Robin Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Hey, Just wondered if any of the more techy people here could help me out with a problem please? I bought a load of classics from the Positiva/7 Digital Store, a lot of which are WMA files of songs. These won't play on my Mac (grrr.. cue the mac haters) which means they're currently unplayable. Does anyone here have the facility to convert these files into 320K MP3 files at all?!?! If it's possible, please email me your address so I can send the tracks over via Yousendit if you're willing to help me out. Many thanks in advance! =o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neuro Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Yeah sure thing. I always convert my music from whatever file format it comes in into unprotected mp3 files... I'm much happier that way as I don't give a damn about disk space and I know they'll play on anything I throw them on later. I've PM'd you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonB Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 What it is with these drm wma's is they are username and password protected so can only be played on windows s***a player,this used to p*** meoff aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberduck Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Tim, isn't the answer to this just to whack them through WinLame as you told me to do when creating mp3's from vinyl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neuro Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 No; winlame is only capable of creating MP3s out of those enormous WAV files, not cross-conversion across other formats. WMA (Windows Media Audio) files are much more difficult to convert to anything because they're specifically designed to limit what you can do with them. Doubly unfortunate was that these particular WMA files were also copy-protected with DRM (Digital Rights Management), the newest version of which is physically impossible to bypass or remove with any software out there unless you have the licence key (which you obtain when you purchase the track). Without the licence key you can't play, burn, or copy the file at all. And even with the licence key, often you can't burn the track more than once or twice, or play it on more than 2 computers, or convert them. Also, some devices can't read WMA files, because they don't know what they are, whereas everything in the world can understand and play an MP3 file. I am not advocating circumventing the DRM technology (which used to be possible when copy-protected files first appeared) because the idea behind it is great, but I do argue that if you have paid for your music, you should not be limited when, where, how, and on what device you play it. In any case we had the licence key but then it turned out Positiva had encoded them incorrectly at such a poor quality bitrate that it didn't matter. The moral of the story is, if you want to ensure you music's compatibility with all media players past, present and future, always purchase files that are free of DRM or any other music protection software and ideally never in any other format other than MP3! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonB Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Exactly, damn 7 digital! Some of the Posi back catolouges avilable as drm free 320'son xpressbeats and a few others, use they instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quadrant Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Didn't realize it was so complicated myself! I always buy just mp3s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Haha - just realized that Xpressbeats AND the 7Digital site have incorrectly titled a lot of their tracks, giving the wrong mix titles... its a bit pathetic really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quadrant Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 That's really useful isn't it. Imagine some poor young'un searching for a track he likes, he hasn't got a chance if all the mixes aren't labelled correctly in the first place. Labels need to get a grip - they might not care if we wasted £1.25 on a track, but for us as the end consumer, it's irritating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonB Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Even Juno and Beatport have done the same to a few I've noticed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 I'll get on it, Tuesday with the complaints! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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