Using iTunes. How to do I make mp3 files out of mp4 files - using cds?

MP3 players Sansa Clip | Clip+
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Marvin_Martian wrote:

You know how that makes you sound?

:dizzy_face: :smileyvery-happy: :stuck_out_tongue: 

 

Wiser? More experienced? Worldly? Even Guru-like?

Respect 'yer elders, you young whipper-snapper!

And get me another beer while 'yer at it. :stuck_out_tongue:

25

Stepk - Thank you so much for taking the trouble to give me details on how to use that programme.   I am going to run them off and keep them for future reference.   In fact you have persuaded me *not* to convert my files, due to the loss in quality.   I’ve decided I’m just going to cut my losses and move on.   I have now set up iTunes so that anything I take onto my computer in future will be in the form of mp3 files - and that is the stuff I will put onto my Sansa clip. 

For some reason (& I am very curious as to why this is), some of the existing music files on my computer are already mp3s.   How can this be if I have imported all of them using iTunes, with a non-mp3 import setting?   Anyway, whilst the bulk of my files are mp4s, some of them are mp3s.   I will put the latter on my Sansa clip.

Thank you again for all your help!

26

One other thing Stepk…   When you say “I won an ipod years ago. So, I naturally converted my CD’s into aac files. Then, I used itunes to convert them into mp3’s. (almost 32 GB!). I could tell the difference! New mp3 files were still good, but not as good as the aac files.”   Do you mean the mp3 files were not as good as the original mp4 files, or are acc files something else?

Apologies for being so ignorant!

Message Edited by Poppy on 05-15-2010 11:05 AM

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Hello Poppy;

The mp3 (128kbps) files I converted from itunes’ aac (advanced audio code?) do not sound as good as aac’s I created using my store purchased cd’s. I am not saying they sound bad. But, you are much better off ripping once unless of course you create flac files. That’s what I am currently doing now. Flac is pretty much lossless. But they are big files. After I create them ,I move them to my external drive. in the future, I will convert them into anything I want without changing anything with the original flac files. I am pretty sure amplifier manufacturers will come up with an amplifier that will read these flac files thru usb port. That will be incredibly convenient, scanning those flac files on the amp’s display and playing anything you want.

mp3’s in my opinion are great if you play them in a portable player or a car stereo. If you connect the player to your amp, you won’t be satisfied. 

28

I should have said m4a files instead of aac files. I copied some audio guru’s explanation, and pasting it.

  1. AAC stands for either MPEG2 Advanced Audio Coding or MPEG4 Advanced Audio Coding.
    The MPEG2 audio-encoding standard of the format is not backward-compatible with MPEG1 audio. MPEG2 AAC can produce better audio quality than MP3 using less physical space for the files. MPEG4 AAC can produce better quality and smaller files than MPEG2 AAC. AAC is the audio file format used by Apple in their popular iTunes Music Store

  2. The audio file format used by Apple in their popular iTunes Music Store often appears on your system with the “.M4A” filename extension. M4A can produce better audio quality than MP3 using less physical space for the files

  3. M4P format is “protected AAC”. It is a format of purchased music that can be listened to only through the iTunes softer or an iPod.

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Hi Stepk,

Thank you very much for all of that.   I understand the process much more clearly now, and the limitations of converting mp4s to mp3s.

I have one outstanding query left.

How is it that some of the existing files in my iTunes library are mp4s, and others are mp3s?   Surely iTunes would have ripped all the cds on the same setting?

31

Okay, that makes sense…  

Thank you very much for all your time and patience with my queries - it’s much appreciated.

32

@miikerman wrote:
MP4’s are protected by digital rights management; MP3’s are not.  Perhaps that reflects the nature of the original files?

Actual mp4s aren’t.  Only m4p’s have DRM, unless he renamed his files.   

34

Hi, I think what you have done is correct. But if you still can’t replace MP4 with MP3 audio files on iTunes, you could go for a recorder and then rip audio from MP4 at first. After that, you only need to burn MP3 audio files onto CD straightly.