30GB at full capacity at only 3222 songs?!

Question

Level 1

29 points

30GB at full capacity at only 3222 songs?!

Why does my new iPod with a 30GB capacity fill up with only 3222 songs? The advertisements and packaging claim that it should hold up to 7500 songs yet I can only fin about 3000. My library says I have 40GB of songs but only 3222 actual songs. What is wrong? Is there a way to compress those 3222 songs into 30GB instead of 40GB? What's happening?!

Posted on Nov 2, 2005 8:47 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 2, 2005 8:50 AM in response to Andrew Kent1

Hello Andrew, welcome to discussions.

The advertised (estimated) capacity is based on your tracks being 128kbps AAC files of about 4 minutes each.

I would imagine that your tracks are probably encoded at a higher bitrate than 128kbps, or they are typically much longer than 4 minutes per song.
Most likely, it's the bitrate.

Can you let us know how your tracks are encoded?

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Answer 2

Andrew Kent1 Author

Level 1

29 points

Nov 2, 2005 8:52 AM in response to Rich Fleming

How do I figure that out? I would agree that it's something besides the length of the songs (Most are NOT like 25 minutes long). How do I determine what the "Bitrate" is, and if they are in fact encoded at a higher rate, how can I change that?

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Answer 3

Nov 2, 2005 8:53 AM in response to Andrew Kent1

The total number of songs you can put on your iPod is dependent on the file size of the songs you are trying to load. Some formats create very large files and some create much smaller ones. You might want to check which format you have stored the songs in your library in and consider using one of the smaller footprint formats to get a larger number of songs into your iPod.

Good luck

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Answer 4

Nov 2, 2005 8:56 AM in response to Andrew Kent1

I'm going to agree with Rich here, as I've been loading CDs into my computer like a madman in preparation for my new iPod which has yet to arrive (grr)... Currently I have 3128 songs in my playlist, so I'm pretty darn close to what you've got as far as actual numbers of songs.. and the total size for me is about.. oh... let's see.. 18.12 GB. All my files are encoded at 192 Kbps, so I'm figuring you're probably at around a 320 Kbps conversion rate, if not more.

Hope that helps out somewhat.
Paul

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Answer 5

Andrew Kent1 Author

Level 1

29 points

Nov 2, 2005 8:57 AM in response to David Garbe

Many of the songs I have in my library were extracted directly from CD's. Does this have anything to do with the ammount of space they take up? Basically what can I do to make the song files smaller?

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Answer 6

Andrew Kent1 Author

Level 1

29 points

Nov 2, 2005 8:58 AM in response to Paul Talbott

But how do I reformat the song files? If they are in fact at like a 320 kbps rate, how can I change that?

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Answer 7

Nov 2, 2005 9:00 AM in response to Andrew Kent1

How do I figure that out?

If you imported your tracks form CD using iTunes... you can check the importing setting in iTunes preferences.

Open iTunes
From the menu bar, edit Preferences >> Advanced >> Importing tab

What does it say for Import Using: and Setting: ?

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Answer 8

Nov 2, 2005 9:01 AM in response to Andrew Kent1

First determine what format/bitrate your tracks are in. (See above post regarding iTunes preferences.)

Let us know what those settings are, and we can help you convert the tracks, or re-import them.

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Answer 9

Nov 2, 2005 9:03 AM in response to Andrew Kent1

Highlight the songs in your library that you want to convert, and then go to the Advanced menu and select Convert to MP3. It will create a duplicate of your file in MP3 format.

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Answer 10

Andrew Kent1 Author

Level 1

29 points

Nov 2, 2005 9:03 AM in response to Rich Fleming

I did not import songs using iTunes, I used Roxio EZ CD Creator. But the number of songs imported from CD's make up 2/3 of my library, maybe less. Is there a way to determine the conversaion rate through Roxio's program?

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Answer 11

Nov 2, 2005 9:03 AM in response to Andrew Kent1

In your iTunes prefs>advanced use the AAC codec and set your bitrate to 128kbps if not already set.

Also, you can set a cusstom bit rate of like 80kbps which will dedrease the quality of your audio file but save on disk space.

You can keep lowering the quality to what you find acceptable.

I have over 3500 songs on a 20GG iPod with 2GB of free hdd space. photo and they are not using the AAC codec. I am now in the middle of converting them from MP3 which will save me another 2-3GB of space.

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Answer 12

Andrew Kent1 Author

Level 1

29 points

Nov 2, 2005 9:12 AM in response to David Hill1

I'm a little confused now, and it doesn't help that I'm not at MY PC.

My song files, they either were downloaded off the internet or imported from CD's (downloaded back in the day with "Old Free" napster, sorry). I did not use iTunes to import songs from CD's, I used Roxio's CD Creator. Let's assume they are not at 128kbps, but more like 320kbps. What's the easiest way to determine what what the compression rate is, and what's the easiest way to change that, if it's possible?

I kind of need step by step instructions 'cause I'm not too tech savvy. I'm using a PC, obviously, with Windows XP home edition.

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Answer 13

H.J.

Level 2

426 points

Nov 2, 2005 9:12 AM in response to Andrew Kent1

For example, highlight a song in iTunes, then right-click your mouse, then select 'Info' or "Properties' (I'm not sure), then you'll get a new pop-window, then try different tabs in the window to find out song's properties, like bit rate, compression type, length, etc...

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Answer 14

Andrew Kent1 Author

Level 1

29 points

Nov 2, 2005 9:14 AM in response to H.J.

That sounds easy enough. But do you have to do that in iTunes? Can I do it in an Explorer Window, you know, going through My Computer? Can iTunes change the Compression rate?

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Answer 15

Shane2231

Level 1

105 points

Nov 2, 2005 9:18 AM in response to Andrew Kent1

yea click "get info" on a song and the tab should be "summary" it will tell you the name bitrate and show u album art etc everything pertaining to that track let us know what the bitrate is 192, 128 etc. and do it for more than one song gives us about 5 and if theyre all the same then when can decide ur next step..

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