Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?

Subject: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 13 Apr 08 - 08:54 PM

Not sure whether I'm allowed to ask for this here!? Can anyone point me in the direction of a free (downloadable?) mp3 conversion software? I did have one, and it seems to have expired (I had the impression it was permanently free - ah well). Would be very grateful.

Sue

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Wincing Devil
Date: 13 Apr 08 - 09:00 PM

Which way are you trying to go? For instance, Midi to MP3 or MP3 to midi (for midi substitute whatever format you've got/want)

>;-(

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 13 Apr 08 - 09:53 PM

Try this Switch
There is a pay version that you can upgrade to which has more features but try out the free one, it may do what you want.

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Wincing Devil
Date: 13 Apr 08 - 10:47 PM

Tried SWITCH. It ground away for a few minutes on a 4KB .MID file, and saved the file as a 678KB .mp3 which was silent, and then I tried converting to .WAV 6MB file of silence. Any Ideas? Tried MID Converter 4.2 with basically the same results. Big Files, no sound

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Apr 08 - 11:12 PM

Audacity will convert ('export') an MP3 as .wav or as ogg vorbis.

It will also convert other files TO MP3.

(but you do need to specify exactly what you want to do, as different programs have different tricks)

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 13 Apr 08 - 11:33 PM

Hmmm I haven't had any trouble with Switch but I have the paid version - I can't recall how much it cost but it wasn't very expensive. Audacity will do it but you have to download something special and I never could get it to work right. So I've been using Switch.

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Apr 08 - 11:46 PM

try here

(Audacity just needs one .dll file...easy to get.)

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 12:22 AM

What I do is like Bill D. Record the midi in Audacity, export it to Switch as a wav file and then compress it to an mp3.

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Nick
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 06:25 AM

I use Super which pretty much converts anything into anything (video/audio). If you do use it download it ONLY from the erightsoft site as otherwise it can be infected with rubbish

I batch converted 25 wav files to mp3 yesterday and it just merrily gets on and does it. There are lots of other things you can do with it like record streaming media

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 07:54 AM

I use itunes to convert......it's free to mac users (don't know about pc)......

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 03:03 PM

I got a great adobe audition copy off e bay for a tenner. works really well.

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Tootler
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 03:33 PM

Suegorgeous,

What exactly are you trying to convert?

Are you trying to convert to mp3? If so from what?

Or, are you trying to convert from mp3? If so to what?

You do need to be clear exactly what conversion you are wishing to achieve

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Nick
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 03:41 PM

>>You do need to be clear exactly what conversion you are wishing to achieve

Super does both and many many others so it really doesn't matter!

To quote from their site -

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To list few examples:
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See what I mean?

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 07:28 PM

Ummm, this is where I get befuddled by the jargon! so bear with me...

I used to use my defunct one for things like:
uploading my music onto Myspace (I think they only accept mp3s)
or making a ripped track smaller (so someone I send it to doesn't moan at me for clogging up their mail inbox)

This kind of thing? not sure whether I would do it the other way round - why would one convert from mp3s and make a bigger file??

Do please educate me!

Many thanks for all suggestions so far.

Sue

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 07:29 PM

Oh, and it's from wma file (for instance), perhaps wav as well?

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Nick
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 07:44 PM

Super would do all those things - I don't have any link to it other than I think it's useful

The reason you might want to go from an mp3 to a wav file is to burn it to a CD that would play in a CD player rather than an mp3 player

I recorded a gig we played on friday on my Zoom recorder as mp3 files but wanted to give a CD to one of the others in the band so I changed them to WAV files and burnt them to a CD

You can choose how many kbps you encode your mp3 or you can change them from one to another

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Bill D
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 08:10 PM

Sue...if that's all you wish to do, "Super" is likely a BIG overkill for you. It does a lot, but it can be daunting...

Audacity can open those .wav files and convert (they say 'export') them to MP3. Instructions are in the help file.

There are several ways to do it. Let us know what you try and if it's working. If not, we'll try other things.

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 08:10 PM

I thought that you could burn MP3 files to CD??

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Nick
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 08:39 PM

I thought that you could burn MP3 files to CD??

You can but you can't play them in a CD player

Bill - I agree that Super does more than asked for but it works on a simple drag and drop basis - drag the file you want to convert into the window; choose the settings above that you want; select where you are going to save it (once - I usually save in the same folder of the original file and you only have to set that once).

