There are two types of compression, lossless, and lossy.
Lossless is as the name suggests, the de-compressed file is exactly the same as it was before compression. So, ZIP, RAR, ACE, all fall into this category. WiinRAR is probably the best for sound files, especially if you tweak it and use the “Audio compression algorithm”, but even so it won’t achieve the compression ratio’s you’re looking for. (Around 50% is about as good as you can hope for, which is still better than ZIP will achieve).
So that leaves lossy, and with lossy compression, data is lost. MP3 and WMA are amongst the most common formats for that.
With any lossy method, the compression ratio can be adjusted, and you can make the file as small as you wish (within limits), but there is a cost.
Light to moderate compression is inaudible. Due to a process within the ear known as “masking”, some of the sound that comes out of the loudspeakers can’t be heard anyway.
But, as the compression ratio increases, it does become noticeable.
So Maria, with lossy compression it’s up to you how much you compress. It becomes a trade off between smaller file sizes and a worsening of the sound quality.
So ya got to experiment!
Ali
WOW thanks guys I’ll be busy tonight…while I have to work tomorrow in the morning…I let you know! Thanks for the advises!
Maria:)
Here’s the dbpoweramp file converter.
http://www.download.com/3001-2140-10249519.html
Here’s the codec files. (Read the page, you’ll probably don’t need any codec files for wma if you have Win Media version 9 installed)
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm
I personally would never user MP3, I find wma a cleaner sound at the same compression ratio, but listen for yourself.
Guy
Quote (Ali @ Oct. 06 2004,06:42) |
There are two types of compression, lossless, and lossy. Lossless is as the name suggests, the de-compressed file is exactly the same as it was before compression. So, ZIP, RAR, ACE, all fall into this category. WiinRAR is probably the best for sound files, especially if you tweak it and use the "Audio compression algorithm", but even so it won't achieve the compression ratio's you're looking for. (Around 50% is about as good as you can hope for, which is still better than ZIP will achieve). |
From my experience APE is more the generally accepted standard for lossless audio when exchanging audio files
DBPoweramp will do APE if you download the codec from the dbpoweramp site.
I've never used the "audio compression" option in winrar so not sure what that's like myself.
Lossless is lossless though so shouldn't be any quality issues.
I'm at work at the moment but it would be good to do a comparison between APE and the audio option in winrar...
Rich
if you need to go mp3, try using a VBR (Variable Bit Rate). From what i understand, it uses a higher quality in parts of the song where you need it, lower when you dont. Maybe someone can chime in to clarify?
WinRAR is the best “generic compression” program that also compresses audio very well, and it’s lossless – what comes out at the other end is identical to what went in to begin with. By “generic”, I mean it will compress any kind of file or folder full of files. It’s not free, but it’s a good deal, and it’s a good program for archives. (You can also configure it to do error correction, so even if there is a lot of corruption it will still recover the data.)
Monkey’s Audio, or “APE” format, is the best lossless compression for audio files in that it’s the fastest, and as far as I’ve seen, generates the smallest files. But it’s only for music files. It’s supported by dBPowerAmp Music Convert (dMC) as mentioned above.
If you plan to do a lot of collabs, you’ll probably want to install dBPowerAmp and use APE when you want perfect fidelity.
We do a lot of collaboration over the internet at “http://www.artistcollaboration.com”. Go there and sign up if you’re interested. You can actually collaborate on music there, or just get help from seasoned hands. Very friendly crowd, much like this forum!
We generally use MP3 or WMA in the early stages, when we’re passing tracks to record against and quick mixes for judgement purposes. Then, when everyone’s happy with the progress, if the person putting it together wants, the contributors send APE copies of their parts to get the best fidelity. However, I’ve been involved in projects where we only used higher rate MP3/WMA files for final parts and got very good results. In other words, APE is best for finals, but if you’re on a modem you can get by using 128k MP3/WMA files.
For more info on how we do collabs, many of which apply regardless of whether you’re posting on a forum or emailing files, see Intro to collaboration.
HTH
PS: WMA V9 has VBR also. I like VBR, I find I get better sound in less bytes. MP3 also has a nice feature, “joint stereo”, which is very good.