Technology converting .m4a to .mp3 ???

[Lil Jm]

??? Any programs or anything that I can do ???

 

[makadon]

I know of a few programs that will convert .m4a to .mp3. A lot of people have bought into the hype that AAC at 128kbps is near CD quality and better than MP3, and seem to think that because 4 is higher than 3 or 4 is higher than 2, than 4 must be better. In fact MP4 encoded at anything less than 160kbps sounds worst than MP3 encoded at the same bit rate. And yeah you could encode at higher bitrates but what is the point of increasing the file size to the point where there is no point in MP4. Any compression comes with loss. And what most people do not understand is that there are a lot of sacrifices in quality that have to take place in order to shrink a file size down to a smaller size. MP4 is the same solution to the same internet problem only tackled in a different way. Really the best quality would be MP3 320kbps or higher or Ogg Vorbis encoding. So thats why we don't see the film and media industry moving away from MP2 for video because mp4 just is not good enough. So what we end up with is a format that is uncompatiple to almost every thing we have.

 

[lazie]

Quicktime should be able to make the conversion. Why would you want to make this conversion? Mpeg Layer 3 is an inferior format...

 

[lazie]

I know of a few programs that will convert .m4a to .mp3. A lot of people have bought into the hype that AAC at 128kbps is near CD quality and better than MP3, and seem to think that because 4 is higher than 3 or 4 is higher than 2, than 4 must be better. In fact MP4 encoded at anything less than 160kbps sounds worst than MP3 encoded at the same bit rate. And yeah you could encode at higher bitrates but what is the point of increasing the file size to the point where there is no point in MP4. Any compression comes with loss. And what most people do not understand is that there are a lot of sacrifices in quality that have to take place in order to shrink a file size down to a smaller size. MP4 is the same solution to the same internet problem only tackled in a different way. Really the best quality would be MP3 320kbps or higher or Ogg Vorbis encoding. So thats why we don't see the film and media industry moving away from MP2 for video because mp4 just is not good enough. So what we end up with is a format that is uncompatiple to almost every thing we have.

First off, the extension MP4 has been reserved for video. The extensions M4A and M4P have been reserved for Mpeg Layer 4 audio. The latter uses DRM that was developed by Apple. Most people can figure out that neither OGG Vorbis, MP3, or AAC achieve CD quality results at 128kbps. Hell, none of these formats achieve CD quality sound at their highest bit rates. OGG Vorbis provides superior quality sound to that of MP3. I tend to think that the difference between OGG Vorbis and AAC at comparable bit rates is negligible at best. I disagree with your implication that MP3 provides superior quality over AAC. AAC is a newer, more advanced encoding algorithm that is capable of producing higher frequencies at lower bit rates as compared to MP3. It is only a matter of time before more applications begin to support the AAC format. I can only hope that one of these formats will lead to the demise of WMA and Real Audio. Also, your thinking as to why the DVD format uses Mpeg 2 video is severely flawed. If memory serves, the DVD specs were established in the early 90's. The MP4 format was not developed until almost 10 years later. Plus, if the MPAA were to change the specs for DVD players now, all of our current DVD players would be useless.

 

[makadon]

First off, the extension MP4 has been reserved for video. The extensions M4A and M4P have been reserved for Mpeg Layer 4 audio. The latter uses DRM that was developed by Apple. Most people can figure out that neither OGG Vorbis, MP3, or AAC achieve CD quality results at 128kbps. Hell, none of these formats achieve CD quality sound at their highest bit rates. OGG Vorbis provides superior quality sound to that of MP3. I tend to think that the difference between OGG Vorbis and AAC at comparable bit rates is negligible at best. I disagree with your implication that MP3 provides superior quality over AAC. AAC is a newer, more advanced encoding algorithm that is capable of producing higher frequencies at lower bit rates as compared to MP3. It is only a matter of time before more applications begin to support the AAC format. I can only hope that one of these formats will lead to the demise of WMA and Real Audio. Also, your thinking as to why the DVD format uses Mpeg 2 video is severely flawed. If memory serves, the DVD specs were established in the early 90's. The MP4 format was not developed until almost 10 years later. Plus, if the MPAA were to change the specs for DVD players now, all of our current DVD players would be useless.

Video has not been reserved for MP4. MP4 is Video and Audio. It is M4A however that has been reserved for audio. The Terms MP4 and M4A are interchangeable, when it comes to audio. MPEG2 video is not as flawed as MPEG4 video because it does not make as many sacrifices as MP4 technology does. MPEG4 is not a revolutionary breakthrough in technology like you think it is. You first have to understand why it was developed. It was developed as an Internet streaming medium, and it was never intended as a replacement of MP2. The media industry will never switch to MP4 for example local network stations are making the switch to HDTV right now which is a subset of MP2. AS far as the audio end of it your statement is concerned about the lower bit rates being better is false. That is the reason why MP4 was developed as to try to cure an Internet bandwidth problem. The lower the bit rate the more loss occurs no matter how it is encoded. Whether it is M4A, MP3, or OGG. The statement that M4A is better than MP3 is a bandwidth argument but clearly when it comes to quality the idea is not to lower the bit rate it is to increase it. :thumb:

 

[LEATHERFA(E]

I'll post up a converter soon

 

[lazie]

