please HELP - mp3 compression question

[SnidelyW]

i have been downloading songs off of soulseek and it works really well, the only problem is the files are huge -

i use windows media player to load songs off of regular cds and the files are miniscule -

i tried using goldwave to change the format from mp3 to .wma and they didnt change size all that much, if at all -

i would like to compress these tracks to the miniscule size that is done by copying songs off of cds onto my windows media player

any ideas?

btw, this is all so i can fit more on my mp3 player, ive seen it can mean the difference between 40 songs and 200 - ugh!

 

[SnidelyW]

btw, i am using windows xp - just fyi -

 

[Zoracxis]

What size are the files?

Have you tried converting the files to a lower bitrate? Usually a lower bitrate = a smaller file size but poor sound quality. Are you concerned about sound quality or space? I usually find 128kbps mp3's a good trade off of sound quality and file size. I don't know that much about wma's because I don't use them often.

Another thing to note that mp3 and wma are lossy codec's meaning that certain elements of the original source are removed to make the file smaller, so if you use lossy + lossy (mp3 and wma remove different elements of the source during compression) you will end up with a poor sounding file but if you are using the same or similar codec (such as mp4 or a.k.a AAC, wma removes different elements so it is not similar and imho, sounds very bright, meaning alot of emphasis on treble.) encoding it to the same kbps there will not be much loss of the sound quality of the file. If you were to convert, lets say, a 320kbps to a 128 kbps file you will end up losing more of the sound quality then the original 320kbps file possessed, FYI.

 

[Post_Scriptum]

You can always use .ogg

 

[clangorous]

Try using the Musicmatch Juke Box Software , it can convert the files in to different bit rate, but as Zoracxis mentioned , lower the bit rate , crappier the sound, 128 kbps is normal, for a good quality sound i always use 160 kbps so that i can balance with the Quality and the size.