I rec’d a gift card for iTunes. Figured I could just go to the site and download Mp3s. Not quite that easy…so I downloaded the darn player and a few songs.
Problem is, they are M4P files, not Mp3.
How can I convert these to Mp3 to put on my Nike PSA play?
From the looks…I could burn an audio CD (CDA) and then rip it back to Mp3, correct?
I figure Apple wouldn’t make me jump through hoops like this.
Any tips are appreciated…
I figured out how to do this once, but it is long forgotten. If you search this forum for “ipod” or “songs” or “MP3” and “Monk” and “Convert”, you may find something.
EDIT: I went back and found the thread. You may find something in here. Start at the back, or work from the front of the thread for context. Or do whatever works!
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=318283;search_string=convert;#318283
I think you hit upon a solution…
There is a forum, ipod lounge, http://www.ipodlounge.com/, that might offer some other solutions.
If you rip songs from a CD you can change the type of conversion, but I don’t think you can do that for songs that you download from the Apple Music store.
Monk - I might be behind you in Mp3 technology…but ahead of you in owning a Soloist and a sexy carbon tri bike…
Have the feet healed?
I tend to agree with you. It only makes people find work arounds. I don’t know if you have a Mac, but there are workarounds that you can find out there to change the format of iTunes downloaded songs.
Steve Jobs is such a hypocrit is makes me ill…
All this crap about open standards and then he locks down the code I own.
Not sure what you mean by Jobs being a hypocrite… and open standards.
I’m quite sure Jobs never said iTunes was an open standard. Every Apple product is proprietary - a well thought out, high quality, proprietary product. You may be confusing Jobs statement that iTunes works with 80% of hard-drive based portable players purchased (iPods).
As for converting from M4P to MP3 format, you are correct - the easiest way is via burning a CD. There is software out there (for Macs) that will disable the DRM, but you need an iPod in order to get the DRM “key”, and there’s no guarantee that your un-DRMed music files will work with future versions of iTunes.
As for DRM music in general, that’s the only way the music industry would approve of music being sold via download. Sure it sucks, but it’s the big 5 record companies’ way or no way.
If you want free, legal, independent (ie. good) MP3 music, there are lots of places to find it.
btw – MP3 is not an open standard either. It’s a product licensed by Thomson and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, who are the owners of the MP3 patents.
i too download songs from itunes to put them on my nike … the way i do it is like someone else here said - rip the itunes songs to a cd an then re-burn them to your musicmatch library … also note that if you compress the songs in musicmatch when you put them on your nike player you can get a ton more music … i can get 4+hrs … granted not as much as other players but i only run with it when i’m on the treadmill so it works for me.
As for converting from M4P to MP3 format, you are correct - the easiest way is via burning a CD
this is an insane way to use music that you have purchased for top dollar. not only it is tedious and time consuming, you lose quality when you uncompress (to make audio cd) and then re-compress again (to make mp3). and this is why itunes will never get the business of people that actually value their time. the ipod is cute looking, but highly flawed in its design. but i will say that the sales/marketing of it is genius. but in any case apple has already been beaten at their own game.
Greg/ORD -
I agree with you that converting from an iTunes Music Store protected AAC file (M4P) to a MP3 format via CD burning is insane. I have never done it, nor would I ever consider doing it.
The thing about Apple is that they pretty much tell their customers what they need and how to use it. They deliver seamless, ultra user-friendly systems. As a consumer, you’re either all the way in, or all the way out, of the Mac world (with a few exceptions, like MS Office and MS Outlook server).
I disagree that the iTunes/iPod system is a flawed design. Sure they have great marketing, but the thing that sets the iPod apart is the user interface. Sony (who already had 1 failed product) and the others just suck at that.
And how can you say Apple has already been beaten at their own game? Who has the market share? Why does everyone else want to use Apple’s new defacto standard? Apple may be beaten in the future (if they don’t open up their FairPlay DRM scheme), but they haven’t been beaten yet.
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In Reply ToAs for converting from M4P to MP3 format, you are correct - the easiest way is via burning a CD
this is an insane way to use music that you have purchased for top dollar. not only it is tedious and time consuming, you lose quality when you uncompress (to make audio cd) and then re-compress again (to make mp3). and this is why itunes will never get the business of people that actually value their time."
The latest crack for itunes DRM is available at the following website. This way you dont have to burn to a cd and back to mp3, it will directly convert the itunes song to mp3.