How to reduce the size of an MP3 file ?

[SingSing]

I have a couple of Nokia phone, that can play MP3.
They only have 3MB of space allocated for MP3, and I usually play them thru the speaker.

3MB is only enough for 2 or 3 songs, and I don't need stereo.

1. I encoded a few songs as mono MP3 with cdex and the MP3 file size did not reduced. Is this normal ?

2. I quite sure if I make a mono wave file, it is normally half the size of a stereo wave file. Why this not work with MP3 ?

3. What happened if I encode a mono wave file to MP3 ?

[craigarta]

just lower the bit rate and the filesize will go down. Its just a matter of trial and error. Also try using ABR or VBR and see if the helps out as well

[SingSing]

I am looking to half the MP3 file size. Bit rate and VBR only reduce about 10%, and did not meet my goal.

[greymalkin]

theres really no simpler way to say it other than how it's already been said: lower the bit rate.

[SingSing]

Ya, I think you are right, I will try going down to 16 or 20 kb/s, that was what I want to avoid.

[MOVIEGEEK]

16 or 20kb/s will sound horrible, do your phones accept microSD(usually hidden under the battery)? If so you could put hundreds of MP3's on it.
Audacity will give you more control than CDex when encoding.

[SingSing]

No, it doesn't, it only has 32mb of memory space, and only 3.1mb is allocated to music files.

[DB83]

That memory is probably designed for ring-tones.

A two minute mp3 at 64kbps (really as low as you dare go before you hear 'tin') will consume approx 1 meg of space.

If the phone does not support a memory card (of any type) then it is not really worth the effort for the nuber of tracks you can store.

[johns0]

Try using amr for encoding,not the best but much lower file size.Also theres a good chance you wont be allowed to play custom mp3 on your nokia as a ringtone if you are gonna do that.

[ricardouk]

convert with lamexp:

48 audio bitrate
22050 sample rate
mono

[SingSing]

convert with lamexp:

48 audio bitrate
22050 sample rate
mono

Isn't lame encorder used in CDex, that I am using ?

[SingSing]

Try using amr for encoding,not the best but much lower file size.Also theres a good chance you wont be allowed to play custom mp3 on your nokia as a ringtone if you are gonna do that.

I remeber old Nokia phone use AMR for audio encoding. Are they still supported in newer phones ?
What is the best AMR encoder ?

[AlanHK]

convert with lamexp:

48 audio bitrate
22050 sample rate
mono

Isn't lame encorder used in CDex, that I am using ?

Yes, you can do all that in CDEx.
CDEx lets you set every MP3 encoding option.
Options/Settings/Encoder

These will let you squeeze a bit more in, but whatever you do you will only get a few minutes in 3 MB.

[DarrellS]

No, it doesn't, it only has 32mb of memory space, and only 3.1mb is allocated to music files.

Then You need to either buy a phone that will hold more songs (my friend just bought a phone that holds 4GB and I believe he can change cards which will allow him to save more) or buy an MP3 player.

One MP3 average size is about 4MB.

[ricardouk]

Yes, you can do all that in CDEx.
CDEx lets you set every MP3 encoding option.
Options/Settings/Encoder

These will let you squeeze a bit more in, but whatever you do you will only get a few minutes in 3 MB.

Yes, i only suggested Lamexp because a while back i tried to do the same thing and it was through trial and error that i foubd the best settings to use on a mobile phone, what i did back then was rip the track to wav (lossless) and then convert the wav with the an mp3 encoder, saves me having the cd spinning every time i try other settings.

@SingSing

This is the program i use for amr conversion:
http://www.miksoft.net/mobileAMRconverter1.htm

[AlanHK]

Yes, i only suggested Lamexp because a while back i tried to do the same thing and it was through trial and error that i foubd the best settings to use on a mobile phone, what i did back then was rip the track to wav (lossless) and then convert the wav with the an mp3 encoder, saves me having the cd spinning every time i try other settings.

CDEx can rip to wave and then you can do wave to MP3 if you prefer.

[Bix]

You can find pocket sized 1GB MP3 players for as low as $10. There's no point in trying to cram terrible sounding low bitrate files into 3MB of space.

[DarrellS]

You can find pocket sized 1GB MP3 players for as low as $10. There's no point in trying to cram terrible sounding low bitrate files into 3MB of space.

Exactly! His phone is not big enough to even hold one decent MP3 file.

[lacywest]

If I was doing this ... I would be using Cool Edit Pro 1.2a or Cool Edit Pro 2.1 to redo and mix my mp3 tunes.