How to view the bitrate of a media file in Audacity

Question

How can I view the bitrate of a media file in Audacity? There are lots of instructions on how to change the bitrate of a file, but I can't find anything about finding the bitrate of the original file. I am able to open the file in iTunes, and see the bitrate there, but I figured that Audacity with all it's power would be able to show it to me without having to open another program.

Some background: I am already using Audacity to edit my audio file. Audacity by default chooses to export at 128kbps, and the file is usually significantly lower than that. I would like to export the audio at around the same bitrate. It would be nice if Audacity would choose the current bitrate as default, but since it doesn't, I would like to see the current bitrate from within Audacity.

Solution 1

Once a file has been loaded into Audacity it's converted into the format used in the Audacity workspace.

When you open an MP3 you may notice the loading dialog actually says "Importing", so (depending on the input file) it's converted to something like a "Stereo, 44100Hz 32-bit float" 'track'.

At this point the file's bitrate is no longer involved, so there's nothing to show you.

When you Export the project to a media file (like an MP3), you will be given the option to set the bitrate of the file you are exporting the tracks as.

Solution 2

Just adding to Techie007's answer that in V2.1.2 there's a Project bitrate above the bottom status bar. That value should match the bit rate of the working file or the file sizes of ensuing exports won't match.

Comments

[slhck]

Are you forced to use Audacity? If you make your question broader, you'll be surprised what else there is :)

[Faisal Zulfiqar]

@slhck: I'm using Audacity for some audio editing, and I'm pretty happy with it. I don't want to pay much money for another audio editor. I'm already in Audacity when editing, so I would rather not open another program just to see the bitrate if I don't have to. Maybe I'll add some of this background to the question.

[Talespin_Kit]

Is there any advantage of exporting to higher bit rate more than the original ?.

[Adam McArthur]

No. Besides a uselessly larger file. @Talespin_Kit

[0range]

I'm afraid this is not an answer to the question. OP specifically asked about Audacity and it is not clear that the OP is on a Windows OS.