Import & Export MP3 Files 

MP3 is a lossy compression scheme commonly used for consumer audio streaming, storage, transfer, and playback, which can also be used on the web.

Import an MP3 file.

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X Import["ExampleData/car.mp3"]

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Export to MP3 for a more compact storage.

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X snd = ExampleData[{"Sound", "Apollo11PhoneCall"}]

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X Grid[{# , Quantity[N@FileByteCount[Export["file." <> #, snd]]/2^10, "Kilobytes"]} & /@ {"wav", "mp3"}, Frame -> All, ItemStyle -> Directive[FontFamily -> "Verdana"], Dividers -> {{True, Thickness[2]}, Automatic}]

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Different compression levels can be used when exporting to MP3. Higher compression levels produce smaller files but may distort the sound quality.

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X t = Table[{l, N@FileByteCount[Export["file.mp3", snd, "CompressionLevel" -> l]]/ 2^10}, {l, 0, 1, .02}];

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X ListLinePlot[t, Frame -> True, FrameLabel -> {"MP3 compression level", "kB"}, ImageSize -> 300, PlotRange -> All, PlotStyle -> AbsoluteThickness[3], LabelStyle -> Bold]

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