download file size -Sound Forge - PC - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

Subject:download file size Posted by: aelson Date:4/23/2009 9:27:24 AM I've been preparing some audiobooks-on-CD for download as mp3 files and then zipping the files. My web host said sometimes files upward of 10 MB cause difficulty. When I zip the files, I find that the zipped files for my CDs wind up at 47 to 70 MB per CD! I've been creating the mp3 files at the 128 setting. Do any of you have experience with making such large zipped files available for download? Should I do the mp3s at a lower setting? I don't want to lose any of the sound quality.
Subject:RE: download file size Reply by: musicvid10 Date:4/23/2009 9:45:28 AM As Chienworks pointed out to you earlier, 64Kbs mono is the same quality as 128Kbs stereo. You could halve those figures again and save even more space. Whether the slight quality hit is acceptable or not is entirely your call. Again, whether mono .mp3 will play on portables, cell phones, and home CD players is something you will have to investigate for yourself. My tests along those lines several years ago were inconsistent. For even more advantageous quality vs. file size options, such as advanced VBR and joint stereo, you may want to investigate the free Lame MP3 encoder, although it is not available as an encoding option (akaik) in Sound Forge. The Hydrogenaudio forums are the place to ask if you have specific questions about setting the many Lame parameters, not here. Really, much of this is experimentation and personal taste; there are no set roadmaps for what you want to do. Music is considered "acceptable" at 128Kbs, 44Khz Stereo, but my voice archives of seminars, interviews, etc., are quite acceptable to me at 32Kbs Mono, 22Khz VBR. That works out to under 14MB / Hour. Your ears and deliverability should be your guide, not someone else's opinion. Keep in mind though, that quality is a direct function of bitrate and thus file size. There is no magical way around that math! Encoding AAC audio is another option, but again playability on different devices becomes a bigger issue. Message last edited on4/23/2009 11:16:25 AM bymusicvid10.
Subject:RE: download file size Reply by: aelson Date:4/23/2009 12:06:37 PM Musicvid, Thanks for the advice. It looks like I'll stick with the big files for now and experiment with smaller and mono files. I'm lucky in that I have a pool of people who'll volunteer to listen. I'm basically an audio editor by default, since I've done these interviews and this is the only way I can get them out there. I came to this forum a couple of years ago and someone asked me why I was saving my files in scott studios wav instead of microsoft wav, so I switched! Otherwise I probably never would have known there was a better way.
Subject:RE: download file size Reply by: Phylter Date:4/23/2009 6:15:08 PM If your trying to keep them as Microsoft .wav and you want to get smaller files you might want to try 7-zip. http://www.7-zip.org/ I can't help but agree with the previous poster about the .mp3 file format. For the type of audio your doing it would work out great. Of course .mp4(.aac) or .ogg would work well too and they tend to have better sound quality.

Subject:download file size

Posted by: aelson

Date:4/23/2009 9:27:24 AM

I've been preparing some audiobooks-on-CD for download as mp3 files and then zipping the files. My web host said sometimes files upward of 10 MB cause difficulty. When I zip the files, I find that the zipped files for my CDs wind up at 47 to 70 MB per CD! I've been creating the mp3 files at the 128 setting. Do any of you have experience with making such large zipped files available for download? Should I do the mp3s at a lower setting? I don't want to lose any of the sound quality.

Subject:RE: download file size

Reply by: musicvid10

Date:4/23/2009 9:45:28 AM

As Chienworks pointed out to you earlier, 64Kbs mono is the same quality as 128Kbs stereo. You could halve those figures again and save even more space. Whether the slight quality hit is acceptable or not is entirely your call.

Again, whether mono .mp3 will play on portables, cell phones, and home CD players is something you will have to investigate for yourself. My tests along those lines several years ago were inconsistent.

For even more advantageous quality vs. file size options, such as advanced VBR and joint stereo, you may want to investigate the free Lame MP3 encoder, although it is not available as an encoding option (akaik) in Sound Forge. The Hydrogenaudio forums are the place to ask if you have specific questions about setting the many Lame parameters, not here.

Really, much of this is experimentation and personal taste; there are no set roadmaps for what you want to do. Music is considered "acceptable" at 128Kbs, 44Khz Stereo, but my voice archives of seminars, interviews, etc., are quite acceptable to me at 32Kbs Mono, 22Khz VBR. That works out to under 14MB / Hour. Your ears and deliverability should be your guide, not someone else's opinion.

Keep in mind though, that quality is a direct function of bitrate and thus file size. There is no magical way around that math!

Encoding AAC audio is another option, but again playability on different devices becomes a bigger issue.

Message last edited on4/23/2009 11:16:25 AM bymusicvid10.

Subject:RE: download file size

Reply by: aelson

Date:4/23/2009 12:06:37 PM

Musicvid, Thanks for the advice. It looks like I'll stick with the big files for now and experiment with smaller and mono files. I'm lucky in that I have a pool of people who'll volunteer to listen. I'm basically an audio editor by default, since I've done these interviews and this is the only way I can get them out there. I came to this forum a couple of years ago and someone asked me why I was saving my files in scott studios wav instead of microsoft wav, so I switched! Otherwise I probably never would have known there was a better way.

Subject:RE: download file size

Reply by: Phylter

Date:4/23/2009 6:15:08 PM

If your trying to keep them as Microsoft .wav and you want to get smaller files you might want to try 7-zip. http://www.7-zip.org/

I can't help but agree with the previous poster about the .mp3 file format. For the type of audio your doing it would work out great. Of course .mp4(.aac) or .ogg would work well too and they tend to have better sound quality.