So I'm trying to figure out how to get the bit depth/bit rate and sample rate in an audio mp3 file. Of course bit rate = sample rate x bit depth. If I look at a file of mine in "Get Info", it reports a "Sample Rate" of 48 kHz. If I look at the "Movie Inspector" for that file in Quicktime, it tells me that the "Data Rate" is 96 kb/s. Now, if "Data Rate" is "Bit Rate", then my bit depth is 2 bits/sample. Duuuuh? That's not right.. So how how how do I establish these parameters for any mp3 file on a Mac?
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bit depth, sample rate in audio file?
- Thread starter Doug Lass
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I'm not an expert in audio, but the "data rate" QuickTime gives you is its bitrate. Bit depth, on the other hand, isn't really something that you can glean from a compressed format like MP3 as far as I'm aware. Uncompressed formats like WAV, AIFF, FLAC, and ALAC will have bit depths.
Similar thread "Finding MP3 Bit rates on Mac" https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/finding-mp3-bit-rates-on-mac.2415638/
As far as I know neither of the formats MP3 and AAC have fixed bit depth, so there nothing but momentary information that can be had if there was a tool that could show the variable bit depth these formats employ. That's bit depth like 16 bits, 24 bit and 32bit (integer or float.
Which in the case of audio describes the amount of data per time unit, like kbps (Kilobit per second), in the file or audio stream.
What is audio bit rate? (Gumlet)
Which in the case of audio describes the amount of data per time unit, like kbps (Kilobit per second), in the file or audio stream.
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In an uncompressed PCM file bit rate is the range of dynamics. Sample rate is the frequency response. I'm sure the various compression algorithms have their own schemes, but they are all about removing "unnecessary" information to reduce the file size. None of them are truly "lossless". That's marketing speak.
Wether it sounds good to you or not or if you can even tell the difference is another subject entirely.
Wether it sounds good to you or not or if you can even tell the difference is another subject entirely.
No, that's bit depth. Not bit rate.
Yes, they are. It's easily proven as well.