Best way to convert .m4p files to .mp3 format? Having trouble with this process!!!

my harddrive is only 70 gigs, however it spins at 10k rpm and is SATA, its one of those western digital raptors. it works great for me but its not big! if i had kept all of my music which is now 18 gigs and at 128 then it would be 36 gigs if it was 256! if it was 320 it would be 45 gigs! see how much it adds up!

you were saying 'oh its just 7 mb' but i mean if you apply that same concept to over 10,000 files then you have a serious problem if you are low on harddrive space, lol

plus my mp3 player is only 256 mb, lol. however windows xp only recognizes it to be around 245mb : (. i can therefore fit 261 minutes of music on it if it is in 128 cbr mp3 format, roughly the same as 3.2 full stocked audio cds, not bad by my standards. ( 64 seconds of music on 128 cbr mp3 format is exactly 1 mb) and i can change it instantly.

but if i load it with high bittrate mp3s then i can only fit about half of that on there : ( and its not like a 256 kbps mp3 will sound TWICE AS GOOD compared to a 128, because it doesnt. it sounds a little better but has twice the size.

bottom line, 128 kbps is the perfect balance of quality and filesize.

 

I guess we had different view points. It seems that you were talking about playback through your mp3 player were 128 kbps wouldnt sound different than 320kbps. And I was talking about flat out quality at any expense. Yes for the average joe 128kbps isnt that bad considering the files will most likely NOT be played through a stereo

 

Hi fellows,

This is the story. I downloaded an M4p song file (Babe), and it sounds great on my Mac iBook G4. I wanted to share it with my wife (whjo happens to be overseas), so I went and send it to her. Since she uses a pc with Windows XP in it, and after downloading the file, she found out that it didn't play (it asked her with which programm she wanted to open that file). Now I understtod that Windows would do that for her automatically. So I feel like an idiot right here, cause she can not play the music I send to her... How about that!

Afterwards, I downloaded the Switch Sound File Conversion Software (from http://www.nch.com.au/switch/) and after converting the file, I tested on my Mac, but it does not sound anything, althought seems to be playing. So I went and asked her to download the same software, but since she in not very familiar with this proccesses, and neither Am I, I am screaming here for help.

Please advice me on how to do this process without any more frustations.

I'd really appreciate your support on this... Regards.

 

Hey LuisHMA,
Okay, I was actually looking for some free music conversion software a while ago and found two options. One was free and there other had to be payed for but had a trial period. I opted to download the free software whitch just also happens to be the same NCH swift sound software. And I experienced the exact same problem. I couldnt hear the output. This happened with any file I tried so I got rid of that program.I then switched to the program with the trial. It is called dBPowerAMP (http://www.dbpoweramp.com/) and it has the ability to convert between many file types.

Or assuming you bought the song off the iTunes Music Store than the song cant be played on any other Computer unless that computer is authorized to play that song. Also assuming you bought the song off the iTunes Music Store you would need to convert the song to .mp3 so your wife can play it on a program besides iTunes. To convert the song to .mp3 right in iTunes is the method I posted in the second reply in this thread. The song will still have to be authorized on your wifes computer though wich means she will need to have iTunes.

 

on my computer they still sound great.. if you had a good sound card with a good equalizer, and/or use winamp's equalizer, you can make 128 mp3s still sound awesome, though the higher bittrates will sound slightly better. im serious, 256 does not sound TWICE as good as a 128.



LuisHMA- you could always try these 2 different methods.

1. burn the m4p to a cd using itunes. then, use a ripping program to rip the track and convert it to mp3. you can do that using a program called exact audio copy, available here http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

2. you can play the song in itunes and then record it while it is playing and then save it to an unprotected mp3 file using a 'what you hear' setting and with a program called mp3 direct cut available here http://mpesch3.de1.cc/mp3dc.html

 

@LuisHMA
If you chose to use the #2 method Hemingway describes then be aware that you must not do a single thing when using the "record-it-while-its-playing" method. Shut off any programs you can and dont do a single thing to its done. I heard of a good "record-it-while-its-playing" program. I believe it was called "Replay Music".

 

Hi folks,

Thanks for your prompt attention to this issue. And YES I bought the song from iTunes itself. I will try your notes and let you guys know my results. I got another way of downloading mp3 music files, and for free... The music does not seem to loose anything if I use one way or another (any comments on this at all?). A while ago, I sent the "Babe" song over to my wife by using MSN. Let us see what she has to say, once she plays it.

Another Q I have is how do I compress my songs and pictures files to send them over email?, and the user, on the other end, can uncompress it/them without any problem (automatic type of thing). I know there are some products out there, but have you had any experiences on this at all?

Please advice... Regards, lh

 

LuisHMA - are you talking about .zip files? where you can losslessly compress any amount of files into a single .zip file and then send it over emai? its very easy.

if you have windows xp, its built in. put all the files you want into one folder, right click, send to... compressed folder and its done.

tell me if you have xp or not, and if you dont, ill suggest a different method.

 

Hi, and thanks for your answer. Well, the mp3 file went ok. Everyone is happy again. Still I have not work yet in burning a CD, etc..etc.. But I will, as soon as I have some extra air to breath. As far as the files compression, right now I am using a Mac iBook G4, and my wife uses an standard PC, overseas. So I was just tryind to save some time and make things faster.

I looked in inet and saw various tools in there, but you know how it is, sometimes the price does not really mean your are getting the best, and sometimes an unexpensive or free stuff is good enought, since it covers what you need, and that's it. A friend is using WinRAR, and maybe I will try it. Need this just to compress pics, music files, and maybe more things. It would be nice to have an "all-in-one" type of tool to use it in your mails, so the user does not need to be a like a jumpin bean. In fact, that should be an standard that should be included im future releases (hope this gets to those marketing people).

That's all for now. Cheers, lh

 

Has anything new since May been discovered on this topic, m4p to mp3 etc? I have only been able to find Tunebite and at $30 or so its not bad but its frustrating.

With iTunes 7 have any of you found a better faster cheaper way?

Thanks

 

@Boinker

Unfortunately most people that were originally involved with this thread havent looked at it in a while. I myself have gotten rid of iTunes. But if you need something to save your DRM-ed music I would say either TuneBite or a "record-what-you-hear" type program would be your best bet. For the "record-what-you-hear" programs I would recommend Replay Music from applian technologies.

 

You can use m4p converter software solve your questions.

 

spam removed

 

Followed all of the steps. When I tried to convert, I got a message back saying that I cannot convert protected files. Unfortunately, I think the burn and rip approach is probably the best solution - if you can create a vrtual CD using Nero or another program, you can avoild wasting CDs.