Safe and legal WMA to MP3 convertor?

GinaHill

I recently caved in and made the switch from a Creative MP3 player to an ipod nano. I used to buy all my singles from Tescos Downloads & I checked their website before I bought my ipod to make sure all my singles would transfer over. Unfortunately, the Tescos website isn't as clear as it should be, and it turns out that only recently bought singles are compatible with ipods (old singles are in WMA format), so over half of my collection is now redundant. I bought these singles legally and want a safe and legal way of converting them to MP3 format, but when I google this, the pages that come up seem to be just a load of dodgy free software that I wouldn't feel comfortable downloading onto my laptop. Is this a lost cause? Am I going to have to spend a fortune buying all these singles again?!

JasX

GinaHill wrote: »

and want a safe and legal way of converting them to MP3 format,

you can use iTunes to convert between common formats like .WMA, .MP3 as well as apples own format

(make sure you convert .WMA files of a particular bit rate to .MP3 files exactly the same bit rate or you'll trash the audio quality, esp if you chose a new bitrate thats not a direct multiple)

http://forum.onmac.net/showthread.php?t=288761

(assumes your files are not DRM locked, if they are you're likely stuck unless you get some shady software to remove the DRM lock)

espresso

GinaHill wrote: »

I recently caved in and made the switch from a Creative MP3 player to an ipod nano. I used to buy all my singles from Tescos Downloads & I checked their website before I bought my ipod to make sure all my singles would transfer over. Unfortunately, the Tescos website isn't as clear as it should be, and it turns out that only recently bought singles are compatible with ipods (old singles are in WMA format), so over half of my collection is now redundant. I bought these singles legally and want a safe and legal way of converting them to MP3 format, but when I google this, the pages that come up seem to be just a load of dodgy free software that I wouldn't feel comfortable downloading onto my laptop. Is this a lost cause? Am I going to have to spend a fortune buying all these singles again?!

You can use Windows Media Player see here

No need to infect your computer with iTunes!

scottishblondie

espresso wrote: »

You can use Windows Media Player see here

No need to infect your computer with iTunes!

With an iPod Nano the OP is going to have iTunes anyway. She might as well use it to convert the files too!

espresso

scottishblondie wrote: »

With an iPod Nano the OP is going to have iTunes anyway. She might as well use it to convert the files too!

Absolute rubbish, there are far better programs than iTunes which is basically a marketing tool.

Marty_J

iTunes won't convert WMA files if they contain DRM.

And if they do contain DRM, unfortunately there is no legal way to circumvent it.

There are lots of illegal ways though.

scottishblondie

espresso wrote: »

Absolute rubbish, there are far better programs than iTunes which is basically a marketing tool.

I never said there weren't better programs, but lets be realistic here - the vast majority of the population who have an iPod use iTunes with it, and if you aren't techie you probably couldn't care less about bothering to find something else!

Conrad

I use the free NCH Switch LAME MP3 maker which converts WAV, AIFF and others into high quality MP3's. Dead easy to use - simple click an 'add' sign then convert in seconds, no hassle, no menus and the code is highly regarded,

I produce commercial music on the side so I am tasked with all manner of conversions for one reason or tuther.

Heres the link to get it;

http://www.nch.com.au/switch/

JasX

Marty_J wrote: »

And if they do contain DRM, unfortunately there is no legal way to circumvent it.

Basically a nice little feature introduced by the music industry that if you legally bought your music in good faith you get stuffed, if you got your music illegally you'll never have to worry about, and so long as you know your stuff technically will never be more than a minor annnoyance.

More ill-thought out legal measures to take against you for wanting to listen to your legally purchased music (thought up by the same people) are currently being rushed through parliament this week by people with little understanding of the issue other than the record companies want it and it isn't worth giving any time to properly debate the issues to.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8605648.stm

Despite objections, the bill was given a second reading and will be rushed through its final stages on Wednesday.

The good news is you can have them out of a job next month

(I'll certainly be checking on how mine votes this week)