posted
Hi guys, I want to load a bunch of songs I've got on iTunes onto my mp3 player, but can't.
So, anybody know a good program for converting m4p files into mp3 format?
GB
-------------------- I have plenty of experience in biology. I bought a Tamagotchi in 1998... And... it's still alive.
Registered: Apr 2005
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
m4p is Apple's special FairPlay-encrypted (DRM) form of mp4, so you'll have to be creative.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Yes, damn apple, making everything incompatable with everything else.
As far as i can work out, the best way to do it without loosing quality is to burn the music to a CD image in Nero, use another program to extract the files in .wav format, and then to convert the .wav files to mp3. I think i'll leave it for now!
-------------------- I have plenty of experience in biology. I bought a Tamagotchi in 1998... And... it's still alive.
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quote:Originally posted by Lee: But if you have iTunes, you can use it to convert CD tracks to mp3? Or you can on my version, which granted I haven't updated since 2003.
CD tracks proper, sure. But Ginger's talking about stuff bought from ITMS, which is protected. (Bastards.)
-------------------- "Don't fight forces; use them." --R. Buckminster Fuller
posted
So you burn the m4p track(s) to an Audio CD and then re-rip to mp3 from the CD. It's a pain and CD-RWs are the preferred media for this method. Cartman alludes to alternate, more direct (albeit less legal) means of doing this.
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
Thing is, when you burn the tracks onto CD, you loose the quality. The m4P format reduces the quality to the smallest it can, which is compressed even more when you burn them. Then, when you rip them back on to your pc, you need to do it at least at double the quality to get the same sound as before.
So no good. This would be far easier if I had a mac and an iPod.
-------------------- I have plenty of experience in biology. I bought a Tamagotchi in 1998... And... it's still alive.
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posted
Without commenting on any other portion of the discussion, I will offer a few factual clarifications for you guys:
The M4P file extension denotes the MPEG-4 audio codec (Advanced Audio Coding (AAC)) with some form of copy protection. That's the only difference from normal AAC. And regular AAC gives you better sound quality over MP3 at the same bitrate, in a smaller file size.
The loss of file quality does not come from burning any lossy format to CD, because CDs' music files are stored in the lossless AIFF format. The loss of quality comes instead from re-ripping a CD that was originally created from lossy files into another lossy format.
As for file incompatibility, I'd also point out that each DRM system is mutually exclusive. Which sucks, I know, but it's a result of the music industry desperately clinging on to their outdated product model. Lucky us!
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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