We have been using Sound Forge to create RealPlayer files to use for streaming audio on our current website. The plugin provided with TYP0 3 would create a more flexible MP3 file that can be downloaded for iPod use or burning to CD. But the file size differance is an issue. The sizes below are using SoundForge and just doing three "save as" in a row - mono.

6,231 KB for the RealAudio file
23,794 KB for the MP3 file
262,301 KB for the wav file (just for comparison)

Are these file sizes unusual or out of line? Is there a compression program that would reduce the file size that someone has experience with? Is there a better conversion program than Sound Forge?

Ken,

For audio (and video too) the encoding settings are what determine the ultimate file size. For MP3, we usually set the encoding to 30K or 32K bits/second which will usually stream over a standard modem. The resulting file size for a sermon is around 6 MB like your Real file. In our case, our Real files and our MP3 files are identical in final size because we select the same bit rate. We currently use Sorensen Squeeze (and a few others) to do our MP3s, but its price has gone up and I am sure other programs will work as well.

In Him,
Mark

Mark,

We downloaded a free trial of Sorenson Squeeze... and we also experimented with our CD Audio file(s) in Sound Forge. Sound Forge allows us to output in many formats...and we were able to follow your suggestions and output the 50+ minute sermon at 32K as an MP3 file...however it was still over 12MB in size.

SSqueeze could do no better at compressing it unless we went down to 24K encoding.

Am wondering...what size are your original sermon files? And in what format?

We are recording them in real time to CD...using Sound Forge.

PS... The output with SSqueeze at 24K was still in the 9 MB range.

Mary Beth,

No matter what file you start with and mo matter what software you use, if you encode a file at 32K bits/seconds the resulting file will be the same size. The only way to reduce the file size is to record for less time or to reduce the bit rate. Here is the math for a 50 minute audio:

50 minutes * 60 seconds/minute * 32K bits/second * 1 byte/8 bits = 12,000K Bytes = 12 MB

The only difference you may find is that quality may vary for different programs. This is especially true for lower bit rates less than 32K bits/second.

In Christ,
Mark

Mark,
Thank you for that formula... I am still puzzled, however, how you manage to get a sermon audio file down to 6 MB... Does your pastor preach shorter sermons?

Mary Beth,

Yea, we cheat a bit. Our sermons are just 25 to 35 minutes of the 1 hour worship service. Sorry if I mislead you there.

In Him,
Mark