
Converting WMA to MP3 for iPod?I found a program on my computer called Windows Audio Converter. If I change all my wma's into mp3's will I be able to use them on my iPod? First off, I have to say that I'm suspicious of any software that you just "find" on your computer. In this day and age, if you don't know where a program came from and how it got on your computer, it's probably smarter to avoid using it. As you know, your iPod can't play WMA (Windows Media) format files and you need to convert them to MP3 format for them to work properly. Fortunately, this isn't too hard if you are willing to download an application off the net. Indeed, a quick visit to Download.com shows that there are a ton of applications that can perform audio file format conversions. Of these many choices, the most popular appear to be Smart Audio Converter, dBpowerAmp Music Converter, Power MP3 WMA Converter, and Media Monkey. If for no other reason than the great name, I'd start with Media Monkey for your task, and the fact that it works on Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP is just a bonus. If you want a commercial application, then Easy CD-DA Extractor also converts quite a few different audio formats, including being able to convert MP4 files into the MP3 files that your iPod wants. Oh, and in terms of Windows Audio Converter, I think you'll find that you need to pay to use it: it's included with the Windows Media Player 10 system, but from what I can find out, it's a separately licensed application.
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Never miss another useful Q&A article again! Subscribe to AskDaveTaylor with Google Reader. A way easier solution would have been to just use itunes for that...you know, selecting the songs and right clicking and then "convert selection to MP3" Posted by: anon at October 16, 2005 4:16 PMExcept I don't believe that iTunes recognizes WMA files in the first place. I'll have to check... Posted by: Dave Taylor at October 16, 2005 4:23 PMiTunes for Mac cannot convert WMA files, but iTunes for the PC can. If you are on a Mac, you will have to download a different program to do the conversion, but with a PC, simply use iTunes. Posted by: Jerid Hill at October 17, 2005 3:16 PMI serarch for a wma converter for mac OS X and get directed to this site that only has Windows software. Am I an idiot or are you or is Google Posted by: Charles Faris at November 6, 2005 4:57 AMWell, I can certainly note that *I* am not an idiot! :-) To find WMA conversion software for a Mac, go to http://www.versiontracker.com/ and search for 'wma'. I just did that and there are at least five different applications you can download, some freeware, some shareware, that can convert your WMA into MP3 and other audio formats. Good luck to you! Posted by: Dave Taylor at November 6, 2005 6:38 AMWell Dave, I got stuck on the same ship. Tons of WMA on my disc. Got temped to buy an iPod last week, 5G 60Gb. And really not impressed with Apple allready. 1) Apple dont supply a net power charger I like your suggestion to reconvert WMA into MP3, which I've tried through the iTunes pc version. Loss of sound quality is pretty big I have to say, so I'm looking for another solution. Do you know how to convert WMA to MP3 or AAC for that matter without losing sound quality? There should be an opening, because these people say the chip in iPod is capable of readin WMA. Do you know how to make the chip read WMA? Thanks Dave Posted by: Rene at January 10, 2006 11:01 AMWill the WMA converters only convert unprotected WMA? (i.e. Yahoo! Music Engine's files are in WMA protected format, I think.) Thanks... Posted by: Crazimon at January 19, 2006 9:41 PMTo get better sound quality, go under Preferences > Importing and set it to "AAC Encoder" set to 160kbps and check VBR. AAC files sound better at the same file sizes as MP3. Only downside is they won't play on non-ipod players or mp3-CD ready car stereos. If that's the case for you, set it back to MP3 but choose "Higher Quality (192kbps)". Hope that helps! John Posted by: John at May 25, 2006 3:21 PMconverting from one lossy format to another makes the audio quality even more lossy. if you want to avoid this you should rip the mp3 off of the original cd or better yet use flac as an encoder Posted by: TGB at September 29, 2006 12:29 PMThis may sound like a pain, but I've had pretty good luck burning WMA songs to an audio disk, then ripping them to MP3. Not sure about the sound quality - I just set everything to highest quality and it seems to work pretty well. Protection doesn't seem to be a problem. Posted by: SB at November 11, 2006 6:21 PMnow the only way you should do this is with ffmpeg can be found here http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/ffmpegx.html dont be disturbed by the all videoconversion feel of the program its the only openSource non demo non in otherways stupid free converter you can use i admit its not the original wma codec but a reversed one but oh hell wma is a crappy format anyway so the best thing you can do is delete all files with that extention and get over