WMA to MP3 with Tags

[Icy_Mt]

I've got an absolutely huge amount of .wma files that are beautifully tagged and filed (i pushed buttons too quickly). Unfortunately, they won't play on several pieces of my gear so I want to convert them en masse to .mp3.

I've tried several converters (like Switch) and they all have one thing in common: they lose the track information when converting. So then I have to go through the whole tagging process all over again (which is not too bad with Mp3tag) but I'd rather not.

Can someone recommend a program that will convert wma to mp3 without destroying all my carefully crafted tagging?

Thanks,
Icy

[deanimator]

SUPER can convert just about anything to anything…but I´m not sure if it will keep all your tags…
…if you try it, let us know what happens

[Icy_Mt]

Thanks, D, I’ll give it a try.
So far I have tried Switch, SoftwarePile’s Audio Converter, Fast Audio Converter, and BeeThink Music Handle and they all do exactly the same thing: convert and preserve all the tags except track and the cover art.
-IM

[Hansy]

Hi,

Tunebite has a nice function of completing ID3Tags, so if you want to convert some files and have also complete ID3tags, you can use this tool

[Icy_Mt]

[QUOTE=deanimator;1999472]SUPER can convert just about anything to anything…but I´m not sure if it will keep all your tags…
…if you try it, let us know what happens[/QUOTE]SUPER does convert everything. Worked great on the wma to mp3…except it does not keep ANY tags. The best one I’ve found was the Bee Think Music Handle:
http://www.beethink.com/audiotool/MusicHandle/MusicHandle.htm

It uses the LAME encoder engine (which I prefer) and preserves all but the track tags. It’s not a big deal really, I just have to go back through the directories with Mp3Tag and reload the tags from freedb and reattach the covers (already downloaded). I’m lazy, I just wanted to load 1000 files in and come back later.

[Icy_Mt]

[QUOTE=Hansy;2002590]Tunebite has a nice function of completing ID3Tags, so if you want to convert some files and have also complete ID3tags, you can use this tool[/QUOTE]Hansy, you are correct. Tunebite has everything I need. after about 7 minutes of install, then only about 2 minutes of settings tweaking, it functioned perfectly and copied everything over, including album cover and track numbers. Unfortunately, this is a one off job and I don’t really want to plunk down $30 just cause I’m too lazy to run 50 albums back through Mp3Tag. And what’s up with the $25 version doing DRM strip but you have to upgrade to Premium just to convert wma->mp3 unprotected? Weird.

This program would be well worth it if I bought a bunch of protected media. However, I buy the CD and run it through EAC. I’ll never pay for encrypted music again. I’ve been burned too many times.

[Hansy]

Hi,

Glad that it helped but, yeah, I don´t know what it is about the Premium/Platinum versions.
I did it from the beginning with the Platinum Version, cause I did buy many protected stuff, so, from this point of view it was well worth it for me.
Then again, the guys from Tunebite did switch to “universal converter” with a bunch of supported formats a while ago so it´s also useful for unprotected files.

[Icy_Mt]

[B]foobar2000[/B]
Free software that will batch convert .wma files to .mp3 files AND convert all of the tags properly. I did have to play with the settings under
File->Preferences->Advanced->Tagging->MP3
Set "Force Preferred…etc."
Set "Preferred Tag Writing Scheme->ID3V2 + ID3V1
Set “ID3V2 Compatibility…etc.”

Very nice. The GUI is definitely not written for n00bs but pretty much everything that you want to do to convert is available. You WILL have to play around with the settings. The Converter allows you can add a custom converter and put your favorite command line settings in the box for Lame or whatever. It will batch up a ton of files and convert them with whatever you want. Once again, very nice.

Small footprint (12MB memory) but is an enormous CPU hog (YAY!). It used LAME on both CPUs on my P4 Hyperthread (1 file on each) so it processes twice as fast as other converters!!! However, this does make it an overnight, set-and-forget converter is you want to convert 1,000 files or something.

[mciahel]

You may also try converter [B]SpamCrap[/B]

have I already said
"… und Tschüss "?

If I did, then it’s better to read it twice

[snow90]

I have used FlexiMusic Wave Editor for converting Wma files to mp3, but it cannot open the wma files directly, i record the wma files in it and i converted it to mp3. I haven’t seen any lose in an audio quality.

[justcallmebob]

Won’t iTunes convert wma to mp3 and preserve tags?

[slimysenor]

[QUOTE=Icy Mt.;2003752]
I’ll never pay for encrypted music again. I’ve been burned too many times.[/QUOTE]

tunebite helped me with protected music