MP3/MP3-player oddities

[Vitnir]

I have a few mp3 recordings made of a radio show, some of them have an odd quality in that they play ok on the computer but in my Creative mp3-player they sound like if you had played a 45 rpm record in 33 rpm. What can it be and can it be fixed easily?

 

[MortFurd]

Your mp3 file is encoded at bitrate or sample rate that your player can't handle properly. Instead of rejecting it, it is doing its best to play it.

You need to look up the specs on your player and find out what bitrates and sample rates it is designed to play, then recode your mp3s to match.

 

[Vitnir]

Well the specs arent that detailed, it supports playback at up to 320 kbps but my mp3 file is at 16 kbps 11kHz. Files that play ok are 32-64 kbps and 22/44 kHz. What is a decent free program to recode it?

 

[MortFurd]

I use Audacity.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows
You also need the LAME mp3 encoder:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&item=lame-mp3
Download both files. Run the Audacity installer, then follow the directions on the Audacity mp3 page to install the encoder.

You have to set the bit rate in the program preferences - the export dialog itself doesn't give you an option. You will also need to convert the sample rate before exporting.

 

[Vitnir]

Recoding from 11 kHz to 22 kHz seems to do the trick thanks.