Audiobook - improving a 8 kbps (reduced quality) file

[Cooly-O]

I'd like to improve the sound quality of a 8 kbps audiobook that I can get for free from www.audiobooksforfree.com. They charge $$$ for higher quality files (ranging from 16kbps to 48kbps), but not for the free 8kbps.

Can downsampled files be edited to sound "upsampled"???

I started out by playing around with the filters in GoldWave (e.g. Effect, Filter....) but don't know much about this topic or the filters....

The reduced quality files sound a little more garbled than the original files.

I've attached an example of an 8kbps file

art_of_war_01_08.mp3

[Soopafresh]

That book is Public Domain (as it's around 2500 years old). Here are the HQ versions

http://librivox.org/the-art-of-war-by-sun-tzu-2/

[bendixG15]

Soopafresh - - - Thanks for that site

[Epicurus8a]

Check this out when you have time.
http://books.google.com/books?id=wr5ntai_KxwC&dq=sun+tsu+was+a+sissy&pg=PP1&ots=xgzsP_...mbnail#PPP1,M1

[Noahtuck]

To actually answer your question (seeing as nobody actually did),
No, once it's been downsampled to that low of a bitrate, it's pretty much destroyed.

I would not even pay for a 48kbps mp3 file no matter what it was

To get an audio file down that small, information has to be removed, once it is gone, it is gone forever!!!!!!

[Cornucopia]

Actually, Noahtuck, it (48kbps) shouldn't be bad at all IF:
1. It's actually just speech, and
2. It's a mono stream, and
3. It's been preprocessed correctly (gaps in speech actually replaced w/ digital silence, remainder bandlimited and dynamic-range-compressed).

(VBR doesn't hurt either--unless your player can't handle it)

I've done numerous files this way (as an online VoiceOver sampler for my old company).

But I agree with you about 8kbps--GIGO. Nothing you can do about it except use it as a guide track for synthetic speech (which is WAY too much work for most people).

Scott

[Cooly-O]

Excellent feedbacks, thanks.

http://librivox.org should keep me busy for a while...

I've already started on the "Popular History of Ireland" audiobook....

Thanks again.

P.S. A quick google search for librivox.org resulted in this find:

Bookmark this link:
http://www.friedbeef.com/2007/04/09/best-places-to-get-free-books-the-ultimate-guide/

Where these other book resources were unveiled:

....Original Top 10 list with full reviews (here and here)

Gutenberg Project Top 100 - Popular books from the oldest producer of free ebooks on the Internet
BookMooch - Community for exchanging used books
ebookSpyder - Specializes in technical books ranging anywhere from C# to AJAX
Google Book Search - Read the classics online
Dwalin - plain text novels
Free Computer Books - Technical resources about computers
Librivox - Audio works and podcasts of books
CliffsNotes - Get the notes to cram for the exam
WIkibooks - Free textbooks
DailyLit - Receive small parts of books via email

ManyBooks - Free eBooks for your PDA, iPod, or eBook reader - Thanks Tony Bryan & abben
BookCrossing - Where real books are released into the wild to be found by others - Thanks Engtech
LibraryElf - The perfect companion to a public library system - Thanks Engtech
Scribd - Open library to publish and discover documents online - Thanks CincauHangus
Word Public Library - 400,000 PDF ebooks for download - Thanks Ellen
Free Tech Books - Free computer science and engineering books (+ lecture notes) - Thanks Ellen
Bookins - Swap real books with other readers - Thanks Jimbob
WellToldTales - Free short story podcasts (like audiobooks, but shorter) - Thanks Kevin C.
Wowio - Public domain, free legitimate copyrighted materials & one of the only with a selection of Comic Books - Thanks Jane and Art Dardia
BizBooktalk - Free book giveaway contests on Fridays - Thanks Brandon
MoochMuch - Organize your book lending with your friends - Thanks Bobby
CHMPDF - A collection of general interest and technical ebooks - Thanks Manish Garg & Brian Di Croce
Realtime Publishers - free IT eBooks by many of the world’s best authors - Thanks Kevin
FrugalReader - Trade Books for free - Thanks Brent
TitleTrader - Swap books, movies, and music - Thanks Brent
ZunaFish - Trade your old media and books items for new titles you’d rather have - Thanks Brent
SwapSimple - Swap your used books here - Thanks Brent
SwapThing - Community of users who swap items including books - Thanks Brent
BookCart - Internet paperback exchange - Thanks Brent
SF-Books - Exchange Sci-Fi Books here - Thanks Brent
PaperbackSwap - Swap books for free - Thanks jane dough, IBelieveInFairies, & Lauren
PinkMonkey - 450 Study Guides / Booknotes / Online Chapter Summary Notes and Analysis - Thanks Spellchecker
eBookWorld - Technical resources - Thanks 5n7p3r
Flaxx - IT and computer books - Thanks tejinder
Baen Library - Free science fiction and fantasy novels - Thanks lanthus & Glen Davis
LibraryThing - Social networking and free books - Thanks Michael
Online Books Page - Facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet - Thanks Aman
Podiobooks - free audiobooks that you can subscribe to with iTunes or any other podcatcher - Thanks KJToo
BookRags - Research material in the form of eBooks - Thanks Henry Delany
Technical Books Online - Old tech books from the “vacuum tube age” of electronics- Thanks obiewiz
ebookSearchr - Google powered Thanks Rico & Rokker
Internet Archive - The Intenet indexed - that includes a vast text library - Thanks jojo
BookYards - Books, videos, education materials- Thanks Victor
Memoware - Free books for your PDA - Thanks Doug