Program to Convert MP3 kbps?

[DJediMaster]

I would like to know if there is a program that allows you to convert the kbps of mp3's. thanks.

 

[Paulson]

you mean convert the bitrate of a mp3?

Well, I don't know how to do it other than re-ripping it or re-downloading it...

 

[HigherGround]

you can also decode them to .wav format and encode them back to mp3. Of course this makes sense only if you are trying to decrease the bit rate.

 

[Shudder]

People will complain about the quality as not being as good as something like LAME, but with MusicMatch jukebox you can convert bitrates. It lets you do wav->mp3 or mp3->wav but you can ALSO set it from the source mp3 to the lower bitrate say if you wanted to go source 192kbs to 128mp3 all in one step it's probably the easiest way to do it, and quickly.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Yeah, you can only convert to lower bitrates than the original file. A conversion to higher bitrates will only increase the file size while leaving the quality of music exactly the same. The most convenient option IMO is to take the long way and decode to a WAV file, then encode the resulting WAV file to a lower bitrate MP3. This has the further benefit of preserving the original file in case you find that the lower bitrate results in completely inadequate sound.

Zenmervolt

 

[Lore]

Bear in mind that as soon as you compress a freshly-ripped WAV to MP3, you've already discarded some data. That means anytime you decode the MP3 back to WAV and re-encoded it at 128k, you're losing even more data.

Therefore, if you took a WAV file, encoded it as a 192k MP3, decoded it and re-encoded it at 192k over and over again, eventually the quality of the song will be so bad YET still have about the same size that you wouldn't believe it was originally a higher-quality 192k MP3.

 

[ProviaFan]

I recently started using dbpoweramp, and the music converter that goes with it. It's a free program (although there are shareware add-ons for more functionality, if you prefer). It works just fine for me, and the id3 tag editing feature is neat, for someone like me who uses a certain file-trading service
<edit>doh, I forgot to mention, but it does convert kbps, and it can also convert formats, like between ogg, mp3, and wma.</edit>
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Josh