Convert m4a (aac) to mp3
I used iTunes to copy songs off the VBS CD, which encoded them in AAC format (M4A container). My video editor doesn’t accept that format, so I needed to convert them to mp3. After trying lots of programs that Google offered me, many of which claimed to be “free” but were really just “free trials”, I finally found the solution in a forum post. It turns out that you can do the conversion right in iTunes, totally free and totally cool.
1. Go into iTunes Preferences, and change the importing mode back to the MP3 mode you like
2. Now select the tracks that you want to change back, and go to the Advanced menu. There is an item called “convert selection to MP3“.
This menu item lists whatever the current setting is in the importing prefs.
Now, this might not be good for the audio quality, but I don’t really care: I don’t listen to music that carefully. Thanks, Hannah W!
but have you tried it? When you do it tells you that protected files can’t be converted.
Sarah: Yes, I tried it and used it successfully. While protected files can’t be converted, my files were not protected. Therefore this did work, and the conversion worked perfectly fine. In fact, I used the resulting MP3s in a video I created.
Obviously, music purchased from iTMS (the iTunes Music Store) are protected, and thus can’t be converted the same way unprotected music can.
thank you, this was quite helpful just now. saved me many downloads!
thanks man. this helped a lot.
its so frustrating with all the “free” applications out there, that half the time don’t even seem to help much.
this though, was just the thing i was looking for. thanks.
For protected aac files, you can burn to CD and then rip to MP3 with freeware.
yes i tried to follow your instructions but i couldent find the iTunes Preferences its not all that easy for me to find that so if you would be so kind please e mail me back with clearer instructions thanks
Hey thanks a lot for this!!
I had been trying the horrible shareware which cannot even convert one file without errors.. Thks a lot!!
I use NoteBurner to do this and it works perfect!
Not by cracking DRM control like Hymn, there are mainly other two methods to bypass the DRM control for protected music.
The first method is to burn a copy to an audio CD and then rip/encode it. Some software products take a smarter method which allows user to burn music to a Virtual CD-RW disc and then automatically rip/encode the music stored on the Virtual CD-R. This makes the whole conversion process automatically and faster. NoteBurner (www.noteburner.com) is the typical example which uses this Virtual CD-RW drive method.
The second method is to use a recording software and sound card. TuneBite is one of the most popular software.
Hi. I tried the steps mentioned and a task box said it was converting the files I wanted converted. However, when it was finished, the files remained in the original m4a format. Any ideas? Thanks
Thanks a lot, this instruction was a big help :-)
Hey, THANKS a bunch… the Itunes solution ROCKS!
Les
Dude
Thank you very much!
you ROCKKKKKKK!!!
you can also do this with winamp pro.
just add the files to your playlist
right click
select “send to:”
select “format converter”
and thats it :)
Thank you so much, I tried forever to convert my m4a files with no luck. It turns out the answer was in front of me the whole time. Thanks again!
Thank you! I was really tired of sifting through BS websites looking for a converter that didn’t screw up your music, allow only 3 conversions, or only convert half the song, LAAME. Thanks again!
Thanks a million! I had a feeling it would be possible in itunes but didnt know where to start. Now Ive got to bin all the downloads I couldnt get to work!
Thanks mate…i did exactly what you did searching around google. your a hero
Just what I was looking for and without downloading pesky “free” converters!
thanks so much for this adice. it really saved me the hassle. i knew ipod converted but i just dint know where to go. thanks for poiting me in the right direction
i used this program to remove the protection from songs purchased from the itunes store.
http://hymn-project.org/download.php
THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH
That totally just made my day
Thank you so much, this helped a ton!
Helped me and my daughter, too! Thanks!
Hey Elliot — Thanks so much for posting your solution. It worked like a charm. I notice that a 4.4Mb M4a becomes a 10.2Mb MP3, so it is obvious that the M4a compression is tighter. It seems that MOST computers will now play M4a files — if iTunes is installed (either Mac or PC version). Yet to be more universal, I’m wanting audio files to be available in both formats, and your solution worked for me.
thanks again, cheers, Bruce