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Level 1

40 points

What happened to bitrate info for mp3's?

In OS X, it used to be possible to see the bitrate (e.g. 256kbps) for any music file in the preview pane of Finder windows or in the Get Info window for that file. Not anymore. OS X now tells me the sample rate, which is useless information because it is virtually always the same, but not the bitrate. Now I have to open the file in iTunes to get this information.

Is there any way to change this hopelessly lame "feature" back to the way it was?

Thanks!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4), 3.06MHz Core i3

Posted on Sep 29, 2012 11:52 AM

Best reply

jtsaint

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Jan 28, 2013 6:28 PM

Yes, you are wasting your time, and yes, obviouslly not realizing what is being asked, and to your defence, they really dont make their case clear. If you were a Dj using digital files, you like to see the quality of a soundfile, without using itunes or any 3d party software. I do miss the bitrate info in the finder. It has nothing to do with playlists, this issue is not closed, the only thing that should be closed is your comments. Can we please bring back the bitrate info back in finder, please!

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28 replies

Bindu..

Level 1

0 points

Oct 8, 2013 12:18 PM in response to alansky1

HI ,

I Have lot of collection of music with bit rate of 159 Kbps ,. It is reflecting as unsupported in my iPad mini some bit rates like 96 Kbps , 126 Kbps etc are supported ..Is there any predefined bit rates which are supported , I am confused

Regards,

BIndu

mesa cc

Level 1

0 points

Nov 22, 2013 8:30 PM in response to alansky1

I have a PC. Same problem. Go toView Options and click on File. It's on the bottom by Sorting and Other. Click on that and you will see Bit Rate, Sample Rate, Kind and Size. Hope this helps.

mesa cc

Level 1

0 points

Nov 22, 2013 8:32 PM in response to alansky1

I have a PC. Same problem. Go toView Options and click on File. It's on the bottom by Sorting and Other. Click on that and you will see Bit Rate, Sample Rate, Kind and Size. Hope this helps.

alansky1 Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 22, 2013 8:43 PM in response to mesa cc

Thanks for the info, but I can't find the options you are referring to. The only "View Options" I know of is the "Show View Options" command in the Finder's View menu. It has no Sorting or Other settings. Neither does the Get Info window. Can you be more specific about where to find the info you are referring to? Thanks!

mesa cc

Level 1

0 points

Nov 23, 2013 7:30 PM in response to alansky1

Click on view, then show view options. You will see categories. Music, Personal, Stats, File ,Sorting, Other. Click on the arrow next to File. You must click on the little arrow. It will open up with Bit Rate, Sample Rate, Size and Kind.

Let me know how this works out.

ITunes version is 11.1.3.8

alansky1 Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 23, 2013 8:19 PM in response to mesa cc

Ah, you're talking about iTunes. Bit Rate has been one of my standard columns for many years. What I'm talking about is the removal of bitrate info from Get Info windows in the Finder. The lion's share of my music is stored on external drives and it used to be possible to quickly determine the bit rate of any track by opening a Get Info window for that file. I don't want to copy tracks into iTunes just to find out the bit rate.

Oct 11, 2014 2:29 PM in response to Ed Luvables

I too agree with alansky1. This is a major annoyance. Not sure why LousyFool feels he has to question why we want the feature back.

In any event, and for the benefit of other people looking into this: the "mp3. info app" mentioned by Ed Luvables in his post (see youtube link) while not exactly what we were looking for is a very good alternative in my opinion, and is the best option I could find after an hour spent looking.

Oct 13, 2014 12:45 AM in response to alansky1

Till they add the feature in itunes, and if you use vlc too.

https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=95136

May 20, 2016 12:13 PM in response to LousyFool

The very simple reason this is useful information is that I'd like to know the bit rate BEFORE importing into iTunes. Nothing more annoying than importing

a file only to find that is a crappy quality - Delete.

Dec 6, 2016 1:21 PM in response to alansky1

I miss this really useful feature. I won't use itunes, but I use Traktor for deejaying.

However, when I went to copy all files with >256kbps bitrate onto my external SD card, I realised Finder could not do this.

> but you must not allow iTunes to take over management of your music collection

I must not have to do what you say.

VLC for general listening, Finder for sorting quickly and then backing up, and Traktor for playlists and playing.

Please bring back BitRate.

Dec 18, 2016 9:16 PM in response to kelhak1

Useless advice! Would you add bit rates to hundreds of thousands of files?

Dec 18, 2016 9:18 PM in response to kelhak1

Useless advice! Would you add bit rates to hundreds of thousands of files? I would not do it even though I have a tool or command to do it in one click.

Dec 18, 2016 11:46 PM in response to pentapower

You dont have to add bitrate information. Bitrates are encoded into the files when I buy them . I've never had to add this information.

Maybe you do, who knows why?....

What happened to bitrate info for mp3's?