Handling Audio with Windows Vista - Convert Audio Files
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You’d think after all these years, the tech industry would learn its lesson. They put us through the Beta versus VHS battle in the 80s, the Netscape versus Internet Explorer battle in the 90s, and the HD DVD versus Blu-Ray battle in the naughts. On the computer front, the battle of the formats is everywhere, including digital music.
It wasn’t always this way. At the beginning of the digital music revolution, it was the compact file size and reasonably good quality of the MP3 file format that popularized portable digital players like the iPod (not to mention P2P file sharing and the like, but that’s a different story). But now we have Apple’s M4A, M4P, and lossless AAC formats; Microsoft’s various versions of the WMA format; OGG Vorbis; Sony’s bygone ATRAC; and so on. Granted, most of these formats have risen from the need to copy-protect downloadable music, as well as offer audiophiles better fidelity, but the lack of a single standard is nothing more than a pain in the neck to music lovers everywhere.
Music purchased from Apple’s iTunes music store can only be played by Apple iPods (and some Motorola phones). Very few players are compatible with audio files from Microsoft’s URGE music store; even some of Microsoft’s own Zune players can’t play URGE files! And there’s no music player that’ll play all the commercially available formats.
So, in order to play all the music you have on any particular player, you may have to convert some of it to the proper format, and that’s easier said than done.
For one, converting anything other than lossless audio to your desired format will reduce the quality of the music. (Examples of lossless audio include WAV files, Apple’s lossless AAC, and, of course, audio CD tracks.) Also, most music purchased online is distributed in protected formats (like iTunes’ M4P and Microsoft’s protected WMA), and neither Apple nor Microsoft want you converting their content to an unprotected format. But the good news is that where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Apple’s iTunes software, (http://www.apple.com/itunes/) is free even if you don’t have an iPod or any intention of buying music from the iTunes Music Store, and it can convert songs easily and quickly. It supports MP3 (all bitrates), AAC (.m4p, .m4a, and .m4b), AIFF, lossless AAC, and .wav files. Here’s how to do it:
Start iTunes, and select Music from the Library section on the left.
If all your music isn’t already in the iTunes library, drag-drop your music files onto the iTunes window.
If you move the files into your iTunes music folder before dragging them into the iTunes application, iTunes will, by default, organize them into folders based on their embedded tag information. If the files are located elsewhere, they’ll be left in their current locations.
Next, select Edit ➝ Preferences, choose the Advanced tab, and then choose the Importing subtab. Select the file format you want to use from the Format Using listbox (i.e., choose MP3 Encoder to convert to the MP3 format), and then select a compression level from the Setting listbox. (If you don’t know which settings to use, MP3 at 192kbps is a good compromise among quality, flexibility, and resulting file size, and the files you create can be played anywhere.) Click OK when you’re done.
Finally, highlight one or more songs in your music library, right-click, and select Convert Selection to MP3 (or AAC, or whatever). Shortly thereafter, iTunes will place the newly converted file alongside the original—both in the library and in same folder on your hard disk—while leaving the original file intact.
Of course, neither iTunes nor Windows Media Player will let you convert protected files, but they’ll both let you burn protected music to an audio CD. Then, all you have to do is rip the CD back into an unprotected format. In fact, NoteBurner (http://www.noteburner.com) creates a virtual CDRW drive on your system specifically for this purpose, allowing you to burn and rip your protected songs without wasting any discs. Unfortunately, the burn-rip process will completely obliterate the embedded tags (meaning that you’ll have to retype the track names and other information by hand).
By default, Windows Media Player adds DRM copy protection to all music files you rip from CDs. To turn this off, open Windows Media Player, select Tools ➝ Options, choose the Rip Music tab, and turn off the Copy protect music option.
To convert protected files and preserve your tags, you’ll need one of the dozens of different DRM removal tools available, such as Tunebite (http://www.tunebite.de/) or MyFairTunes (http://www.hymn-project.org/).
Of course, no matter how you do it, there will always be a loss in quality when you’re converting from one compressed format to another. The exception is when you convert a protected file to an unprotected file of the same format, such as .m4p to .m4a or protected .wma to unprotected .wma, provided the software you use supports lossless conversion.
Please check back next week for the continuation of this article.
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 This article is excerpted from chapter four of the book Windows Vista Annoyances: Tips, Secrets, and Hacks for the Cranky Consumer, written by David A. Karp (O'Reilly, 2008; ISBN: 0596527624). Check it out today at your favorite bookstore. Buy this book now.
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