[SOLVED] How to convert mp3 to wma.

[thefirstone]

I was able to convert mp3 files to wma.
First you need to have Wine(http://www.winehq.org/) installed which lets you install and run a host of windows application in Ubuntu. I'm using Ubuntu 804.
Use Wine to install and run JetAudio.Plus v7.1.0.3100.(http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/jetaudio/)Maybe another version of Jet Audio will also work(I don't know).
Once in Jet Audio open the playlist and go to 'add files\add files in folder' and load the folder with the mp3 files you want to convert.
Once you have all the files in the playlist you 'select all'(Ctrl+a)\right click on the files and select 'Export', type in a file name and save. Close the playlist window. Now open the Convert Audio in Jet Audio and Import the .pls file you created of the files you want to convert. Note that this was the only way I found to import many files at once into the convert audio window. For 'Output format' chose WMA Windows Media Audio 7 (9 didn't work for me), configure your bitrate and your good to go.
Have fun.

[roccivic]

Why would anyone even want to convert OGG/MP3 to WMA????
It's like swapping gold for lead...

Rouslan

[thefirstone]

Wma at 64 kbps is acceptable quality for most portable players and it takes up half the space. If you convert an mp3 at 128 kbps to wma at 64 kbps and listen to both files you will not notice any significant change in quality (if any). If your portable player has limited capacity this is the best way to maximize the amount of files you can carry. For general storage of all my music files I use mp3 128 kbps or higher but for my portable players I use wma 64 kbps in order to carry the most files possible. My cell phone holds 2gb max. By converting mp3's to wma's I have doubled the the amount of music I can carry around in it.

[cozmicharlie]

Wma at 64 kbps is acceptable quality for most portable players and it takes up half the space. If you convert an mp3 at 128 kbps to wma at 64 kbps and listen to both files you will not notice any significant change in quality (if any). If your portable player has limited capacity this is the best way to maximize the amount of files you can carry. For general storage of all my music files I use mp3 128 kbps or higher but for my portable players I use wma 64 kbps in order to carry the most files possible. My cell phone holds 2gb max. By converting mp3's to wma's I have doubled the the amount of music I can carry around in it.

Interesting way to go about it but if it works for you then great. FYI - alternatively, you can convert to wma in Linux (without using wine) with pacpl (http://pacpl.sourceforge.net/).

[jverga]

or you could do it the easy way and use soundKonverter.....

[gandaran]

and ffmpeg/winff too!

[M4rotku]

Hello all,

I need to convert mp3's to wma's to save space on my Sansa player.

I have downloaded Sound Konverter, but I can't make heads nor tails of it.

Can anyone give me watered down instructions on converting from mp3 to wma? I don't even care which application it will take.

[prabath_fun]

Nice thread. Usefull. I have 256MB Creative player. Now I can able to save more songs.
Thanks,

[cozmicharlie]

Hello all,

I need to convert mp3's to wma's to save space on my Sansa player.

I have downloaded Sound Konverter, but I can't make heads nor tails of it.

Can anyone give me watered down instructions on converting from mp3 to wma? I don't even care which application it will take.

Give us more info:
What OS are you using (Hardy, Gutsy ??).
What codecs have you installed (gstreamer, Ubuntu restricted extras, ???)? In general - you don't have to list them all.

Once you provide that info, we can walk you through the process. It is really fairly simple (once someone shows you how of course).

In general if for example we want to convert music.wma to music.mp3 - the basic commands are:

1. Open SoundKonverter
2. There are tabs right under the menu that say "Simple" and "Detailed" (start with the Simple).
3. In the "Simple" dialog box you set the output format - mp3 in this example.
4. The next line in the dialog box (Source Directory) you set the output location (where you want your converted files to be saved). You will see an empty dialog space with a folder icon next to it. Click on the folder and set your output directory.
5. Next, add (see the add button on the bottom left)or just drag and drop the music files you want to convert (your music.wma file for example) to the main part of SoundKonverter (where it says 'File List").
6. Then hit start and wait.

For it to work though you need all the codecs installed first.

[chuyler1]

I've been trying to do the same thing. It appears that ffmpeg is supposed to handle encoding wma but it doesn't actually do it, instead it uses the mp2 codec.

$ ffmpeg -i 02_-_Shoot_to_Thrill.mp3 02_-_Shoot_to_Thrill.wma
FFmpeg version SVN-rUNKNOWN, Copyright (c) 2000-2007 Fabrice Bellard, et al.
  configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-pp --enable-swscaler --enable-pthreads --enable-libvorbis --enable-libtheora --enable-libogg --enable-libgsm --enable-dc1394 --disable-debug --enable-shared --prefix=/usr
  libavutil version: 1d.49.3.0
  libavcodec version: 1d.51.38.0
  libavformat version: 1d.51.10.0
  built on Mar 12 2008 14:31:53, gcc: 4.2.3 (Ubuntu 4.2.3-2ubuntu4)
Input #0, mp3, from '02_-_Shoot_to_Thrill.mp3':
  Duration: 00:05:23.4, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 128 kb/s
  Stream #0.0: Audio: mp3, 44100 Hz, stereo, 128 kb/s
Output #0, asf, to '02_-_Shoot_to_Thrill.wma':
  Stream #0.0: Audio: mp2, 44100 Hz, stereo, 64 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
Press [q] to stop encoding
size=       0kB time=323.3 bitrate=   0.0kbits/s    
video:0kB audio:2526kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead -99.983839

If you try to force the wma codec, it still uses mp2.

$ ffmpeg -i 02_-_Shoot_to_Thrill.mp3 02_-_Shoot_to_Thrill.wma -acodec wmav2
FFmpeg version SVN-rUNKNOWN, Copyright (c) 2000-2007 Fabrice Bellard, et al.
  configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-pp --enable-swscaler --enable-pthreads --enable-libvorbis --enable-libtheora --enable-libogg --enable-libgsm --enable-dc1394 --disable-debug --enable-shared --prefix=/usr
  libavutil version: 1d.49.3.0
  libavcodec version: 1d.51.38.0
  libavformat version: 1d.51.10.0
  built on Mar 12 2008 14:31:53, gcc: 4.2.3 (Ubuntu 4.2.3-2ubuntu4)
Input #0, mp3, from '02_-_Shoot_to_Thrill.mp3':
  Duration: 00:05:23.4, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 128 kb/s
  Stream #0.0: Audio: mp3, 44100 Hz, stereo, 128 kb/s
Output #0, asf, to '02_-_Shoot_to_Thrill.wma':
  Stream #0.0: Audio: mp2, 44100 Hz, stereo, 64 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
Press [q] to stop encoding
size=       0kB time=323.3 bitrate=   0.0kbits/s    
video:0kB audio:2526kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead -99.983839%

I need true wma format for my cell phone to play the files. Looks like I may have to revert to using windows for this task unless someone can chime in with some tips.