Ableton Forum

hey i just recorded a track and after exporting its 1GB big (at 32bit) its only 40 seconds long so i find that hard to believe, how do i resize it?
ive tried doing it at 16 bit and it only goes down to 500MB and the sound quality is very poor.

how can change the settings to get smaller files?
ive also tried reducing buffer size and turning off "normalize", they dont really seem to make a difference in reducing the file size.

im using ableton 8 by the way

what is the sample rate

it does seem too big

longjohns wrote:what is the sample rate

it does seem too big

its 44100, tried reducing it but that doesnt really affect its size apparently

ShelLuser wrote:Naturally its big since Live only exports into wav format (so basically "raw" sound data). Why not compress it into mp3 format?

yh but even wav files arent that big, since it ws only 40 seconds, how can i compress it??

What sample rate are you running?

Calculation is: Bit rate = (bit depth) x (sampling rate) x (number of channels)

32 bit * 192000 * 2 = 12Mbit/s

So 40 second track = 40 * 12Mbit = 492Mbit = 61MB file

So, there's something clearly wrong there... maybe post your *full* settings on your export pop-up window?

Maybe a stupid question, but when you say the size of your track, you do mean *just* the exported wav file or aiff file, right? You're not talking about your complete Ableton Live set (als file)...?

8O wrote:What sample rate are you running?

Calculation is: Bit rate = (bit depth) x (sampling rate) x (number of channels)

32 bit * 192000 * 2 = 12Mbit/s

So 40 second track = 40 * 12Mbit = 492Mbit = 61MB file

So, there's something clearly wrong there... maybe post your *full* settings on your export pop-up window?

this is exactly what i got, (well, by my math it's 60MB, and shows as 60,001 KB in explorer, after exporting 40 seconds worth

longjohns wrote:

8O wrote:What sample rate are you running?

Calculation is: Bit rate = (bit depth) x (sampling rate) x (number of channels)

32 bit * 192000 * 2 = 12Mbit/s

So 40 second track = 40 * 12Mbit = 492Mbit = 61MB file

So, there's something clearly wrong there... maybe post your *full* settings on your export pop-up window?

this is exactly what i got, (well, by my math it's 60MB, and shows as 60,001 KB in explorer, after exporting 40 seconds worth

Cheers - and just checking my exported wav/aiff songs I've done at 44.1kHz/16-bit, they're all roughly the same as the theoretical values, too. So, I don't think there's something seriously wrong with Live's exporting...

@danno2020: exactly which version of Live8 are you using? Do you get crazily large wav files with every export you do, or just with this track? Also, when you play the exported wav file (in iTunes, for example) is it still 40 seconds long?

@80: my sample rate was 41100 btw. im using live 8.01. i get large files for any file i recorded. when i play it on itunes its 49 min long tho so i think i havent selected the recorded area as i just realized.
do u know any good compressing programs to turn wav to mp3 that i can download for fee?

danno2020 wrote:@80: my sample rate was 41100 btw. im using live 8.01. i get large files for any file i recorded. when i play it on itunes its 49 min long tho so i think i havent selected the recorded area as i just realized.

danno2020 wrote:do u know any good compressing programs to turn wav to mp3 that i can download for fee?

I just use iTunes to convert them. Seen Lame Encoder mentioned on here too.

8O wrote:

danno2020 wrote:@80: my sample rate was 41100 btw. im using live 8.01. i get large files for any file i recorded. when i play it on itunes its 49 min long tho so i think i havent selected the recorded area as i just realized.

danno2020 wrote:do u know any good compressing programs to turn wav to mp3 that i can download for fee?

I just use iTunes to convert them. Seen Lame Encoder mentioned on here too.

ohh how do u convert it to mp3 on itunes???

danno2020 wrote:ohh how do u convert it to mp3 on itunes???

Set the compressed format you want in iTunes -> preferences -> general -> import settings. Then just right-click on any tracks you want to convert and choose "Create mp3 version..." (or whatever format that you chose in preferences).

8O wrote:

danno2020 wrote:ohh how do u convert it to mp3 on itunes???

Set the compressed format you want in iTunes -> preferences -> general -> import settings. Then just right-click on any tracks you want to convert and choose "Create mp3 version..." (or whatever format that you chose in preferences).

Thanx a lot! oh also one more thing, when exporting a file do i have to select wht i have recored manually or is there a way to seloect it all??

danno2020 wrote:Thanx a lot! oh also one more thing, when exporting a file do i have to select wht i have recored manually or is there a way to seloect it all??

Apple+A, then Apple+L (or whatever it is on a PC), in arrangement mode, should usually do the trick. You might need to manually check the end for automations, in case you can trim a bit off.