Changing The Compression Settings

[Osteopontin]

I use my hiMD RH910 for live recording of instrumental music. I cannot figure out how to change the compression of the resulting files. That is, I record in PCM, but I want to change a file to something I can email -- in PCM a 2.5 minute piece is 25MB!!

I have tried converting to .wav at a lower bitrate, but the file is the same size!

No help from the manual.

Thanks for the help.

[ozpeter]

You'll need to convert it to something like an mp3 file (there's a zillion programs out there to do that). First consideration is, what format does the person the other end want? No good using a compressed format they can't uncompress. Then you've got to consider what tradeoff you want between file size and audio quality, which dictates what bitrate to use when encoding the file.

[A440]

Dbpoweramp at www.dbpoweramp.com will convert between formats .

[Osteopontin]

Thanks for the suggestions. dbpoweramp was an excellent recommendation. Any suggestions for a music file editing software, where I can clip the ends prior to saving on a CD?

[A440]

Audacity. Free.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Its only kink is that its Save function saves to its own format, .aup, which is unnecessary.

When you want to save the file, instead of Save use Export to .wav, or if you're planning to convert, Export to .mp3. Then you'll have a saved .wav file or .mp3 file . When you close Audacity and it asks whether or not to save changes, you can say no--otherwise your hard disc will start filling up with .aup files.

[ozpeter]

Or Kristal. Probably depends on what you feel comfortable with - some programs 'speak' to one person different from another. And it's a matter of the precise requirement.

As you were originally talking about converting from full-quality PCM to something of lesser quality, be aware that you should undertake all editing on the full quality PCM version and then (if desired) save to (say) mp3. Don't edit an mp3 file unless using a method which does not require the file to be uncompressed and then recompressed - that cycle degrades the sound each time you do it. Mp3 and the like are delivery formats, not intended for editing or other conversion.

[zerodB]

If you have Nero Burning ROM - it can convert freely between all kinds of formats. Furthermore, you can get plugins for many more uncommon formats such as FLAC, AC3, & OGG at http://neroplugins.cd-rw.org/.

Also you can try using Nero WAV editor (if you have NERO) - it's got a number of useful features and will support any format that Nero does, including plugins.

For the most part, I would just use MP3. It's small and portable - you have plenty of options, and nearly all computers will have software that can play back MP3s.

Edited May 8, 2005 by zerodB