Whether you're a podcast producer, a musician, or a DJ who creates music mixes, you demand to know how to shrink audio files to reduce their size. Information technology can besides be helpful to know how to compress audio files when yous just want them to take upwards less space on your device.

Here are a scattering of easy and constructive ways to reduce large audio files downward to a more manageable size.

Should You Choose Lossless or Lossy Audio Pinch?

The showtime step to reducing the size of audio files is to recognize whether your sound is "lossless" or "lossy".

  • Lossless formats have all of the original data intact and are therefore much bigger files.
  • Lossy formats utilise a lower bitrate, stripping out a expert portion of an audio file's information. This reduces the overall audio quality, but also makes it a much smaller file and therefore easier on your hard bulldoze.

Lossy formats are fine in most situations. As long every bit yous don't set the bitrate as well depression, it's unlikely you'll exist able to tell much difference between lossless and lossy audio, specially if you're listening on your phone through earbuds.

That said, if storage space isn't an outcome and you lot have loftier-quality speakers or headphones, a lossless format might be the way to get.

Lossless formats too permit you to time to come-proof your sound, should you lot ever acquire better equipment for listening. You can always convert lossless audio to a lossy format, but yous tin can't catechumen lossy audio back into higher-quality lossless formats.

Take a quick look at how file pinch works for a closer wait at what happens when y'all shrink a file.

1. Compress MP3 Files With iTunes

In one case you lot've decided which audio file type to use, you can hands convert the file using iTunes.

compress mp3 in itunes
  1. Click Preferences in the iTunes dropdown menu.
  2. Navigate down to Import Settings.
  3. A new window will pop upward, in which you can change the way files are imported past picking a different choice in the Import Using dropdown bill of fare.
  4. For most people, going with an MP3 format will exist preferable. If you want, you can opt to make the quality slightly lower to salvage additional space by clicking on Settings > Custom.
  5. Next, right-click on the file you lot want to shrink and select Create MP3 Version.
  6. Apple iTunes will then compress the audio file based on the quality settings you selected and drop the new file right into your iTunes music.

ii. Compress Sound Files With Monkey's Audio

Most people can't hear a huge difference between a lossy 320kbps MP3 and a lossless 1411kbps file, and then if you're a casual listener, a lossy format with solid bitrate should work. On the other hand, serious audiophiles and audio geeks can be a very particular bunch, and they don't similar their sound quality messed with.

monkeys audio online compression

If y'all absolutely need your music in a lossless format, an audio compressor such as Monkey'due south Audio on Windows should do the flim-flam.

The service compresses lossless files without compromising the sound quality, and it offers open-source code so developers can use it in their ain programs. Perhaps the best feature of Monkey'southward Audio? It costs nothing.

Download: Monkey's Audio (Free)

three. Reduce Audio File Size With Audacity

Using iTunes is an easy way to catechumen audio files, merely not everyone is an Apple or iTunes user. Some other go-to tool used for audio compression is Audacity. The software is bachelor for most operating systems.

compress audio with audacity

Brazenness has plenty of features for recording and editing audio, but it likewise compresses audio files. The user interface may be intimidating, specially for those who take never used sound editing software before, simply using it to reduce file size is fairly straightforward:

  1. Open your file in Audacity.
  2. Get to File > Export and select the format you want to save the file in.
  3. Under Format Options, cull the Bitrate Mode (variable or abiding), then set a Quality.
  4. Hit Save to save a newly compressed file.

Brazenness also allows you to manipulate the audio'due south actual soundwaves. As they are already silent, you tin can select apartment parts of the wave and delete them. Afterwards all of these steps, click File and select Consign as MP3 to convert the file to the storage-friendly format.

Download: Audacity (Gratis)

iv. Use a Web Audio Compressor

If you don't desire to download and install software, y'all could endeavour using an online service instead. Most of these tools offering many of the aforementioned features as offline tools.

Ane groovy option is 123apps' Online Audio Converter. You tin catechumen an audio file from either your computer or online storage services such as Google Drive and Dropbox.

online audio compressor

It has an piece of cake-to-use interface which allows you to select the format you lot desire. Typical formats such as MP3, WAV, M4A, and FLAC are available, simply there are too more unusual offerings such equally the iPhone ringtone format.

A slider allows you to adjust the bitrate betwixt 64, 128, 192 and 320 kbps, while the Advanced Setting tab lets yous adjust things such as sample rate and whether you lot want mono or stereo output.

In one case those selections are made, just click the Convert push button. Information technology's a very quick and piece of cake style to reduce MP3 size.

Online tools aren't only for compressing audio files. Take a look at our guide to the best free online audio editors for some even more powerful apps.

v. How to Reduce Audio File Size in Android

If you demand to compress an audio file on mobile, there are a number of Android apps that will do the job.

Audio Video Manager is one app that does the job pretty well. Y'all can select your audio file and choose to convert information technology into a host of formats, including MP3, AAC, or fifty-fifty the lossless FLAC.

You lot tin do a straight file conversion, or cull to shrink it at the aforementioned time. Just toggle the Shrink option on or off, then choose whether you want a variable or abiding bitrate, and select the bitrate itself. You can pick anything from a very low quality 32kbps upwards to an splendid 320kbps.

Finally, hit the Convert push button to begin.

Download: Sound Video Managing director (Free)

Cull Your Method and Commencement Compressing

At present you know how to compress MP3 and other audio files. Any of the tools listed above will do the chore, and they're generally straightforward to utilise.

Compressing audio is essential when y'all're recording it yourself, otherwise you'll end upwardly with massive files that are too big to share or use conveniently. But that's only one office of the process—there are enough of tips you need to follow to make your audio sound more professional person.