Video has not been reserved for MP4. MP4 is Video and Audio. It is M4A however that has been reserved for audio. The Terms MP4 and M4A are interchangeable, when it comes to audio. MPEG2 video is not as flawed as MPEG4 video because it does not make as many sacrifices as MP4 technology does. MPEG4 is not a revolutionary breakthrough in technology like you think it is. You first have to understand why it was developed. It was developed as an Internet streaming medium, and it was never intended as a replacement of MP2. The media industry will never switch to MP4 for example local network stations are making the switch to HDTV right now which is a subset of MP2. AS far as the audio end of it your statement is concerned about the lower bit rates being better is false. That is the reason why MP4 was developed as to try to cure an Internet bandwidth problem. The lower the bit rate the more loss occurs no matter how it is encoded. Whether it is M4A, MP3, or OGG. The statement that M4A is better than MP3 is a bandwidth argument but clearly when it comes to quality the idea is not to lower the bit rate it is to increase it. :thumb:

I don't recall having ever seen an audio file with an MP4 extension, only video... Also, the implication that you made reference to of MP4 as a revolutionary technology is true, only in terms of compression. I am well aware of the fact that Mpeg 2 and Mpeg 4 video have very different uses. In terms of file size, Mpeg 2 is much larger than Mpeg 4. What I deem as important in this matter is how it allows streaming for people with less bandwidth. I am also well aware of television companies distributing digital and HDTV in Mpeg 2 format... Lower bit rate is never better. If you are comparing a 320kbps MP3 file to a 128kbps AAC file, the MP3 file will obviously be superior. I also do not think that AAC at 128kbps is comparable to MP3 at 192kbps like many websites have implied. I think that AAC at compable bit rates better compression and a more advanced algorithm. MP3 is a format that was developed at least 10 years ago now, but it is a format that just recently became popular amongst the public. In 10 years, technology tends to make advancements and shortfalls at the same time. I think that DRM for example is a rather horrible technology.

 

[Devious]

Lil JM, you can try Streambox Ripper, I'm not sure if it converts m4a to mp3 since I don't have any m4a's to convert but it's worth a shot. I don't have a link but there's one in the thread I posted, "Converting rm to mp3"

 

[makadon]

Ok, allegedly you can use Winamp to save it as a Wave file, using the DiskWriter output. And then convert the Wave to an MP3. If you decide to use Winamp you need the plugin

here http://hublog.hubmed.org/archives/000316.html

Here is a site that tells you how to strip digital rights out of songs purchased from ITunes. M4P http://www.engadget.com/entry/2127813034623335/

You can then supposidly after using HYMN program above that converts the songs to MP4, you use DBPowerAmp to Convert them to MP3
here http://www.dbpoweramp.com/bin/dMC-r10.exe Try this dbpower AMP it can do this from what I here. you have to download the program and install the codec from their codecs central page. :thumb:

This here is a site with assorted tools, Plugins, and programs that you can play with see if you can make one work for you.

http://www.rarewares.org/mp4.html

Obviously I have not tried any of these methods so your going to have to play with it.

There are also about a half a dozen programs that can do it. ImToo Audio converter, Xilisoft Mp3 Wav converter, and Easy CDA extractor claim that they can do it, but theses programs are shareware and are not free. You could probably find a free and easy way to do it provided you had the plug-in or codec. So it may be something you will have to play with if you want it for FREE. As most of the programs that are floating around right now are not free; but available as demos with time bombs.

 

[mechman]

iTunes will convert from m4a to mp3.

 

[makadon]

iTunes will convert from m4a to mp3.

true but i don't think he wants to install a mucic store just to convert a file.

 

[makadon]

Free program db PowerAMP version 10
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/bin/dMC-r10.exe

Download the codec http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm

U download the program above and install it. This version of the program contains no spyware and is absolutly free. Then after your done got to the codec page and down load one of the MP4 aac read only codec. Intall the codec. Now when your done you can click the DMC music converter Icon of the program and selct the file you want to convert to mp3.

This program requires some work from you to configure, and figure out how to use it. This is not one of those out of the box programs that do exactly what you want with no work from you good luck :thumb:

 

[Lil Jm]

Free program db PowerAMP version 10
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/bin/dMC-r10.exe

Download the codec http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm

U download the program above and install it. This version of the program contains no spyware and is absolutly free. Then after your done got to the codec page and down load one of the MP4 aac read only codec. Intall the codec. Now when your done you can click the DMC music converter Icon of the program and selct the file you want to convert to mp3.

This program requires some work from you to configure, and figure out how to use it. This is not one of those out of the box programs that do exactly what you want with no work from you good luck :thumb:

thank you !!! it works !!! thanks for the other ones, but it was too complicated ...

 

[akae47]

iTunes will convert from m4a to mp3.

Yes, but the bastards won't convert files bought from their own store

 

[Malkz]

Ashampoo MP3 - download it @: http://download.com

 

[lazie]

If you have a file that has been purchased from the ITunes music store, you can remove the DRM protection from it using a program called Hymm. It can be found on Sourceforge. Once the DRM code has been removed, you can use any of the above mentioned applications to decode the decrypted copy of the song.

 

[makadon]

JHYMM is the newest one. It has a GUI written in java and is more user friendly than the earlyer commandline version

 

[akae47]

If you have a file that has been purchased from the ITunes music store, you can remove the DRM protection from it using a program called Hymm. It can be found on Sourceforge. Once the DRM code has been removed, you can use any of the above mentioned applications to decode the decrypted copy of the song.

Anything that works for mac?

 

[lazie]

JHymm works for Mac OSX. I have used it many times while running 10.3. Once you have the song decrypted using JHymm, you can use either Quciktime or ITunes to convert the file to your desired format.

 

[akae47]

JHymm works for Mac OSX. I have used it many times while running 10.3. Once you have the song decrypted using JHymm, you can use either Quciktime or ITunes to convert the file to your desired format.

Thanks, when I try to launch it, it gives me some Java error though