iTunes generating larger than normal mp3 files

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Level 2

154 points

iTunes generating larger than normal mp3 files

I recorded a gig last night and mixed/bounced the aiff files using Logic Pro as I usually do. I then imported into iTunes to convert the aiff files to 160kbps mp3 files, again, like I usually do. However, the mp3 files generated are about 3-4 times larger in size than normal. For example, an older 6:28 long song is about 7.8MB but a song from last night that is 4:04 long is 17.7MB. I don't want to have to change the conversion setting down to 128kbps, but is there some other secret setting that I am missing that is responsible for generating these large files?? And this might be important: this is the first time I've converted using iTunes 12.3.2. Perhaps they changed something with the update?

Any help appreciated. Thanks!

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9.3), 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD

Posted on Apr 3, 2016 9:10 PM

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Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

428,345 points

Apr 3, 2016 9:49 PM in response to pingvuiini

I would use a utility such as the free Media Info to get the details on the files. I don't use iTunes for mp3 conversion and I don't use a new iTunes but you may have changed some setting such as instructing it not to use joint stereo. Joint stereo encodes a channel and then store only the information that is different to the first channel in the second one. There's a whole bunch of settings normal mp3 encoding can vary to result in different size but without knowing the characteristics of the files it is hard to tell simply from a size comparison.

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Answer 2

ed2345

Level 9

63,608 points

Apr 4, 2016 3:40 PM in response to pingvuiini

a song from last night that is 4:04 long is 17.7MB.

Ping,

At the highest possible MP3 bitrate,, which is 320 kbps, a 4 minute song would take about 10 MB. Is it possible that your songs got encoded to Apple Lossless instead?

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Answer 3

Limnos

Level 10

428,345 points

Apr 4, 2016 3:46 PM in response to ed2345

ed2345 wrote:

a song from last night that is 4:04 long is 17.7MB.

Ping,

At the highest possible MP3 bitrate,, which is 320 kbps, a 4 minute song would take about 10 MB. Is it possible that your songs got encoded to Apple Lossless instead?

Hence my recommendation to get the file characteristics.

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