MP3 Bit Rate

J

John R. Baker

I'm making a website for an author of books for children. The author wants
to read selections from some of her books and post them on her site, in MP3
format. What bit rate for the MP3 file would be appropriate?

I was thinking that a bit rate of 128K would be more than adequate, since
this will be spoken only, with no background music.

What is a good practical bit rate for site visitors that only have a slow
dial-up connection? Would 128K cause problems for those with dial-up
connections? Would 32K be better?

I would probably post both 128K and 32K bit rate versions on the same page,
and let site visitors decide which version they would choose.

The author mailed me a low quality audio cassette tape for testing purposes.
She is in the process of re-recording the three selections with the help of
a professional.

The three low-quality testing pages (soon to be replaced) are here:

http://www.hopeirvinmarston.com/audio_testing_isaac_johnson.htm
http://www.hopeirvinmarston.com/audio_testing_margaret.htm
http://www.hopeirvinmarston.com/audio_testing_manatees.htm

Thanks for your help!

- John R. Baker
 
D

DI

Here's how you decide:bitratewhat happens

greater than 56KbpsNot recommended. This bitrate is too high and will cause
skipping in your broadcast.

56 KbpsHigh quality, but only listeners with high bandwidth can enjoy.

32 KbpsMedium quality, and listeners with 56K modem connection and higher
can listen.

24 KbpsLowest quality (similar to AM radio), but everyone with 28.8K modem
connection or higher can enjoy.
 
J

John R. Baker

Hmmm... Here's what Wikipedia says (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_rate ) :

Audio (MP3)
a.. 32 kbit/s — MW (AM) quality
b.. 96 kbit/s — FM quality
c.. 128 - 160 kbit/s - Decent quality, difference can sometimes be obvious
d.. 192 kbit/s — Good quality, difference can only be heard by a few
e.. 224 - 320 kbit/s — High quality, nearly lossless quality

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
J

John R. Baker

Thanks! I might try the 56K and 24K settings.

I did notice that the 128K test recording played fine on my high-end desktop
computer (3.4 GHz, Hyperthreading, 2GB RAM). However, the file did skip
when I played it back on a PII-400 (384MB RAM) laptop computer (about 8
years old).

- John R. Baker

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
D

DI

That's better.

John R. Baker said:
Thanks! I might try the 56K and 24K settings.

I did notice that the 128K test recording played fine on my high-end
desktop computer (3.4 GHz, Hyperthreading, 2GB RAM). However, the file
did skip when I played it back on a PII-400 (384MB RAM) laptop computer
(about 8 years old).

- John R. Baker
Click to expand...
 
S

SingaporeWebDesign

Hello,

The issue here is bandwidth (Internet connection speed). If most of your
visitors are on broadband, 128kbps is good, but overkill.

Play around with different bit rates from 56 to 128kbps and see if the
difference is worth it. Offer multiple bitrates to visitors so that low
bandwidth (especially dial-up) users are able to access them.

FYI My old Pentium II 300 was able to play 320kbps mp3 without any problem.
 
J

John R. Baker

"DI",

I have used the help from http://dtiwebs.com/streaming.htm and now have a
32Kbps file imbedded in the page. It's working GREAT! Thanks! (I
installed the version for Windows Media Player 9 and 10.)

But, I would like to have "Full controls" except with NO visualizations.
How can I have "Full controls" and not have any visualizations?

Thanks!

- John R. Baker
 
D

DI

Open your Web in FrontPage
Open your Player imbedded page
Right click on the player
Click on FrontPage Component Properties
Controls layout
click on select mode button and choose.
Also Play back options
Volume setting
I hope this helps
 
J

John R. Baker

Sorry, but the Controls Layout and Playback Options do not allow for
blocking the "visualizations". What I really want is "Full controls" and
_NO_ visualizations.

The three pages have now gone "live" and can be found here:

http://www.hopeirvinmarston.com/margaret.htm
http://www.hopeirvinmarston.com/manatees.htm
http://www.hopeirvinmarston.com/isaac_johnson.htm

I am pleased with the streaming audio and 32Kbps sound quality. But I would
like to modify the pages to block out the "visualizations".

- John R. Baker
 
D

DI

You can try this:
Open your Web in FrontPage
Open your Player imbedded page
Go to:
Insert
Advanced
Plug-in
In Data source browse to your audio file and click OK
Left click on the Plug-in and adjust to size you desire
45 x 200

Hope this helps.
 
J

John R. Baker

Yes, That's exactly what I want! Thank you!

There is a small problem, however... I get a yellow alert bar at the top of
the browser window that says:

==========
To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this file
from showing active content that could access your computer. Click here for
options...
==========

I am worried that adults who browse to these pages of books for children
might, out of fear or ignorance (or prudence!), not "allow blocked content".
The site visitor would miss out on a good experience, and the site owner
would miss out too.

Is there some remedy that would help avoid this situation?

Also, there is a section in the Plug-In Properties box that asks for
"Message for browsers without plug-in support:". What would be a good text
string to insert there?

Thanks!

- John R. Baker
 
J

John R. Baker

Oh no! I've just discovered a big problem for me.

On some computers, the plug-in begins to play the selection when the "play"
button is pressed, but on other computers, playback begins IMMEDIATELY when
the page is loaded.

I consider the "immediate" playback to be very bad form. Some people might
be visiting the site late a night and don't want to be surprised and awaken
the baby. Others might be surfing at their office and don't want to alert
their co-workers (or boss!) that they are online.

How can I force ALL computers to wait until the "play" button is pressed
before playback begins?

The three pages are located here:

http://www.hopeirvinmarston.com/margaret.htm
http://www.hopeirvinmarston.com/manatees.htm
http://www.hopeirvinmarston.com/isaac_johnson.htm

Thanks!

- John R. Baker
 
T

Thomas A. Rowe

Link to the file and let the user download it and then play it, if they want to hear it.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe
Microsoft MVP - FrontPage

http://www.Ecom-Data.com
==============================================
 
J

John R. Baker

That's how I had it in an earlier version. But then a new window opens and
obstructs the view of the calling window. For some with 800x600 displays
(and newbies too) that will solve one problem and cause another.

But "autoplay" is the more serious of the problems, in my mind.

Is there no other way?

- John R. Baker
 
D

DI

Or you can insert the Windows Media Player Add-in
When the player is imbedded left click on it
Then go to HTML View
You will see the highlighted Code
And replace

height="225"
with
height="50"


width="286" height="225"
with
width="286" height="50"

HEIGHT="225" WIDTH="286"
with
HEIGHT="50" WIDTH="286"
 

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