basically i record the radio on my computer but end up with very large wav files usually about 10 mins is arond 60 meg. Anway i know i can obviously lower the quality but dont really wanna do that and perhaps would proberly prefer to compress after recording but what do i convert to and what do i use. anyhelp would be great cheers
For saving space there are basically 3 possibilities: 1. Lower bit depth/sampling rate: Instead of 16 bit stereo @ 44.1kHz sampling rate you could resample to something lower like 8 bit @ 22.05kHz, maybe mono. A free, good tool for this taks would be foobar2000. Disadvantages: Doesn't save that much space (e.g. 1:4 for 8bit/22.05kHz); Audio quality suffers (more noise/distortion, lowpassed, muffeled sound). 2. Lossless compression: Saves ~40 % space; Good, free, easy to use: Monkey's Audio Advantage: Audio isn't changed at all -> no quality loss Disadvantages: Not much space saved, takes much processing power for compressing and playback. 3. Lossy compression: Saves ~90% space. Formats: - mp3 for compatibility: can be played back with all software players and a lot of hardware players (e.g. DVD players). Good, free, easy to use: Lamedrop - for details about what settings to use see sticky thread - Musepack (mpc) for highest quality, high speed: At "standard" setting no audible differences to CD quality (bitrate ~ 160kbps; CD: 1411kbps); fast encoding and decoding speed; playback only possible in PC environment (decoding for burning to audio CD possible, of course). Good, free, easy software: Musedrop Most software mentioned is available at http://rarewares.hydrogenaudio.org .
personally I'd compress the WAV to MP3, 99.99% of people will not notice any sound degradation. CDex is a good program to use, I'd suggest to break out the music to tracks to make it easier to select the different songs to listen to
