# How Much Music Do You Have on Your PC? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070 "2003-12-19T23:27:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stover9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Stover9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stover9)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/1 "2003-12-19T23:27:14Z")
I downloaded iTunes for Windows. I immediately began importing songs, (mostly from CD). After getting primarily through Radiohead, Flaming Lips, and Pink Floyd only, I’m at 400+ songs at 1.70 GB. That seems like alot, considering that I have thousands of more songs I wished to add. Also, my iTunes copies songs as AAC files, which I have not read many good things about. Can’t I just import as MP3 or is there something better? ---
**Author:** ![Stover9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Stover9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stover9)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/2 "2003-12-19T23:28:18Z")
I guess my real question is whether 1.70 GB for only 439 songs seems accurate… ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/3 "2003-12-19T23:34:45Z")
What bit rate are you encoding at, and are you using variable bit rate? I have my entire collection of Cd’s and some mp3’s downloaded form the net for some 40 gigs worth of music. Most of the stuff I really liked I’ve backed up in DVD’s. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/4 "2003-12-19T23:39:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stover9 \* > \*\*I guess my real question is whether 1.70 GB for only 439 songs seems accurate… \*\* That’d be about right, for 3GB per song…and allowing for a few epic Floyd doodlings 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Stover9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Stover9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stover9)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/5 "2003-12-19T23:40:44Z")
Ahhh, under edit / preferences I see how I can change importing options… They are AAC, AIFF, MP3, and WAV. Importing as AAC, defaults to 128 kbps (high quality) and Importing as MP3, defaults to 160 kbps (high quality) The others default to “Automatic”. What do you recommend using I’ve got a friend with a computer that has a 5.9 GB hard drive, and I swear, he’s got to have about 10,000 songs saved on his system, so maybe that’s why I’m surprised. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/6 "2003-12-19T23:41:21Z")
Errr that’ll be 3_MB_ per song lol ---
**Author:** ![Stover9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Stover9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stover9)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/7 "2003-12-19T23:42:29Z")
nice run-on sentence there too. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/8 "2003-12-19T23:47:00Z")
I don’t know jack about Itunes, I use other programs for ripping to mp3. What I use typically is variable bit rate set at custom high quality (128-256). I get EXCELLENT results in about the same size files as encoding at a constant bit rate of 160 or 196 kbps. If itunes only goes to 160 and it’s constant bit rate only, I’d say stick to 160. You’ll get good quality sound and decent file size. (and the space sounds about right for that many songs at that bit rate. ---
**Author:** ![Stover9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Stover9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stover9)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/9 "2003-12-19T23:49:31Z")
Yes Gorilla, some of the Pink Floyd definitely raises the average! . . .(Echoes is 21.6 MB). . .oh, and I was referring to my run-on sentence. . . ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/10 "2003-12-20T01:31:16Z")
I encode to WMA (with no protection) and burn MP3/WMA CDs for my car’s deck. Last I checked I’m in the 30-40 gig range of WMA at 192 bit rate recording (the max my deck can do). ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/11 "2003-12-20T02:17:56Z")
If you’re concerned about space, you’ll be able to squeeze more onto your system burning at the 128 AAC rather than the 160 mp3, and they’re supposed to sound the same (I can’t tell the difference, but I don’t have the world’s greatest speakers). The only disadvantage I see to AAC is if you want to use a device that can’t play that file type. I just checked my library, and I’m at 2154 songs, 9.12 gigs. ---
**Author:** ![Lockfist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@Lockfist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockfist)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/12 "2003-12-20T03:42:08Z")
7,829 songs totalling 30.50GB at 128 bit rate clocking in at 22.8 days. It took two weeks to rip all my cd’s with no thanks to MusicMatch. iTunes proved to be the best method although I am looking forward to more functionality in future releases. BTW, why does the message board “lose” my post when I reply before loggin in? It says the thread is not specified or something. yeah yeah, I’ll log in prior to responding next time but still… ---
**Author:** ![Headcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@Headcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headcoat)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/13 "2003-12-20T06:05:02Z")
I have a 60 gig drive filled to the brim, eyeing a 250 gigger soon. Most of my collection is 192-256 or APE vbr bitrate. I also switched from iTunes to Winamp 5 to play my music. Its a much better experience. ---
**Author:** ![Sqube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Sqube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sqube)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/14 "2003-12-20T06:21:13Z")
I also gotta concur as far as Winamp5 is concerned, it’s my primary media player nowadays. Looks good (a la Winamp3), runs smooth (a la Winamp2). No complaints. As far as how much music I have? 4,172 songs totalling 16.1 gigs. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/15 "2003-12-20T06:35:44Z")
Moved to CS. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/16 "2003-12-20T07:25:20Z")
I only have 4.7 days worth of music. I feel like such a piker now. ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/17 "2003-12-20T07:26:57Z")
None. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chavardz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@Chavardz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chavardz)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/18 "2003-12-20T08:01:10Z")
I’m not saying wot I gots. The RIIA has been going after people like me. And some of you, be afraid, be very afraid. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/19 "2003-12-20T08:48:07Z")
On the laptop I only have about a half gig. Stored on CD, though, I have about 30 gigs in MP3 format. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070/20 "2003-12-20T14:12:16Z")
Over 25GB. All of it perfectly legit. Man, was transferring over those CDs a major project. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-music-do-you-have-on-your-pc/220070.md?page=2)