mp3 compression

[jimmyweaver]

Here's my problem.My songs sound quite good in .wav and .wmv format. However, my songs tend to be over 3 minutes long. Taxi rules require online submissions to be around 1MB. When I compress them to mp3 file size around 1MB they sound like '@%*$!'. All of my critiques complain about 'less than broadcast quality' recordings.Does anyone else have this problem? Is it better to submit by CD?Is there a way to submit online to avoid this problem?Please excuse me If I've missed any helpful taxi link. I've searched for answers but Taxi's site (to its credit) is full of mysterious nooks and crannies which I'm still exploring.any help would be appreciated. thx

[mojobone]

Try some different encoders, LAME, for instance. And 1Meg? seriously?iTunes defaults to AAC encoding which is better quality for the same file size, and nearly all players can play AAC as well as MP3. I'm pretty sure Taxi'as player is Quicktime-based, so using QT and AAC, you should be able to code with a higher bitrate and get better quality within the same target file size. It's also helpful to roll off some highs above 15kHz, and leave a full decibel of headroom instead of normalizing the file before encoding. (in fact, if you've been normalizing, that could be your whole problem, right there)

[jonathanm]

Sept 13, 2009, 8:05am, jimmyweaver wrote:Taxi rules require online submissions to be around 1MB. You might re-check that. I've submitted numerous times with files 3 to 5 times that size.

[southpaw]

Taxi just 'wants' your mp3s 192kbps or less.... Taxi does not require your mp3's to be "around 1mb" i can assure you of that. Just do what Mojo reccomended.Bottom line, If you encode at 192kbps CBR, you'll be fine. MP3's suck, we all hate them(composers/producers), but it is just the standard right now. As mentioned -AAC is another, more efficient compression format that you might like. Bottom line - Dont overthink it too much, encoding in Itunes at 192 will be unnoticeable to most folks.

[jimmyweaver]

thx for the help. things are looking up! and sounding better already.I was stuck on the 1mb upload thing. the mp3's I'm making now sound a lot better.I might suggest to taxi admin that they make the submission upload rules a more clear.

[jeanna]

I would go with mojo's suggestion. Go for the AAC format in ITunes; slightly bigger, slighly better:p

[hurican]

192Kbps is apparently the standard for mp3's. The line between good quality while keeping file size down. Other submission sites actually require this compression.But 1meg? Surely that's a mistake. A few of my songs would hit that in 40 seconds!

[mazz]

Sept 14, 2009, 5:16pm, jeanna wrote:I would go with mojo's suggestion. Go for the AAC format in ITunes; slightly bigger, slighly better:pI don't think TAXI will accept AAC files. AAC is great for your personal music collection but it's not universally accepted, it seems.Stick with mp3s at 192 or better for right now.Mazz

[jimmyweaver]

Taxi admin (Craig) cleared this up for me with one quick email.192 kbps is (obviously) 192 k bit per second mp3 compressionNOT file size. (I had this wrong too! 192k is only 192,000 not 1,000,000)I had tried to upload a larger than 10mb file for my first submission and when it didn't work, I got off on the wrong track.oooops!thanks for all your help and suggestions. This forum advice has helped me a lot regardless of my mindless error!