Dave, I’ve read your articles about how to transfer MP3 music files to a Sony PSP and other MP3 device, but what baffles me is that when I insert music CDs into my PC, it produces “WMA” files, not “MP3” files. How do I fix this, or is Windows Media Player incapable of producing MP3s?
This is a very common question, so let me step through it in great detail. First off, though, rest assured that while it’s definitely not recommended by Microsoft (for obvious reasons), the Windows Media Player can most definitely produce high-quality MP3 audio files from your favorite music CDs. (there are also audio file conversion tools worth mentioning, notably Smart Audio Converter)
The first step is to launch Windows Media Player. For this article, I’ll show Media Player 10 (WMP10, as Windows folk say). Start it up, click on the “Rip” tab, and here’s what you’ll see:
Of importance here is the last text line in the main window area; it tells you where the MP3 files will be saved once the CD is “ripped” (a fancy word for ‘copied onto the computer’).
Insert a music CD, however, and nothing happens, even though the “Insert an audio CD” prompt suggests that somehow WMP should automatically detect and scan it. Maybe that works on your computer, but for me, I have to explicitly tell the Media Player to scan a specific hardware device to find the music CD. This is done by right-clicking on the word “Rip” then selecting the right menu item:
Yeah, it’s a bit ugly, but select it and a second or two later the program queries an online CD information database to figure out album and track information, then all is good:
You can see that my test CD is the jazz album Philly Style by jazz music Jeff Lorber, and that WMP is showing every track by name, length of the track in minutes and seconds, artist, etc. Also note that every track is automatically checked.
To copy all the music onto your computer, click on Rip Music along the top bar. But that’s not quite right, actually, because you’ll end up with more Windows Media Audio format music (files with “.WMA” which won’t work with MP3 players including both the iPod and Sony PSP).
What you need to do is change the default settings for ripping audio content within Windows Media Player, which is easily done. Right click on the “Rip” tab along the top again, and this time navigate to Tools –> Settings… and click on the Rip Music tab:
You can see where “Windows Media Audio” is highlighted as the default format in the middle of the window. Click that pop-up menu item and choose MP3 instead, then I suggest you drag the slider along to have either the best quality or just one ‘click’ down from there. No-one likes crummy quality music files… 🙂
When you’re done, click “OK” and click on the Rip Music link at the top of the main Media Player window again. This time it’ll copy the audio CD, but create MP3 files, rather than WMA files. Nice!
Pop over to the folder — probably “My Music” in your “My Documents” folder — where the music is stored now, and you’ll likely see both the old WMA files and the new MP3 files:
You can safely delete any Windows Media Audio files if you also have MP3 versions of the files, by the way.
Now, finally, you have the MP3 files that your MP3 player / iPod / Sony PSP likes. Copy these MP3 files onto your player and you’ll have just gone bigtime geek, ripping a music CD and copying the songs onto your favorite gadget. Nicely done!
Not sure how to copy audio files onto your Sony PSP, by the way? Then please check out:
• Download music and photos to a Sony PSP
Hope this helps you with your music efforts!
Some ripped mp3 files do not copy cd title or song names. Not any one label either. The music is fine but the details are in Japanese characters. How can I change this?
I’m still a bit confused. If I copy the WMA to CD to then rip it to Windows for mp3 – and this is only for the sake of ReverbNation for booking gigs (which drives me absolutely nuts!) – you said “You can safely delete any Windows Media Audio files if you also have MP3 versions of the files, by the way.”
Huh? I don’t want to get rid of the CD version, the WMA, because then I won’t be able to have that quality for burning CDs. Correct? But I do want to keep the mp3 so I can post the files for the songs on the website or whatever, right?
What’s even weirder is… why can’t I just internally copy the WMA and make an mp3 without burning a WMA disc?
AUGH! Why can’t they just take a SoundCloud link!
Really, It is great help to get mp3 file from cd as because it could be easy to carry it with different mp3 player equipment.
I have a vinyl record that I want to put to cd. Can i copy it to my computer then use the above method to put it on a cd?
Hi Dave,
How do I email a mp3 file to an agent? Should the mp3 file be stored in media player?
Thank you!
G
Thank you! I really wanted to know how to download songs onto my MP3, from a CD – but, I didn’t even read it all; I saw the word “rip” and thought maybe I’d give that a shot. Didn’t have a clue what was going to happen, but it worked! Thanks.
