Bitrate Conversion on Sync to Device

Any ideas about how to improve MediaMonkey for Windows 4? Let us know!

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Flamsmark
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Bitrate Conversion on Sync to Device

Post by Flamsmark »

I have a small [512mb] flash player that I use for jogging and other shakeable activities where I don't want to use my main HD player. But I encode all my mp3s at a bitrate of 320. This is fine for a 40gb HD player, and a computer with as much storage as I'll ever need. However, it tends to really limit the number of files that can be put on my flash player.

So, my question: as MM has an integrated mp3 decoder and encoder, is it possible to convert files to a lower bitrate when they're being copied to specific portable devices?

What I'm really looking for is a checkbox on the 'synchronisation options' tab of the 'device profile' window which says 'reduce bitrate on sync?' and which, when checked, allows you to set the bitrate to reduce to.
anon1

Post by anon1 »

There could be a limit which would re-encode only those files which have bitrate above given limit. For example re-encode all files over 160kbit to 128kbit ABR.
charlieMOGUL
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Post by charlieMOGUL »

Maybe I can of some help. Not with MediaMonkey, but...

Before I got an iPod having a whopping storage of 40GB, I had a 1st-gen Diamond Rio player with 32MBs to spare. To listen to some music while on the road, I created a tiny Windows batchscript which converts mp3s in a given folder to a predefined format (eg. VBR with low quality settings). It uses the freeware mp3 encoder LAME to re-encode the files.
This way, I could create a tracklisting with MediaMonkey, re-encode the files and fill my mp3 player with the most possible music.
I don't know whether you would be interested in the script. You still need to 'export' your playlist to a folder and start the batchscript manually. But hey, low-tech doesn't mean low-fun.

The script ran on various Windows OS'es, but I can't guarantee that it will satisfy your needs.

regards,

charlieMOGUL.
Guest

Post by Guest »

charlieMOGUL wrote:Maybe I can of some help. Not with MediaMonkey, but...

Before I got an iPod having a whopping storage of 40GB... blah blah
a link, sir?
charlieMOGUL
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:26 am

Post by charlieMOGUL »

I'll probably post it tomorrow (tuesday) since I don't have access to the script right now because (blah blah) :wink:


regards,

charlieMOGUL
charlieMOGUL
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:26 am

the script

Post by charlieMOGUL »

As promised... no guarantees given... tested on W2K+ platforms...

*) save the script to a file named RIOLYZER.cmd
*) export a playlist within MediaMonkey as .m3u file
*) download the freeware mp3 encoder lame.exe
*) open a command shell (Windows - Run - cmd.exe)
*) usage: <scriptname> <playlist.m3u>

This script re-encodes all the mp3 files listed in the playlist to lesser quality (and smaller) files to a given directory.
The output directory is set in the script itself.
Output files are numbered as their playlist entry

Once again, no guarantees given. This worked perfectly for me but maybe doesn't satisfy your needs.

========== CUT HERE ===============
@echo off
setlocal

REM RIOLYZER
REM converts mp3 files to lower bitrates and size
REM LAME is needed to run this batchfile

REM initial version- 16-06-2003 - PGCM
REM please share the wealth... whoever you are!

set NAME=RIOLYZER
set VERSION=0.3
set LAME=c:\program files\audio\lame\lame.exe
set TEMPFILE=%TEMP%\%NAME%.tmp
set PARAMETERS=-V 9 -q 9 -B 64
set OUTPUTDIR=c:\output

echo %NAME% v%VERSION%
if not exist "%LAME%" echo "ERROR - cannot find %LAME% - exiting" & exit /b
if not exist %1 echo "ERROR - please give me a playlist to work with - exiting" & exit /b
if not exist %OUTPUTDIR% (
echo creating directory %OUTPUTDIR%...
mkdir %OUTPUTDIR% 1>nul 2>&1
)


type %1 | find /V "#" > "%TEMPFILE%"

for /f "tokens=1 delims=*" %%i in (%TEMPFILE%) do (
echo working on %%i...
"%LAME%" "%%i" %PARAMETERS% "%OUTPUTDIR%\%%~ni.mp3"
)

endlocal
========== CUT HERE ===============
siwatkins
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2005 10:03 am

Post by siwatkins »

To the OP, this is exactly what I've been looking for for days now! I have a Sony Ericsson W800I Walkman phone, with a 512Mb stick. It will only play MP3 or M4A (AAC) files, and they have to be placed in a specific folder structure (artist\album\track) type format.

My collection is predominantly in WMA Lossless and high bit rate MP3, neither of which are directly suitable for a Portable Device such as my Walkman phone. I thought Media Monkey was the answer to 2 days worth of scouring the web for suitable software. Sadly it won't transcode on the fly, though this would be a killer feature. Especially so with the millions of these Walkman phones that are going to hit the market.

The only thing I've found to come close to doing what I want, is by using Winamp and a Transcoder plug in. That does do the job, but is a little slow, and offers no synchronization features.

MediaMonkey, there is a huge gap in the market here - Sony Ericsson are selling these phones like hot cakes, and their provided software will only downsample from MP3, which is no good if you are a lossless WMA user.

Can you do something? Can't be too much work - you already have the various functionality required in the program, just not quite as integrated as it needs to be :-)

Simon
jiri
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Post by jiri »

This is planned for version 2.5.

Jiri
onkel_enno
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Post by onkel_enno »

I didn't read completly, but please include Volume Leveling while synchronizing too.
frodesi

Bitrate Conversion on Sync to Device

Post by frodesi »

Hi,

I'm currently using MM 2.5.1.901. I can't find any functionality for transcoding when syncing to device. Is this still a priority for the final MM2.5 release?
jiri
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Post by jiri »

Sure, it will most likely appear there.

Jiri
Anubis
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Post by Anubis »

jiri wrote:Sure, it will most likely appear there.

Jiri
Fantastic, when this is available, I'll start keeping my music in FLAC format and transcoding to MP3 for my H340.

Any idea what the performance will be of the transcoding (from FLAC to MP3 192)? It's not a super concern, as I only sync to the H340 once or twice a month, and if it takes a while, I can live with it...
jiri
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Post by jiri »

Well, you can try to convert FLAC to MP3 on your machine, the performance will be like this (+plus some rather negligible time for upload to the device).

Jiri
Spazz
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Post by Spazz »

Ah sweetness. I knew there was a reason I switched back to Mediamonkey! :D
Image
abrazor
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Post by abrazor »

switched back? if you dont mind me asking, why did you switch away in the first place?
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