it. WMA is crappy only that it has so many tags and trackers that can be put to that file. HOWEVER, this can be the smae with .mov format as well. From a sound quality perspective, WMP 10 or even lower like 8 supported or could support any file there was a plugin for. the other thing is that to this date this is the only platform you can play HDCD a 20 bitt format on a computer at this time. no os x or even linux or unix varient exists. it also plays back your DTS files as well all natively witout resorting to an outside player or outside of the WMP enviorment. DVD Audio is playable but it is esentally just really spanked out pcm audio. Linn is one copmpany that sells this high deff format for windows and has a whole list of Q and A from there. SACD is the lone exeption. But even WMP will play atrac files as well as long as the plug in is loaded. I also recomened exact audio copy if you are really in to it and want the picture perfect cd copy. Also plextor drives seems to be the best at retriving music data of CDDA format disac or basic redbook standards. I just want to be able to listen to books from the library on my iPod. They are in protected WMA. Any solution to converting them? Thanks Posted by: Marie at February 20, 2007 3:05 PMHi, I want to know if I could convert DRM image files to unprotected image files. My cell phone isnot accept DRm image files to send with MMS. Just download this program called "Switch". It converts anything like a mp3. wav. and all Sorts of things. it'll really help you with all your needs to make a WMA into a MP3 Right in your iPod! Posted by: Aubrey at February 27, 2007 8:34 PMThanks Aubrey, but I still can't do anything with protected files. I'm so disappointed in Apple. I'll never buy another Apple product. There are lots of copy protected WMA to MP3 and DVD conversion software packages out there. Do any of them really work? They all make great claims but I wanted to hear from anyone who has been successful in finding a good one. thanks Posted by: john at March 3, 2007 4:27 AMHey, Dave Well im pretty stuck! http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/easywmv.html Supports OSX 10.2+ I believe. For converting WMA to MP3 Hope some enjoys this. Posted by: Timothy Bailey at March 14, 2007 6:29 PMSimple soulution, BUY A CREATIVE PRODUCT! I love all four that I own. The batteries are user replacable too! Posted by: doug at March 22, 2007 2:48 AMI have a ton of wma files sitting on my laptop that I got last year that were transfered from my old computer. Everytime I try to use any of the conversion software it says something about DRM, is there any way to get around that? Posted by: Melissa at April 9, 2007 6:59 PMI downloaded a buncha of songs from urge with their free trial, bu since I didn't pay fro it does this neab that I can't convert them and put them inot my ipod? Posted by: gilbert at April 12, 2007 6:55 PMHi Dave, I purchased some WMA files but can't convert them to mp3. They have DRM's, and I could authorise them on Windows Media Player, however I cannot open them with any other player. I have both a Mac and a PC. Any help? thanks Daniel Posted by: Dan at April 16, 2007 11:24 AMHi, Daniel, you may try NoteBurner and someone recommended it to me. It works great. You can just use it to convert protected WMA to plain one easily. Posted by: beeby at April 17, 2007 1:15 AMOn my church website I medium quality NTSC WMV files every sunday. Do you know how people with ipods can see them. I can convert the audio to MP3 now and from what I read on your site the ipod can handle that? Ok guys... I managed to convert my WMA files without spending a cent... I have a Mac and a PC, the MAC was unable to play the files while on the PC the files could only be played with WMP. I opened the files with WMP then I clicked on the option "copy to CD" and selected "Audio Files" on the right hand side of the window. I copied the files on the cd(WMP converts them in .AIFF) and the trick was done. I then imported the files with iTunes on both the MAC and PC. regards Dan Posted by: Daniel at April 23, 2007 2:41 AMIt just takes so much time!! I'll have to convert 500 or more CDs into mp3 format and it will not be done in 24 hour period, and I also have to risk sound quality loss and glitches during conversions. Posted by: Lee at April 24, 2007 9:45 AMIf you just need to convert audio files to MP3 use iTunes... rgds Dan Posted by: Daniel at April 25, 2007 1:27 AMwhere did you get the nightmare before christmas movie for your ipod at Posted by: kareena at May 1, 2007 11:19 AMI'm looking for a way to convert an iTunes file or mp3 file to .wma on a Mac. I've found tons of programs that go the other way (.wma to .mp3) but not what i'm looking for. Posted by: Julie at May 7, 2007 9:45 AMI wish I never bought an ipod. I have followed your helpful advice, but still have dificulty with the slow speed of converting wma to mp3. I am trying to convert large files - recorded books from the library that are protected and can not be converted by itunes on a pc. Do you know of a program that can convert at high speed? Thanks, Ama