New virtuosa and napster problem

I was able to remove the current Napster and install the old one.
The first thing it did was to tell, not ask, me that it was updating Napster.
But, I don't think that is the problem after reading post #31 on this thread.

Ok I downloaded Tunebite demo and can't get it to do anything. It says I need to download an encoder for mp3. Has anyone done this and been able to adequately copy Napster downloads enough to make Tunebite worth messing with?

Anyone have any experience with napster problems? I can't seem to get any help from their tech support. It gives me an error when i try to play files and in media player it says i need the correct licences. Any ideas? It happened after I uninstalled and reinstalled napster because of this crap..

I uninstalled Napster the hard way. Didn't know you had to use the install program to uninstall.
I went through the registry and deleted every Napster reference.
Reinstalled an earlier version and it updated me against my wishes to the most current version.
I have not had any problems downloading or playing music with their player or WMP.
Don't know if cleaning the registry would work for you or not.

You can take the MsWMDec.vpl from the new version and put it in the C:\Program Files\Virtuosa\Plugins\MsWMedia folder on the old version and the napster files will play, but it will not let you encode the files. I wish i knew how to modify that one file. I wonder if it is looking for a version number for that file? If that was it, then we could maybe come up with a way to modify the version number of the old vpl file.

I tried Tunebite yesterday and it was very easy to install and to make the mp3s . It is not as easy as Virtuosa and being forced to listen to the whole song each time is really a pain, but since there is not other option so far I will keep doing this.(specially because I already paid my first month of Napster to go subscription three days ago )
for those who are asking about the mp3 lame needed to create mp3s, the program searches for you in google to find places where you can download the lame for free. It is under option/encoder/search for mp3 encoder. you can pick one from the list, download it to your computer and then install it in your tunebites options/encoder/import mp3 encoder. I noticed that my computer was very slow at the time I was creating the mp3s, so I was not able to do anything else at the same time. Yes, the program keeps the tags for you, so you don't have to rename the files. I was not able to find any difference on sound between the original files and the mp3s. I'm sure we loose some quality at the end but I was not able to find any. I also noticed that even if I set up the file to be constant 192 bit rate, the final product was always VBR (which is not bad, but I thought we didn't have the option to do that).
Tunebite cons: Real time encoding, you have to listen to the full song, no use your computer for anything else (specially programs with sound). I was not able to set up constant bit rate.
Tunebite pros : keeps your idtags, not noticeable loss of quality (at least not with my mp3 player an Sony V6 headphones), and the most important reason to keep it: it is the only way to use your music from the Napster subscription you are already paying (my mp3 player is old and only plays mp3s)
I will try to play around with other programs later today, but I don't hear anything new I will uninstall Virtuosa from my computer (we had so many good times together).

I have been using a product for quite some time that works pretty well to allow you to convert WMAP to MP3 - check out www.tunebite.com. You can download a test version that will allow you to convert 30 seconds. I think the purchase price is $15 or so US. Good luck.

to be honest, if someone found a new way to encode napster-to-go wma's to mp3 then they'll probably keep it to themselves and close friends. drm isnt like a program where the company have to wait until their next release to fix a loophole, the drm automatically is upgraded to new version when you connect to the internet. i know if i found a way to encode mp3s from wma i wouldnt post it on a public message board because soon enough its gonna get fixed (not meant to be sounding tight). and then youre stuck

also id like to add, if you right click the wma and go in properties>liscence, im sure it used to say something more than Protected Content. i thought it had a expiry date and stuff???

The problem with Tunebite is that it occasionally screws up renaming tracks, and it often cuts off the first second of the tune you convert, especially if you are doing a large number at once.

I had that problem yesterday, but I changed the lame file I was using (downloaded another one from the internet) and I think that fixed the problem, at least the 10 files I created yesterdat didn't miss anything, but I could be wrong. Does somebody know why Tunebite does something like that? Is that related to automatic or manual? Maybe does not start recording right away and we need to have Windows media player open?
Please help.

Well after a 45min tech support call with napster, it's working again. Tunebite works fine but the volume is noticably quieter.. I have everything turned up.

Ah, mp3gain takes care of the volume problem!

Any ideas for a new way?!? Looks like Virtuosa is out!!

So, mr Schnikies79, in your opinion, are the mp3s created with tunebites as good as the ones we used to create with virtuosa?


Was somebody able to figure out why tunebite cuts a couple seconds of the song sometimes?

They seem a little flat in my opinion compared, mp3gain seems to fix them up some. So all in all, I'm still undecided.

I am at a loss for words, the smarter the Windows people get the smarter we have to get right?

Exactly! Right now I'm using TuneBite with mp3gain, and that method is working pretty effectively. I like to use it on manual mode so I can have it running all day at school and all night whilst I sleep. We need a method to strip the DRM so that we don't have to keep recompressing WMA's into MP3's; the quality loss is pretty noticable unless you rip with a lossless codec or at 320 variable mp3 pro...

Yea, it kinda sucks. I wonder if anyone is making progess on busting wmp10 drm? Of course a few months after it gets cracked wmp11 will come along.. crap!

schnikies: What was the napster fix from the 45 minute call? I'm still having that problem but don't have 45 minutes to spend with tech support. Napster's email tech support is less than desirable.

i use a program called replaymusic....it is a wonderful program and the tagging is excellent......if someone happens to try this who uses tunebite let me know which is better...

What kinda problem are you having with napster?

schikies: I can download song and WMP will play them, but if I try to play song in Napster (prior to downloading) I always get an error message to try later. It was working before and is still working an another computer at home. The only annoyance is not being able to preview songs before going to the effort of downloading.

Acraine: could you please explain (to me anyway) how you are using both programs? thanks

Has anyone tried a clean windows install, then the "old" virtuosa, followed by the "new", the reinstall the "old"? Just wondered before I do it myself...

Thanks.

AnonymousCitizen,
Okay, here is what I was told to by the napster tech. make sure napster and wmp is closed durring all this

1) goto http://supportresource.info/
2) goto drm tools/drm reset and run it
3) goto C:\Program Files\Napster and right-click wma_upgrade.wma and play it then let it download and reinstall the licences
4) next goto http://supportresource.info/ again and drm tools/db2 reset and run that
5) reset and try the files

Hope that helps..