MP3 Question?

Question

How many songs does a 256MB MP3 player hold?

Thanks to all...now I have a better understanding.

Answer 1

I’m going to give you a crash course on MPEG Layer-3 (MP3). I hope I don’t confuse you and you’ll get something out of this. That way you’ll be able to make your own conclusions. Since your question is pretty hard to answer because there are too many variables to consider. Yes, the length of the songs have to do with it, but the rate that you encode your songs affects a lot the final file size and audio quality.

First, though, I think that I better tell you what some of the terms that are used when talking about MP3’s. Don’t worry, you only need to learn four and I’ll try to make it easy to understand.

First is BITRATE, which is a measure of the amount of data stored for every second of audio. It's usually expressed in kbps or kilo bits per second. So higher bitrates, equals more data stored for every second of audio, which equals higher sound quality.

Next is SAMPLE RATE, which is simply a measure of the frequency with which the signal is stored expressed as the number of samples per second. Here are some samples of sample rates. 8,000 Hz used on telephones (adequate for human speech); 22,050 Hz used for FM radio; 44,100 Hz is standard for CD’s; 48,000 Hz used in digital sound used for films and professional audio; and 96,000 or 192,400 Hz used on DVD Audio.

Next is CBR (Constant Bitrate). If I say that a MP3 is encoded using a CBR mode of 192 kbps, all it really means is that no matter what, there will always be 192 kbps written into the bitstream. So, if the song you are encoding has moments of silence, that silence will be encoded at 192kbps, and the same is true for the areas of the song that is very diverse in frequencies (that might sound better if encoded to a higher bitrate).

And at last, VBR (Variable Bitrate). VBR encoding looks at the audio file and chooses what bitrate to encode based on how much audio information is present at any given moment of the song. A song that begins quietly or with a single musical instrument will, during that section, be encoded at a lower bitrate (whatever minimum kbps you select) then the middle of the song when all the instruments and vocals are playing together and the volume and frequency range is high. As a result, bitrate will fluctuate corresponding to fluctuations in dynamic range.

Most people, either because of ignorance or because they care more about quantity than quality, encode their songs at a CBR mode of 128 and a sampling rate of 44,000 Hz. While I encode all my music at a VBR mode of a minimum of 192 and a maximum of 320 and a sampling rate of 48,000 Hz. Which makes for larger files. Which means that I can't fit as many songs in any given storage space, as most people can by encoding their music at a CBR of 128.

Even if you encode all your music using a CBR, the size of the file would vary depending on what kpbs you chose. A song that you encode at a CBR mode of 128, is going to take less hard drive space than one encoded at a CBR mode of 160, 192, 256, or even 320. Even if you encode the same song. Again, if you want quality, you have to sacrifice quantity. Fortunately, not necessarily by a lot.

Most people don't know this, but the music quality that you get out of a MP3 encoded at a CBR of 128, is well bellow CD audio quality. I read on a website that 112kbps or higher gives you CD quality audio. I don’t know what that guy is smoking, but that is NOT true…NOT at all! 112kbps is not even close to CD quality. A CBR of 192kbps does give you "near CD quality." At that bitrate, the degradation is subtle, but noticeable. MP3’s encoded at CBR’s of 256kbps and 320kbps are virtually indistinguishable from the CD, except for a light boost in the upper midrange and treble.

I hope this helps you understand why it’s hard to say for sure how many songs you can fit in any give space. To give you a better idea, here is a comparison of bit rate and file size for the same song.

256 kbps
CD quality sound
20% original file size

128 kbps
FM quality sound
10% original file size
(ends up being around 1mb space per minute of song)

64 kbps
AM quality sound
5% original file size
not recommended for listening enjoyment

I got these numbers off a web site so don’t quote me on it. Good Luck!

Answer 2

About 60-70 3-4 minute songs.

Answer 3

Depends on how long the files are! Around 50-70, I had one with 256mb a while ago and i think thats how much it held

Answer 4

70-80 depends how long the songs r

Answer 5

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