File size

[sissydave]

Would like for all files to have the actual size they are not just how long they are because would like to know how long it is going to take to download it. My internet kicks me off when I'm on for long periods of time and sometimes can't download very large files because they take too long and I have dial up.

[MN_FriendlyGuy]

Here's a rule-of-thumb (a generalization) that will allow you to estimate the size of the file you're considering.

1MB per minute.

A recording that lasts 20 minutes will have an approximate size of 20MB.

[demigraff]

1MB/minute is a good approximation for music. Spoken word recordings can be much less, because the MPEG 3 compression algorithm is more efficient on files with less variation in pitch. On the other hand, some file authors (especially those submitting subliminals and binaurals) encode at much higher quality because of the belief (justified or not) that preserving sounds out of our normal hearing range (which mp3 encoding removes to reduce filesize) are vital to the efficacy of these files.

So on this site, estimating filesize isn't so easy.

I use a mobile internet connection, limited to 120MB per month. So in the past, setting a file downloading to discover it is encoded at 14MB/minute CBR has been something of a nasty surprise. I would very much appreciate a filesize indicator beside download links.