Bitrate changer

Koffy · Post by **Koffy** » 07 Apr 2006, 00:53

Does anyone know of a nice bitrate cahnging tool. I know there are many in the web, but there are mostly ad/spy-ware transporters.
What I want is just a bitrate changer and nothing more, since there are more complicated programs that do other things, but I only need that.
If it is freeware it would be even better.

vellu · Post by **vellu** » 07 Apr 2006, 07:26

Change the bitrate of what? A video file? An audio file?

Changing the bitrate of any video file always means re-encoding the content, which makes it a not-so-easy thing to do (plus it tends to ruin the quality).

Harpal Hoonjan · Post by **Harpal Hoonjan** » 07 Apr 2006, 16:49

http://www.4musics.com/mp3-bitrate-changer.htm

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 07 Apr 2006, 23:13

you could also try mediamonkey at http://www.mediamonkey.com. the free version supports unlimited encoding, as well as a full fledged audio player with a music library that can rival WinAmp and Windows Media Player's

Koffy · Post by **Koffy** » 08 Apr 2006, 01:08

vellu wrote:Change the bitrate of what? A video file? An audio file?

Changing the bitrate of any video file always means re-encoding the content, which makes it a not-so-easy thing to do (plus it tends to ruin the quality).

>Slap head< Sorry, I forgot about that. Mp3.

I tryed 4music thing before and I didn't like it. I will try with the other one.

Harpal Hoonjan · Post by **Harpal Hoonjan** » 10 Apr 2006, 04:59

dBpowerAMP is also good software to use. It's a music format converter and bitrate changer, very user friendly.

Nollie · Post by **Nollie** » 25 Apr 2006, 11:24

Harpal Hoonjan wrote:dBpowerAMP is also good software to use. It's a music format converter and bitrate changer, very user friendly.

Yeah, I was gonna suggest the same thing.
dBpowerAMP is the best for beginners. It's a 1-click-tool but it still gives you great quality. But when you want to re-encode (change bitrate or sampling frequency) it's always important to have the proper codecs on your computer. If not, you won't get the best results. The best codec right now, is the Lame codec. Just get the newest.

Jmac- · Post by **Jmac-** » 26 Apr 2006, 08:38

Just an FYI, increasing the bitrate of an MP3 file won't make the sound quality any better; it'll just make a bigger file ...

Nollie · Post by **Nollie** » 26 Apr 2006, 12:31

Jmac- wrote:Just an FYI, increasing the bitrate of an MP3 file won't make the sound quality any better; it'll just make a bigger file ...

I know, it won't make the quality better, but it's handy for mp3-players and stuff like that. Or if you want to burn more tracks to one cd without burning it as an mp3-cd.

Koffy · Post by **Koffy** » 26 Apr 2006, 17:09

Jmac- wrote:Just an FYI, increasing the bitrate of an MP3 file won't make the sound quality any better; it'll just make a bigger file ...

Yes, I wanterd to lower the br to use it on my mp3 player.

I will try this dbPowerAmp. Thanks guys.

xHaZxMaTx · Post by **xHaZxMaTx** » 27 Apr 2006, 00:06

Just rip your music as a lower bitrate next time. BTW, what bitrate are you trying to get it to/from?

Koffy · Post by **Koffy** » 27 Apr 2006, 02:29

I have it encoded at 128kbps for listening in my computer/dvd. For carryng it arround, I think 96 or even 48 would be ok.

boganbusman · Post by **boganbusman** » 27 Apr 2006, 03:15

Koffy wrote:I have it encoded at 128kbps for listening in my computer/dvd. For carryng it arround, I think 96 or even 48 would be ok.

Anything less than 192 is excruciating for me! 48 would be absolute torture . . . especially on an mp3 player with crappy headphones

xHaZxMaTx · Post by **xHaZxMaTx** » 27 Apr 2006, 03:22

The lowest I would ever go is 128kbps, but I would suggest 256. Trust me, if you have even just 1 gig on your MP3 players, you can fit like 500 songs @ 128kbps.

Nollie · Post by **Nollie** » 27 Apr 2006, 08:31

I usually go for 192 when re-encoding and 320 when I rip my own cd's.
I've got a whole lotta hdd-space so there's nothing to worry about.

The Gravedigger · Post by **The Gravedigger** » 27 Apr 2006, 09:39

All hail WMA Lossless

All hail WMA Lossless

If I'm not using that then I guess it's right siting at 192kbps WMA, or 320kbps Mp3

Koffy · Post by **Koffy** » 28 Apr 2006, 00:44

Thing is my mp3 palyer is 128mb.

