converting wma to mp3

[LUDELVR]

Okay, I'm just wondering here, first of all, how do you do this? If I save my cd's onto my harddrive, they become wma files, now, do I have to convert them to mp3's or will they still play on my mp3 player? Does it depend on the mp3 player then? Also, if I need to convert them, how do I convert them to mp3? Thanks in advance

[AsianCaucasian]

It will depend on the mp3 player. Most can play wma though... To convert wma to mp3 just google it. There's tons of free conversion programs out there.

[BumpinTalon]

I've got a good one, I'm at work right now so I can't find the name of it, but its a shell extension... so you can right click on the file and then the option to convert it to MP3 is right there. it was on the first page to pop up on a google search, I believe.

[dragonone]

i use power wma mp3 converter
doesn't do wm9 or something tho

[Carfanman]

wm9? There's something I havent heard of. Is it smaller than wma?
Also, is wma quality equal to mp3 quality?

[AsianCaucasian]

Originally posted by Carfanman

Also, is wma quality equal to mp3 quality?

usually... no. But you can make it mp3 quality or higher if you wish.

[Carfanman]

How would I do that?

[BokCh0y]

i use freerip to convert my files to mp3.

[Ben]

Sony Sound Forge 7.0 aint bad :thumbsup:

Great for collecting audio from movies also.

[GTS Jeff]

Find a program that rips from CD directly to mp3. That's the easiest way to do it.

[LUDELVR]

Thanks for the help guys, but still a couple of questions.

Firstly, what the hell is the difference between mp3 and wma? All I know is that when I check the size of each one, they are about the same size and don't take up a lot of room. So can I assume that Song "A" in mp3 format will take up the same size as the same song in wma format, however the sound in wma won't be as good quality? Can someone list the pros and cons for each please :thumbsup:

Secondly, I was looking on google for some converters and I was wondering if there were any free programs that can do batch or entire files of wma to mp3s? All I found were free ones that will do only one at a time and I have something like 1100 songs that I want to convert to mp3.

I'm certain that the mp3 player I'm looking to buy can do wma, but I'm not 100% certain. I'll try and check it again, but if it does play both wma and mp3, what advantages am I getting by converting it to mp3s as opposed to wma? Thanks yo!
:thumbsup:

[LUDELVR]

Originally posted by GTS Jeff
Find a program that rips from CD directly to mp3. That's the easiest way to do it.

Yes, this would be my best solution!! I'm simply trying to convert all my cd's into mp3 format. Is google the best to find this program? Also, are there any free programs on the net?:dunno:

[Seanith]

Originally posted by LUDELVR


Yes, this would be my best solution!! I'm simply trying to convert all my cd's into mp3 format. Is google the best to find this program? Also, are there any free programs on the net?:dunno:

Use Music Match Jukebox! I've been using it for years.

[Krayzie]

you can also edit the settings in windows media player
change the settings so that it saves the file as an mp3 file instead of wma
no convertor needed

[dragonone]

wm9 is the codec used, i think it's windows media 9 or something
it's supposedly very gd at compressing and leaves very small sizes

i'd stick w/ mp3, it's enuf for me

[LUDELVR]

Originally posted by Krayzie
you can also edit the settings in windows media player
change the settings so that it saves the file as an mp3 file instead of wma
no convertor needed

Oh seriously!! If this is the case, then I'm home sweet home!! It's just a good thing that I didn't save all 55 cd's and only did just 7 of them! I'll give that a shot when I get home from work!! Thanks man. :thumbsup:

But let me get this straight. All I have to do is open up windows media player and change the settings? Can you give me a mini tutorial on how to do this please...I'm not too familiar with changing the settings on mediaplayer...as a matter of fact , I wasn't even aware that you could change the settings!!!

Thanks again guys!:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[LUDELVR]

Okay, I tried to change the settings but no luck. It gave me a link to a program where I can do it, and it's on microsoft's webpage, but you gotta pay for that shit. I also found a few free ones but they kinda suck, you can only do one or 5 at a time and I've downloaded a couple of them but when I convert them, they convert them to wav files. :dunno: Man, I hate being computer illeterate!!:thumbsdow

[Seanith]

did you try musicmatch?

[LUDELVR]

Originally posted by Seanith
did you try musicmatch?

I've just finished downloading it before I left for work but haven't had a chance to try it out. Does it do cd's into mp3 format? And if so, can you do entire files with the base free version? I saw that you could opt to buy the musicmatch plus but I just stuck with the regular one.

[nambis]

yo

use easy CD-DA extractor (www.poikosoft.com) you can download a 14 day trial version that gives full functionality.

this is good stuff, it can automatically dl track names, etc. for you and has a lot of settings to give you total control over what you're ripping. it's also what most of the irc ripping groups use.

[Seanith]

Originally posted by LUDELVR


I've just finished downloading it before I left for work but haven't had a chance to try it out. Does it do cd's into mp3 format? And if so, can you do entire files with the base free version? I saw that you could opt to buy the musicmatch plus but I just stuck with the regular one.

Yeah the free version does it all. THe plus only really offers burning capability. With musicmatch you put your cd in, then you set what quality you want to rip it (up to 320kbps) and theres different formats. I just use the normal mp3 format, but theres like ratios and %s you can do too.. but yeah it should do what you want. YOu can also convert existing mp3s to better/worse bitrates or convert different file types to whatever you want like mp3 > wav, vice versa, and others. HTH.