Gaming Why don't mp3's work in MotorStorm Arctic Edge?

[zeello]

The website downloads.khinsider.com has a bunch of game OSTs. But out of all the mp3's I downloaded so far, only two of them work in MotorStorm Arctic Edge's custom soundtrack feature.

Just for the record, MotorStorm Arctic Edge has this dumb rule that an mp3 has to be 256 kbps or less and it has to be 44.1 khz. So I checked and made sure that 8 of the mp3's I downloaded do in fact fit this criteria. But despite that only 2 of them work. What's causing the other 6 not to work? They show up in the in-game playlist, but the game won't let me enable them, if I press X it just gives a message saying it has to be ≤256 kbps / 44.1 khz.

I had a theory though, maybe the non-working mp3's have a variable bitrate and that's why they don't work? I honestly don't know. I don't know how to check for that. When you look at the file details on PC or PSP it just gives a single number no matter what. Also, I found a soundtrack in which every single song is 128 kbps and 44.1 khz, but then I download a few of them and boot up MotorStorm Arctic Edge and for some reason they don't work either! So I have no idea what the problem is!

 

[Jayro]

I would just re-encode them to CBR 256kb/s 44.1 Stereo MP3's myself if I were you, using a free audio encoder like Freac Portable.

 

[zeello]

I would just re-encode them to CBR 256kb/s 44.1 Stereo MP3's myself if I were you, using a free audio encoder like Freac Portable.

Is there a way I can re-upload the songs afterwards, so I can download them with the PSP web browser? I guess any upload site should work as long as the file is an mp3 not a zip file or anything like that.

Also while I'm at it, I have another question. Is there a way to increase turn up the volume of mp3's when re-enoding them? Because that is a big problem. In MotorStorm Arctic Edge the regular soundtrack is much louder than the mp3's. Even Gran Turismo PSP had this problem because some mp3s are much louder/quieter than others.

 

[Jayro]

i believe you can open each one individually in Audacity, and boost it there. I don't recommend going over like 130% though, to avoid noticeable audio clipping.

 

[zeello]

i believe you can open each one individually in Audacity, and boost it there. I don't recommend going over like 130% though, to avoid noticeable audio clipping.

Okay, now I want to go way over 130% just to hear this audio clipping.
It's better if I know what it is I'm trying to avoid.

Currently downloading Audacity.

 

[zeello]

Ok I think I see what you mean by audio clipping, because if I increase the dB too much there is a lot of static at certain parts. I assume that's what you were referring to.

I think +5 dB is the right amount, at least for this soundtrack. I increased the volume of a few files. Works like a charm. Now I need to test it by uploading it. What site to use? Google Drive?

That aside, I should also try to re-encode a file while I'm at it. Can I use Audacity to re-encode other files at 256 kbps or do I still need Freac Portable for that?

 

[zeello]

I just exported a file to mp3 using Audacity, and it converts to 128 kbps even though the original file is 320 kbps. Is there a way to choose a higher bitrate? Why did it choose 128 kbps?

 

[Jayro]

I just exported a file to mp3 using Audacity, and it converts to 128 kbps even though the original file is 320 kbps. Is there a way to choose a higher bitrate? Why did it choose 128 kbps?

You will have to change the encoder's settings in Audacity to 256kb/s manually

 

[zeello]

You will have to change the encoder's settings in Audacity to 256kb/s manually

I can't figure out where this setting is. If I go to Edit -> Preferences -> Quality it will let me choose khz and choose from 16-bit PCS, 24-bit PCS, and 32-bit Float. There's also a 'quality' setting for lowest, medium, highest. Not sure if any of those is the setting I'm looking for.

But maybe it's not that important. Some of the files are 128 kbps to begin. If I am okay with using mp3s that are 128 then it means 128 is good enough, which means the files that are 256 are a higher bitrate for no reason.

One thing I do want to figure out how to do though is to make an mp3 longer. For example one file is 2 minutes 20 seconds which is a little short. Might as well make it loop, and that way it will be at least 4 minutes long.

EDIT: I totally figured out how to make mp3s longer! It's as easy as cut and paste! Took a little fiddling to figure out how selections work tho. I created an mp3 by chaining two different themes together!

 

[Jayro]

The encoder options might be in the "Save As" dialog box where you name the file, so look there for any extra buttons.

 

[zeello]

The encoder options might be in the "Save As" dialog box where you name the file, so look there for any extra buttons.

When exporting, I choose a filename, then it brings up a box where I can change details like album, genre, year, track number, that sort of thing. When I click OK, it just converts the file. I'm starting to wonder if maybe 128 is the only option.

 

[Jayro]

Naw, I've done it before, but I don't have the app installed, and haven't for about 5 years.

 

[zeello]

Maybe they changed stuff during that time. Anyway I just did a little experiment, after exporting an mp3, I exported again this time to a different format. (wav) I right click on the file and it says bitrate 1411 kbps. I also tried "GSM 6.10 WAV (mobile)" and that ended up 71 kbps. So right now I am under the impression that the bitrate is wholly dependent on the file format chosen.