best/free program to convert m4a to mp3

electrickpirate

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i wouldlike to convert about 438 m4a files to mp3. i used itunes for a while, but decided to go back to WMP10.0. any suggestions?
 
use winamp to rip them all to wav, then re-encode :p

not fun but doable, cant iTunes do it?
 
WMP10 can play non-DRM protected AAC (m4a) files. You just need to install 3ivx.
http://www.3ivx.com

The AAC decoder in 3ivx is not free, so it will work for a trial period (30 days, I think.) After that, you can use CoreAAC. Just download these two installers from here: http://www.inmatrix.com/zplayer/formats/aac.shtml

Last thing is to go to the 3ivx config app (Start>Programs>3ivx), go to the Media Splitter option, and select "Allow Unsupported Decoders". I think that should be it.

This way you don't have to convert all those files, and you won't lose any quality due to transcoding.
smile.gif


Post edited: Easier way to install CoreAAC.
 
look for an app called "hymn" to remove the DRM from the m4a files, then as long as your player supports the playback you wont need to convert to the inferior mp3 format.
 
LordOfLA said:
look for an app called "hymn" to remove the DRM from the m4a files, then as long as your player supports the playback you wont need to convert to the inferior mp3 format.
The .m4a files should already be DRM-free. If they're protected (as in the ones from iTMS), they have a .m4p extension.
 
yea, just read that m4a is unprotected and m4p is protected. thanks for all the info. always impressed with the knowledge of the ppl on this board. im tryin dbpower amp now, work pretty good, its fast and the files still sound good, i can't tell the differance.

again, thanks all for the info and help
 
not that I'm aware of but it plays every format I've stumbled across so far.

I dont see any need to downgradr fromm4a to mp3. Its just dumb
 
LordOfLA said:
I dont see any need to downgradr from m4a to mp3. Its just dumb
Yeah, I have a few m4a files from my "iTunes days." Kept them as they are and just play them in WMP10 using the method I mentioned above. I don't know if I'd be able to hear the quality loss if I transcoded them to mp3s, but I just didn't have the patience to convert them.

Some people can have reasons for transcoding to mp3 though - for example, if you have portable media device that doesn't support AAC files.
 
Foobar has no problem converting anyfile that it can playback. It's core is such that it can load any external compressor (lame.exe, mpcenc.exe, flac.exe, etc).
 
iTunes can do m4a to mp3 / wav :-/

jhymn will also do it, but not exactly a legal way to go about things.
 
I have downloaded the Apple Lossless codec to convert from m4a to mp3. After deleting the mp4.dll I have installed the codec.

If I stand on a .m4a file, and click on convert to, I get into the menu of converting. However, when I click on convert, it says "Unable to open file D:\....."

How can I fix this problem?
 

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