I use Audacity too but it's fiddlier as you have to paste the file into Audacity export it as an mp3 having set the right level of kbps (having downloaded the lamenc.dll file)

Audacity also won't import WMA files which was one of the formats Sue wanted

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 14 Apr 08 - 11:15 PM

"You can but you can't play them in a CD player"

Well, you can, but the CD player will be sold with the notice that it CAN play MP3s. Many DVD players now say this.

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: gnomad
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 03:01 AM

dBpoweramp do a range of audio products, some paid-for, some free. I have used their free version of the music converter for several years and find it easy to use for a non-techie. There are codecs available free at the same place for all sorts of formats, but you can just install the ones you need.

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Nick
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 06:04 AM

>>Well, you can, but the CD player will be sold with the notice that it CAN play MP3s. Many DVD players now say this

Oh dear. If you are going to split hairs as you usually do wouldn't that be a DVD player? I have 7 cd players in the house of which 1 plays mp3's too. The two DVD players play DVDs, CDs and MP3s. So personally I need some things in formats other than mp3 - I would guess other people may have a similar split

dbpoweramp is great but it's only the paid for version (or the old versi0on that some people still have) that works with mp3s - the current version will ask you to purchase a licence to encode or decode mp3s. It also asks you to download additional codecs to be able to deal with WMAs.

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: GUEST,wotsch
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 08:00 AM

You can also try
http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/

It's quite easy to use...

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: mrmoe
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 08:11 AM

itunes here.....and foolestroope, what kind of cd player do you use that won't play mp3's?...all of mine will.....

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 09:23 AM

Thanks so much for all that - isn't Mudcat great for this sort of thing! And for explaining things so clearly and non-jargony!

Nick - by the way - following our discussion on that other thread, I went out and bought myself a Zoom H2 last week. Haven't had the time to sit down with it and try it yet (I'm leaving my job in a couple of weeks time, to take a gap year out to focus on music/singing, so I'm up to my ears timewise), but have some free time coming up in May to start playing with it.

Sue

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 11:29 AM

This is turning into a very informative thread. I didn't realize that all CD players won't play CD's burned with MP3's (mine did). Here's another question. If you create a file in WAV, then compress it to MP3 (so you can e-mail it to somebody) for example, and then you reconvert it to WAV, would it lose quality or would it be the same as the original WAV?

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Bernard
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 11:40 AM

It depends upon whether you burn MP3 files as data or as audio. If you burn them as audio they end up as standard CD audio files which will play on most CD and DVD players. When the audio is converted to MP3 there are some losses, and more losses occur as you convert back to CD audio... but most people don't really notice the difference.

If you burn MP3s as data you can get around ten times as many tracks on a CD, but they need an MP3 capable player.

Okay?! ;o)

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Bernard
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 11:44 AM

One other thing... if burning MP3s as data, use 128k sample rate, because some MP3 capable CD players can't figure out 64k or 196k versions, resulting in very weird playback!

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Nick
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 11:58 AM

Sue I hope your Zoom is useful. I recorded a gig we played at on friday (and found that the singer had been out and bought one too), recorded our Wednesday evening sing and have used it for some practice at home. Also took it on holiday with 1000 mp3s on it to keep me busy. And used it to record my other band's last practice so it is getting a lot of use.

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Lowden Jameswright
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 02:50 PM

Wise choice that Zoom H2 - you can of course record tracks on your H2 in Mp3 128k format and then hook it up to your computer.

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Apr 08 - 05:58 PM

"what kind of cd player do you use that won't play mp3's?"

Ann OLD one? :-)

Subject: RE: Tech: MP3 conversion programme, anyone?
From: Arkie
Date: 16 Apr 08 - 03:34 PM

Maryrrf, some CD burning programs will burn MP3s to CDs that can be played in vehicles and other CD players. I use an older version of Nero and do this all the time. Newer versions will also work but I prsonally hate the newer versions. Some burning programs will ask if you want to play on all players and you check the appropriate block. The program makes the conversion and burns the CD.

Suegorgeous I know that you stipulated freeware but I use the Acoustica file converter. You can try it for free to see if you like it. If you decide to purchase, it lists for $24.95, but can be purchased for $19.95 if you catch a special deal. I have three Acoustica programs and appreciate the customer relations, good prices, and free upgrades in addition to the programs working really well. I do not work for them or own stock. Just a very satisfied customer. To use the program you right click on the file to be converted make your selection and that's all you need to do.

On the question file quality being damaged in the conversion, with some converters the files that are being converted actually do not change. A new file is created. You will still have the original file.