Changing bitrates

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Well this isn't really "production", but anyway ...

Recorded a mix onto me mp3 player the other day.
Thing is, the sound quality is a bit rough -- It sounds like I've had the levels a bit too high (yknow that kinda not-quite distortion you get?)

I recorded from the "record/out" on the mixer which has a fixed output level, and the mp3 player has a fixed recording level; so I don't think the poor quality is anything to do with the output/recording levels.

BUT - I do think I set the line-in bitrate on the mp3 player too high (at about 96kbps).
Think that the player was then trying to record the mix at a quality too high for it to keep up with (if you get what I mean).
Think I should have set the the recording bitrate at about 64kbps.

I've tried changing the bitrate of the mix using audio editors (Audacity & Goldwave) and also Wavelab, but it just alters the speed of the actual mix, slowing it down.


Is there a way of lowering the bitrate and/or "cleaning" up this mix (maybe using Soundforge or something?), or is it doomed to remain at less-than-excellent sound quality?

[poi]

You can't "alter" the bitrate as such, you can re-encode it at a lower bitrate but that means you'll just get a lower quality encoding of the sub-standard original file.

I would hope that the mp3 player can keep up with any bitrate it supports encoding at, and if it can't then you'd probably just get 2 seconds of sound followed by 2 seconds of silence rather than a form of distortion.

You could maybe try running the file through some filters in Soundforge or whatever (which i wouldnt know anything about), but at the end of the day theres no way you can get something that's not there out of the file.


Unless anyone else has any suggestions?

[daze]

you cant polish a turd.


:no:






:lol:

[Frisk]

you can if it's varnished/embossed.

:myarse:

[woody]

You could record directly into the PC to .wav, then get a decent mp3 encoder and encode at whatever bitrate takes ya fancy...

or have I missed the point?

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I use the mp3 player (mainly) to grab live mixes, as it's capable of recording far more than a MD, and uploads to the PC in seconds.
But I also like it when recording myself, as it's so small it's very unobtrusive, so I tend to forget it's there, and therefore that I'm recording (suddenly remembering that I'm recording is what usually fucks me up when tryin to record a lil mix)

Guess it's just a matter of me trying out a few different settings to find one that gives the best result :rolleyes:

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After much fiddling, swearing and generally being close to chucking the mp3 player against the nearest wall, it seems that the (set) levels on the tape/record line-out on my mixer are too high for the mp3 player ...
Using out 2 on the mixer, with the vol level not-too-high solves the problem ... But kinda buggers things in terms of recording live sets if we have monitors running off that output :rolleyes:

Arse :(

[TIMEBOMB]

Originally posted by Frisky
you can if it's varnished/embossed.

:myarse:

:agree: very good point