Forums | MacLife

idoaudio · 2003-09-24 12:09 pm

...those are mp4's, right? "m4p" ?

How can I convert 'em to mp3's so I can play them on an mp3 CD player?

Fracai · 2003-09-24 12:17 pm

the general extension is m4a. m4p refers to the protected files that you bought online.

anyway, you should be able to select the files and select convert to mp3 under the advanced menu.

idoaudio · 2003-09-24 12:25 pm

Why "m4a" ? What does that mean really? Are these mp4's? Is m4a the extension for mp4? ...or just a specific variety kind of mp4? And what the heck is up with THAT anyway?

Curious!

pottymouth · 2003-09-24 12:54 pm

I'm not going to pretend that I know exactly what I'm talking about but I think it goes a little something like this: MP3 is MPEG-1 audio layer 3, and MP4 is plain ol MPEG-4 aka: AAC.

I don't remember if iTunes lets you got right from AAC to MP3. You might have to burn em to CD first. Whatever you do, you'll lose a little quality in the decompression/recomression.

bvfd123 · 2003-09-24 2:24 pm

just select burn as mp3 from the prefs and you should get a mp3 cd.

pottymouth · 2003-09-24 2:41 pm

just select burn as mp3 from the prefs and you should get a mp3 cd.

That works now? Did they fix that bug?

oatmeal · 2003-09-24 2:41 pm

I'm not going to pretend that I know exactly what I'm talking about but I think it goes a little something like this: MP3 is MPEG-1 audio layer 3, and MP4 is plain ol MPEG-4 aka: AAC.

I don't remember if iTunes lets you got right from AAC to MP3. You might have to burn em to CD first. Whatever you do, you'll lose a little quality in the decompression/recomression.

It will let you do that for unprotected files (those not from the Apple store). I don't know about the protected files...

pjclick · 2003-09-24 4:34 pm

The fail-safe method is to burn the mp4s to disc as an audio CD, and then re-rip that disc to mp3s. You end up with mp3s that you can do whatever you want with. wink

frankly · 2003-09-24 4:38 pm

just select burn as mp3 from the prefs and you should get a mp3 cd.

It will only burn playlists with protected files as "Data" CDs. I will test this later to see if an MP3 CD Player will even recognize the MP3s on the disc but I know it won't be able to play the protected AAC files.

Later, Frank

frankly · 2003-09-24 4:53 pm

It is a little confusing because of the naming convention used for MP3s. Put simply, an MP3 is not short for MPEG-3. It is short for MPEG-1 audio layer 3.

The new standard is MPEG-4 and this refers to video and audio standards that all fall under this one umbrella of MPEG-4. Therefore, an MP4 (or .mp4) is actually a container that can hold video, audio, etc. The file extensions used for audio are in fact .m4p (for protected MPEG-4 AAC) and .m4a (for non-protected MPEG-4 AAC).

To answer your second question, the only way to really do that is to record the files as a regular audio CD and then rip that CD to MP3 format on your Mac and then burn an MP3 CD.

Later, Frank

MacBoy4139 · 2003-09-24 5:45 pm

You can always burn a CD (audio that plays in anything), and then re-import as MP3s, then burn the MP3 CD.

jeff-o · 2003-09-24 5:50 pm

Do any third-party audio conversion apps let you do that? I can't think of any off-hand, but a quick search of Versiontracker might reveal a program that can convert m4p/m4a to MP3...

idoaudio · 2003-09-24 6:03 pm

I think this conversation has now gone full circle! I also feel like an idiot for not knowing more about compression techniques and such because I used to rely on MPEG schemes all the time in my previous radio days... I used a Zephyr ISDN box to connect with voice talent in other markets by pairing up 2 phone lines, and everyone had their own preferred settings...

Anyway - I was hoping for a third party program to do the trick rather than waste a CD. Maybe I'll try using a rewriteable CD...? Geez that's a lot of converting though...

MacBoy4139 · 2003-09-24 6:44 pm

No there are not any third party programs that will do this for you - that would be breaking the encoding on the actual track, which would violate the DCMA.

The only way to do it is with a CD. A rewriteable CD would allow you to use the same CD over and over again, but it is still time consuming.

This procedure has to happen even for owners of TiVo who want to share their music from their Macs through their home stereo.

pottymouth · 2003-09-24 7:35 pm

No there are not any third party programs that will do this for you - that would be breaking the encoding on the actual track, which would violate the DCMA.

The only way to do it is with a CD. A rewriteable CD would allow you to use the same CD over and over again, but it is still time consuming.

This procedure has to happen even for owners of TiVo who want to share their music from their Macs through their home stereo.

Does TiVo support unprotected AAC? My slimp3 does tongue

Turgon · 2003-09-27 1:58 am

Coudn't you use toast to "burn" an image file... then rip that image file into mp3?
aac - toast image file - mp3

Forums | MacLife

#1 2003-09-24 12:09 pm

iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#2 2003-09-24 12:17 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#3 2003-09-24 12:25 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#4 2003-09-24 12:54 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#5 2003-09-24 2:24 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#6 2003-09-24 2:41 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#7 2003-09-24 2:41 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#8 2003-09-24 4:34 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#9 2003-09-24 4:38 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#10 2003-09-24 4:53 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#11 2003-09-24 5:45 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#12 2003-09-24 5:50 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#13 2003-09-24 6:03 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#14 2003-09-24 6:44 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#15 2003-09-24 7:35 pm

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

#16 2003-09-27 1:58 am

Re: iTunes Music Store mp4's to mp3?

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