OMG, thanx so much. So helpful and in plain English. :0)
Just wanted to say thanks, followed your directions and am very happy that I can turn my very numerous amount of CD’s into MP3 files. Thanks again.
Yes it works
I have ripped some music to windows media player 12 but I need to create an alphabetical playlist that I would use as a D.J. for my customers.
I see that it is not possible to do that with wmp. Do you know of a free or fairly reasonable cost program that I can buy to rip my cd’s and also allow me to print an alphabetical song list?
I have approx. 1200 cd’s to rip to my laptop but have stopped at this point from ripping them to wmp until I can get some suggestions. Thank you
Brigitte, YouTube is oriented around video, so if you’re just producing audio, it’s not appropriate. I would suggest you contact your local Center for the Blind and ask them what sites exist that list audio books available for free or low-cost download, then contact those sites directly.
Richard, not sure what’s wrong, but perhaps you can delete your Windows Media Player then download the latest version from the Microsoft site (search for it on their site: “wmp download”) and fix things that way?
Dear Dave, I need your expertise. My windows player is not working properly i.e: when ripping a cd when I organise i can no longer see the music or change location it’s blank meaning i cannot rip cds. help me please!
I have informative articles for my website. I would like to record them on an audio file for the visually impaired. I can post them on my site, but I would also like to list them in a place like youtube or itunes. Do you know of an appropriate place to list them?
Thanks in advance.
Brigitte
Thank you.
Thank you. Your instructions helped a lot!
Ok, the change seems easy enough in the drop down box but the problem is that the only choice (3 of them) is ‘Windows Media Audio’ and of course the taunt to the right giving you “information” about mp3’s. Is there an upgrade to windows media so that the mp3 format IS available in the drop down box?? There has got to be a way!!
I would like to thank you very much for the great effort you ‘ve done. it really helps.
hi, this just saved me from getting more frustrated!!! ur site is so informative,thank you very much and more power!
there is no ripping device available in my media player.only there are play,burn n sync,that’s all.i can’t even copy songs n film in any CD and DVD.please give me some informations
Hey Dave,
My question for coffee:
My MP3 files are ready for CD transfer,
how do achieve success using Sony Acid Music 7.0
Thanks
Stacy
Hello,
My music from Windows 7 Media Player sounds very bad when played through amped. sound system. All music files were ripped cd’s. They play, but have a very high sound, when i adjust settings i do get a hollow sound. No bass at all. Any settings advice, or do you think changing format will boost sound quality?
Thanks,
Brian T.
my windows media player can not play smothly
Hi
I have been told that if one converts MP3 files back to Wave files, the process will regain the frequencies lost during the initial coversion from Wave to Mp3. Is this possible?
Please comment.
How do I convert the windows media file to MP4 format instead of MP3? Just wondering because my Nintedo Dsi says the format should be Mp4 and I tried Mp3 but it wouldn’t play any of my music please help. Do I need a different kind of media player or is there a way to use the windows media player to rip my Cd’s to my sd card on my nintendo dsi thanks so much I hope you can help.
I just wanted to say THANK YOU for your VERY helpful information! I just purchased a Muvee autoproduer only to find out it wasn’t compatable with my music files. Your article helped me convert them to the file I needed after 3 hours of sitting here tring to figure it our through other channels. Thank you again!
thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyousomuch!!! i spent a long time ripping my CDs and when they didnt work on my psp i just about cried thank you thank you thank you so so so much!
how do i download music into my new eclipse mp3 player?
I COME BACK FROM VACATION AND BROUGHT AN MP3 AND WOULD LIKE TO COPY IT TO MUSIC CD’S, CAN YOU HELP PLEASE?
THANK YOU
Thx, thats nice
i read and found helpful “Produce MP3 files from a CD with Windows Media Player?” what i’m looking to do is now that i have already ripped a cd and it is already in my computer as a wma file, how do i copnver it to mp3, and will this play on all cd players, and if not how do i know which plyers it will play on. i want to do this because i want to copy a cd from my computer, and even though it all fit into the original cd and even though it says “21 minutes left” and even though the song is 17 minutes, it still did not al fit onto the cd. thanks, i hope this is clear, len wolff
Coffee and more later!
Can you help? Is there a way to convert hundreds of Cds to a computer memory without losing any fidelity or dynamics? Will WMA do it? I’m willing to dedicate a computer/monitor to feed the main system if the fidelity holds up.
