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What does convert higher bit rate songs mean?

When i sync my iphone there is an option saying to convert bit rate songs to 128kb/s.


What does that mean?

MacBook Pro

Posted on Feb 9, 2013 3:23 PM

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Posted on Nov 23, 2013 12:52 PM

Usually. The MP3 default is 128 kbps, however, a lot of the music available for download is lower than this. Unless you ripped the music yourself and chose a higher bit rate your MP3s will be 128 kbps or lower. iTunes music is lossless, so saving to AAC 128 will be a significant reduction in bandwidth, which may or may not be noticeable to the average user. Probably not noticeable to anyone unless you have $1,000 earphones or a high quality external speaker.

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Nov 23, 2013 12:52 PM in response to iMuti

Usually. The MP3 default is 128 kbps, however, a lot of the music available for download is lower than this. Unless you ripped the music yourself and chose a higher bit rate your MP3s will be 128 kbps or lower. iTunes music is lossless, so saving to AAC 128 will be a significant reduction in bandwidth, which may or may not be noticeable to the average user. Probably not noticeable to anyone unless you have $1,000 earphones or a high quality external speaker.

Feb 9, 2013 3:36 PM in response to thebunnys

Higher bit rate songs are either Apple Lossless format or AAC 256kb/s usually. By converting them you compress their size at the expense of some quality. If you are only listening on cheap headphones there's not reason not to convert. After converting most songs will take up about 1/3 less space. The conversion (which is one time) will take several seconds per song, so if you have a lot of music it can take a long time.


There's no point in converting MP3, however, because its quality is already below AAC 128 kb/s.

Sep 25, 2018 1:08 AM in response to thebunnys

If you have "Convert higher bitrate songs to" selected, does it just down convert lossless to lossy (256, 192, 128) AAC or will it down convert higher lossy files, such as 320 mp3, as well?

Mar 17, 2015 7:16 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Does it convert the songs without duplicating them first because my entire iTunes library,at least my music,consists of 1693 songs and has a file size of 8.34 GB,if i choose this option for my old 3rd generation iPod nano,which was my first Apple product,will it copy all of the songs to my iPod directly after converting them,leaving my iTunes Media folder unaffected or does it copy them to my iTunes Media folder first,i had duplicates everywhere and it was a pain to clean them out,i do not want duplicate items scattered everywhere

What does convert higher bit rate songs mean?

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