What kbps should i download

Others might not be able to tell a high quality MP3 file from its original wave source at all. In many cases the difference only becomes clear if played through a high-quality stereo system where the smallest nuances of the acoustic environment become clear. MP3 files are primarily targeted for portable audio players. In this arena quality MP3 files come through with astounding sound given their small file size.

Since portable players have limited memory, it makes sense that people want their MP3 files to be as small as possible while preserving as much quality as possible. To this end the single most important factor in the creation of MP3 files is the bitrate. Generally, the more bits preserved per second from the original file, the higher the quality of the MP3 and the larger the file size.

A lower bitrate reduces size and quality. The idea is to use a bitrate that results in maximum authenticity without preserving unnecessary data, which only creates larger files without appreciable difference to the ear.

For audio voice recordings such as lectures or language lessons preserved in wave form, bitrates of 32 kilobits per second kbps should be acceptable, though 64kbps might provide better quality depending on the source.

Voices might sound "flat" at 32kbps, though they will be understandable. A 64kbps MP3 file made from a voice recording should sound nearly identical to the original.

The absolute lowest MP3 bit rate you should consider is kbps. This was often referred to as being CD quality, but it's far from being so. This bit rate will allow you to get much more music on to your MP3 player but you'll sacrifice a great deal of audio quality as a result. If you use the headphones that came with your player and don't listen to that much music, kbps will probably suffice for you.

The happy medium between small file sizes and true CD quality audio is a kbps bit rate. This offers vastly superior sound quality over kbps, without eating up too much disk space. The difference in quality between kbps and kbps is vast and immediately obvious -- your favourite tunes encoded at kbps will sound stunning in comparison to the same tracks encoded at kbps.

Consider this bit rate if you own a player with 4GB of memory or above, or if you only carry a few albums with you at any one time. At the top end of the scale we get into what is known as 'lossless' audio. The sampling rate is the number of samples taken in a second. For example, CDs have a sampling rate of This all stems from the groundwork laid out in the Nyquist—Shannon theorem.

This theorem determined that if you double the maximum frequency of the source you can accurately capture the sample. The human hearing range tops out at about 20kHz. Nothing that you would realistically hear. Hi-resolution audio can be recorded at double the standard CD rate or even as high as kHz. The question often comes up if this is needed.

There are instances where a higher sampling rate does help to improve the listening experience. Analog to digital converters have an in-built low pass filter. This filter processes out frequencies that are not within the sampling limit. For example, if the sampling rate is Anything above that will introduce fake samples which is where the low-pass filter kicks in to process them out. By increasing the sampling rate you move the low-pass filter higher into the frequency range.

This moves it further from our hearing range resulting in cleaner sounding audio. The second component is bit depth. Bit depth is the number of bits available to capture sound. For each extra bit beyond the first the accuracy and number of bits doubles. Each bit is a slice of the sound you are hearing. The more bits available the greater options in the information that can be stored.

The end result is greater accuracy in hearing subtle details which might be lost at lower bit depth. With bit audio, there are 65, possible levels that can be captured. To help visualize the difference imagine if you were watching a movie and you only got to see every 10th second of the image.

You would still be able to get an idea of what was going on but you would miss out on the subtle changes in the movement of the actors on screen. If you then got to watch every 3rd second you would have a greater sense of their movement. Bit depth works the same way allowing more refined detail to be captured. Read our buying guides for:. When it comes to audio bitrate size does matter. The more kilobits per second the greater the quality of the sound.

For most general listening kbps is ideal. Of course, CD-quality audio that stretches to 1,kbps will sound better. To determine the best audio bitrate you need to also assess your needs. If storage space is a concern high bitrate files will rapidly eat into your available space. For example, an MP3 file at kbps will take up approximately 1mb of space per minute of audio. A kbps MP3 file will take up about 2.

Meanwhile uncompressed CD audio will take about If you have space go for the highest quality bitrate possible. You can always convert down to smaller files sizes but there is no way to convert back up to higher quality. There are situations where higher bitrates are not ideal. Streaming services like Spotify need to be able to deliver data efficiently without lag or delay. As a result, many streaming services have lower bitrate audio quality.

YouTube audio streams AAC files at kbps. Lower audio bitrates achieve smaller file sizes by compressing the source file.

Higher quality audio bitrates result in much higher file sizes. Unfortunately, this compression also results in a loss of quality. The images below highlights the audio frequency cut off point for a kbps MP3 compared to a kps file. The lower the bitrate of an MP3 the more data is removed from the source. All these graphs and waveforms images do not compare to the real thing. At the end of the day, the true judge of quality is our own ears.

Quality is also affected by what you are listening to the sound on. Budget DJ speakers will also produce poor quality audio even with the best bitrates.

Invest in quality DJ speakers if you want the best results. Even a pair of high-quality studio monitors can make a huge difference when it comes to your perception and understanding of audio quality. Have a listen for yourself and see if you can hear the differences.

High Quality MP3 File — kbps. Low Quality MP3 File — kbps. As technology continues to improve, so does the potential to deliver better quality audio. Even streaming services like Spotify that have relied on smaller bitrates are now offering higher quality audio. The term hi-resolution or HD audio gets thrown around a lot but what does it actually offer? HD audio is usually associated with any audio that is of greater quality than CD. These files are not as new as you may think.

With the growth of 4K and 8K TVs, it was only a matter of time before we wanted the quality of the audio to match the quality of the video. Higher internet speeds have also made it easier to be able to stream these large files. These lossless audio files have a higher sampling rate and greater bit depth.

The bit depth allows for greater nuances to be captured. The end result is a cleaner sound. The question remains whether we can actually hear the difference. Blind test studies have shown that for most people they cannot tell the difference when compared to CD quality audio. But knowing that the audio you are listening to is as close to the original recording as possible does offer a sense of security.

There is a large range of audio formats that are commonly used today. But all audio formats fall into two major categories. Uncompressed audio formats and compressed audio formats. Uncompressed audio formats capture the original recording without any further modifications. They take the soundwaves and convert them into digital format. These formats do offer maximum quality but it does result in much larger file sizes. This can make some of them unsuitable for streaming on slower internet connections.

Below are some of the most commonly used uncompressed audio formats. All recordings begin their life as soundwaves in an analog setting. PCM converts this information into digital format by sampling that recording.

Sampling rate and bit depth are used to sample the recording. The sampling rate defines how many samples are taken per second. Bit depth refers to the number of bits that are allocated to each sample. You can learn more about sampling rates and bit depth in our bit VS bit section above. Many of you will likely be familiar with this popular uncompressed format.

While WAV is primarily used for high-quality audio by definition a WAV file can still contain lower quality audio bitrates.

It all depends on the original source.