Thanks,
John
see kilboj on eBay for feedback
Howard, it’ll be a big job, but you can download a great freeware open source app called Audacity, then import your MP3 file into it and set specific break points where you can then save individual tracks, axe the noise between songs, etc. Go here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
I have a two hour audio CD that I made of a guitar performance I did. It has about 10 songs in it. I want to break them up into separate songs so I can put them on a CD as separate tracks. How do I do this?
Hi Melissa. What you might do is check out whether there’s an “Import” feature in your version of Windows Media Player. My guess is that you have mp3 files, so you have a *data* CDROM, not a music CD, which is what’s confusing WMP.
Masud, go back and check the settings when you burn your MP3 disks: sounds like your player wants audio CD disk format, even if it can read individual MP3 files on that disk.
Gugu, you’ll probably need to convert your WMA audio to MP3 format before you burn your audio CD. Poke around on my site, I have a couple of articles that explain how to do this and offer suggestions for specific software that can speed up the process.
Hi, I have been trying to do this for some time now, I ripped a cd to my USB but when I try to play it at home, it does not show any data, it’s in the wma format and i’ve been trying to change to MP3 but i can’t.. please help….is it my dvd player with a problem or what coz when i play it in my car it’s working.
my mp3 player can not see the mp3 files but I can read them when I connect it with PC.
what is the problem?
Acoustic solutions model no: 513/3855
OK… I am pretty bad at computers and at a disadvantage because I’m disabled. I use voice recognition to run my programs. Having said that I never had a problem making MP3 files with my old Nero, but that is gone now. I have a lot of CDs that I have purchased throughout the years and some stuff that a friend gave me already. I have a new system that I really don’t understand. It is Windows 7 and although I follow some of your instructions I don’t see the same thing in my Windows media player that you demonstrate. I simply want to convert my CDs to MP3, combine some of those songs with others that are already on my hard drive in MP3 format. Struggling big time and hope you will advise! Thank you ahead of time sincerely, Phil
Hi Dave,
I am so glad I happened across your website. I have been trying to find help for days!!
I was reading your posts and looking at your example(close to what I need)but….
Here goes:
I have some CD’s that are in MP3 format. They are not music, it is like an audio book.
I am trying to insert & copy them to Windows Media Player, but don’t know how.
When I insert the CD and click on the rip tab, nothing happens! It just keeps wanting me to insert a CD when it is already inserted……I need a guru!
Will you instruct me????
How to copy an MP3 formatted CD into window media player (for vista)
FYI: The CD is not music it is like an audio book only shorter.
THEN………………
Once I have them on Windows Media Player, I would like to sync them to my blackberry, so I can listen while driving. I know how to sync music to my phone, I just want to make sure there will be no special instructions needed.
The example you gave above was great and visual help is always the best for me, but my version of Windows Media Player is for Vista and doesn’t do what the example above instructs.
Thank You for your time!
Melissa
PS Will you email me the solution?
Give up on Media Player ripping. Use the ITunes client. It supports higher sampling rates and VBR to get better MP3 quality with smaller files.
When I try to burn cd’s off windows media player only the 1st 3 songs from the burn list show up on the cd. Help!
Hi Dave, When I have uploaded my cd’s to my computor through Windows Media Player and then transferred the music to my MP3 player, I have then removed the CD Music File from my computor, (my USB is not connected at this time). I then connect my USB for my MP3 back to my computor to do more work, but find that after disconnection when I check my MP3 the previous CD has disappeared from my MP3. Does this mean that I have to keep the uploaded CD on my Computor to avoid deleation from MP3?
Kindest Regards Miriam
I do not see rip in media player
In the Set Default Programs I checked all the defaults in media player as it only had 3 of 46 or something that close,anyway,then I burned an mp3 file that I already ripped years ago.Now that I have it on cd I changed the name and then deleted it from my saved music folder.
I now want to rip it back on my pc BUT the media player can not locate the file !!!
Can you help ?
I have figured out how to rip into mp3 format but was hoping someone could tell me how to eliminate the spaces that occur between songs when the original recording does not have spaces. I am trying to put The Wall on my son’s mp3 player without having the momentary spaces between tracks which are not part of the original recording. Thank you.
I have figured out how to rip into mp3 format but was hoping someone could tell me how to eliminate the spaces that occur between songs when the original recording does not have spaces. I am trying to put The Wall on my son’s mp3 player without having the momentary spaces between tracks which are not part of the original recording. Thank you.