And about going higher than 128kbps: 128 kbps is suposed to be CD quality sound. So if you go higher than 196kbps (cristal audio) it would have no justification. I don't know.

Ps: I chacked again, and most of my mp3 are 196kbps. (only some are 128.)

The Gravedigger · Post by **The Gravedigger** » 28 Apr 2006, 03:04

You notice the difference with a quality sound card, and/or quality speakers. Or in the case of an Mp3 player..... quality headphones
I used to think that anything above 192 was overkill, got to my Compaq and 256 was the way to go, now since getting the sound card, anything less than stated earlier is sheer pain

Oh, but there are 96kbps and 128kbps Mp3 quality songs that I have that sound a lot clearer than most 320kbps Mp3's, sounds illogical I know... but it's true

Jmac- · Post by **Jmac-** » 28 Apr 2006, 03:42

Koffy wrote:Thing is my mp3 palyer is 128mb.
And about going higher than 128kbps: 128 kbps is suposed to be CD quality sound. So if you go higher than 196kbps (cristal audio) it would have no justification. I don't know.

Ps: I chacked again, and most of my mp3 are 196kbps. (only some are 128.)

Anything less than 1411 kbps is not CD quality sound ...

xHaZxMaTx · Post by **xHaZxMaTx** » 28 Apr 2006, 04:23

The Gravedigger wrote:You notice the difference with a quality sound card, and/or quality speakers. Or in the case of an Mp3 player..... quality headphones
I used to think that anything above 192 was overkill, got to my Compaq and 256 was the way to go, now since getting the sound card, anything less than stated earlier is sheer pain

Oh, but there are 96kbps and 128kbps Mp3 quality songs that I have that sound a lot clearer than most 320kbps Mp3's, sounds illogical I know... but it's true

Hmm... Maybe I should try ripping my music higher than 128kbps then, since I have the speakers and sound card for it, and then just change the bitrate for my MP3 player...

Jmac- · Post by **Jmac-** » 28 Apr 2006, 04:56

xHaZxMaTx wrote:
The Gravedigger wrote:You notice the difference with a quality sound card, and/or quality speakers. Or in the case of an Mp3 player..... quality headphones
I used to think that anything above 192 was overkill, got to my Compaq and 256 was the way to go, now since getting the sound card, anything less than stated earlier is sheer pain

Oh, but there are 96kbps and 128kbps Mp3 quality songs that I have that sound a lot clearer than most 320kbps Mp3's, sounds illogical I know... but it's true
Hmm... Maybe I should try ripping my music higher than 128kbps then, since I have the speakers and sound card for it, and then just change the bitrate for my MP3 player...

If you have the space, why not ? WMA Lossless is only about 300-400 MB per CD, which is practically nothing considering most computers nowadays have at least 100 GB of hard drive space ...

While most people can't notice the difference between 320 kbps and CD because 320 kbps basically just removes low-volume, high-frequency (16 kHz and up) information, which is inaudible to most people, any lower bitrates start to remove higher volume, lower frequency information. If you have a sound system with a large amount of dynamic range, you will definitely notice the loss of the subtle nuances in the background if you use lower bitrate music.

Here's a good visual example of what I'm talking about - http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114272

The reason why some high-bitrate songs sound like crap is because people take a low bitrate song and re-encode it at a higher bitrate thinking it'll sound better but, as I said earlier, all it does it produce a larger file that sounds exactly the same.

GINIX_2007 · Post by **GINIX_2007** » 28 Apr 2006, 05:07

Try Advanced WMA work shop. Works for me.

xHaZxMaTx · Post by **xHaZxMaTx** » 28 Apr 2006, 05:16

@ Jmac-: Wow, I guess that does make quite a difference, thanks for the info.

BTW, nice avatar.

And just so you know, this is my sounds system for my comp:
Logitech X-530
Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit External

Koffy · Post by **Koffy** » 28 Apr 2006, 23:37

Jmac- wrote:Anything less than 1411 kbps is not CD quality sound ...

I don't know, that is what Sonic Foundry sayd... (sounded a little odd to me but I sayd, why not).

In my comp I have the onboard Nvidia sound board. I know it is definitely not the best there is, but I am comfortable with it, and for speaker I have standard Genius desktop speakers. They are not great, but they are pretty decent for its price.

As home sound system I have a ganeric DVD player, and a JVC 80's made amp. 75Watt x 2 Jensen spaekers. I think the woofer is about 12 inches. I don't use it for music to often, I use it more for wiewing movies, so I don't play my mp3 in Hight end sound systems.