Posted by: Ama at May 16, 2007 1:56 AMhi, Try the Protected Music Converter 0.95. It can convert protected files. You're welcome. Posted by: Joe at June 26, 2007 10:47 PMi just got a 1 gig pink shuffle and have an mp3 i downloaded itunes and says it has an error my question is how do i put it on my ipod without itunes also when i paste it it doesnt play my ipod light flashes green and red if you can help ill b very grateful Chk - Cat - Cathlene Posted by: Im-A-Horny-Girl at June 28, 2007 4:04 AMI just got a phone and it only plays wma files. All my files on my mac are MP3. Is there anyway I can convert MP3 to WMA using a MAC program? thanks! Posted by: Elliot at July 8, 2007 9:38 PMYou can always convert WMA to MP3 even if our WMA file is copy-protected. There are solutions that can convert your file and copy it to iPod in just one click. For instance TuneRaft from http://www.any-wma-to-mp3.com/ can do that. Additionally you can choose either MP3 or AAC (M4A) output file format as both are supported by iPod just fine. Posted by: Susie Good at July 16, 2007 4:39 AMI've just read thru all these postings but am still not sure what is the most efficient way to convert WMA files to MP3 on a Mac. I'd like to convert 30 GB of WMA to MP3 while not losing sound quality and with the option of keeping the music organized. Also am interested in doing it in a batch. Does anyone have any suggestions for Mac users? Thanks. Posted by: wawrzonek at July 31, 2007 12:08 AMI had a problem - could not convert iTunes files to MP3. I tried MelodyCan and was pleasantly surprised of good quality. You may take from here (http://www.convert-any-media.com/). It can easily converts audio and video files from iTunes. Posted by: Ann at September 20, 2007 6:04 AMAbout converting WMA to MP3 I must say it is not a good idea, because both the two compression algorithms are lossy. A lossy compression scheme does its work by throwing away part of the information in the sound, hopefully that part that you ear should not be able to hear.
I've been reading this for a few minutes, and I thought I'd share how I did it: 1. Burn the songs onto a blank CD in WMA format. And there you have it. Well, it worked for me, at least. Good luck to the rest of you. Posted by: Karri at November 7, 2007 5:10 PMJust wanted to add that if you have one Sony PS3 lyin around, you can load your CDs to the PS3 and will store the files either by aac or mp3- ur choice. I transfer those converted files to a portable hard drive and load it up on my iPod via the laptop. Posted by: erick at November 9, 2007 8:37 PMThere is a program call sound taxi and it works and fast it is 25 dollars but it is work it and it converts 3 songs at a time with in about a min. i am really happy i have it and it only takes one step and a click Posted by: nicole at November 19, 2007 11:12 AMHi Dave! Well, I have a new iMac and have switched over to iTunes with a new iPod. On a separate hard drive, I have over 3000 songs that I used to play on Windows Media Player when I had a PC. I no longer have a PC --- what is the best way to convert those .wma songs so I can add them to my Mac iTunes library? Posted by: Akiva at December 17, 2007 6:26 PMTo convert anything to mp3, use Audio Hijack Pro. You can re-record the songs without loss of quality and save them as any format you want. Plus, you don't have to buy the full version. The free version is just fine except you have songs longer than 10 minutes. Don't be stupid, you can always burn an audio CD of your DRM-protected songs and re-rip it to your iTunes. Problem solved. As for video conversion, try handbrake. Posted by: Dolita at December 30, 2007 6:39 PMHi dave, I have recently bought a new Macbook but i cannot get my Iriver h10 20gb to appear on the mac. Is there anyway i can get my Iriver to work like it used to do on my old PC? I AM TRYING TO TRANSFER SONGS FROM MY FLASH DRIVE OVER TO ITUNES AND IT ISNT WORKING. IS THERE A WAY THAT I CAN TRANSFET THE WMA FILES ON MY FLASH DRIVE TO ITUNES IN MP3 FORMAT? Posted by: BENJAMIN at February 28, 2008 8:12 AMUsing converter TuneCab I convert DRM-protected and unprotected audio/video files to almost all formats try here http://www.tunecab.com Posted by: JKarina at March 12, 2008 5:21 AMFor all you MAC users out there!!! Convert WMA TO MP3 Freeware..... Nothing that was stated in the last posts Works. THIS DOES. FOR MAC OSX Posted by: QVZ23 at July 6, 2008 5:08 PMmy girl gave me an ipod 80GB its black with a silver back and when i cant figure out how to put music on it.. tried everything i just downloaded like 300 songs to put on it and it wont let me.. is it that the only way to put music, videos and/or pictures on it is you need a disk with music, the DVD or a camera? Posted by: God dammit.. at August 11, 2008 4:55 AM"god", the only way to easily transfer music onto an iPod is through Apple's iTunes application, which is a free download from their site: Posted by: Dave Taylor at August 11, 2008 8:57 AMI have a lot to say, but ...
I do have a comment, now that you mention it!
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