How to convert .wav to MP3's

[David M.]

I can't find an existing thread, so here goes. When I record on my (######) little computer mic, it's a .wav file. How to convert to MP3's so I can post or email sound files more easily?

Any pointers? Thanks for your help.

[Stillpicking]

I just downloaded a free application called audacity just do a gooogle search with that title and it will take you to the site.
Works great easy to use and has a lot of other cool stuff.

[Chris Cantergiani]

E-tree has a link to an excellent program that can convert MP3s to Wav, and Wav to MP3.... it can also decode shn files. That's handy if you want to download stuff from etree, bluegrassbox and more.
Here's the link:
http://www.etree.org/mkw.html
Enjoy!

Chris

[J. Mark Lane]

You can do that with Windows Media Player...which can be downloaded free from Microsoft. I use Nero, fwiw.

Mark

[angrymandolinist]

If you use Audacity (a great program to begin with), you'll need the LAME encoder, which you'll find links to on their site. Then, converting your audio to MP3 is extremely easy.

[PhilGE]

iTunes will do this and it's free. Get it HERE. (http://www.apple.com/itunes/)

-Phil

[mandoisland]

You can also use the free tool audiograbber on the PC (I am sure you can find it with google). I use audiograbber to record from web radio like hober.com. You can record as .wav, but also directly to mp3. It should also work with your microphone. itunes is also very god in doing this. For both tools you need to det the mp3 settings according to your preference.

[John Craton]

I've used Music Match Jukebox (http://www.musicmatch.com/download/plus/jukebox_intro.htm?os=pc&mode=input&BTD=1&DID=) to do this, though I haven't made MP3s in some time. As best I recall, it worked very well and is a free download. Worth looking over.

[scotsghost]

I've always been a quality nut about making MP3s out of WAVs and have always preferred LAME to most other encoders I've tried. I haven't used many of the recent offerings, and without a frontend like Audacity, LAME might be a pain to use... but for me the quality gain was always well worth the effort. YMMV!

--s

[mandognome]

There's also one called db powert amp. I use it, and can convert files with a right click. Not sure how it compares to the others; pretty sure it's afree download too. Audacity sounds cool.

[David M.]

Thanks, folks. I'll look into these.

J. Mark Lane, where/how can you use Win. Media Player to convert? I looked today and couldn't figure it out. Maybe I don't have the latest version (or am a computer dummy).

[darthstar]

E-tree has a link to an excellent program that can convert MP3s to Wav, and Wav to MP3.... it can also decode shn files. That's handy if you want to download stuff from etree, bluegrassbox and more.
Here's the link:
http://www.etree.org/mkw.html
Enjoy!

Chris
For those who don't know, .shn is a 'lossless' form of file compression. Once expanded, files will have a .wav extension. Same goes for .flac files. These are what tapers use for trading their shows online. The general rule is, burn to mp3 for your iPod or other personal listening device, but only share .wave (packed in .shn or .flac) with people as it protects the integrity of the music being shared.

.mp3 files are usually defaulted to 128kbps, which is about a 12 to 1 compression from the original .wav file size. That helps you fit more music on your mp3 player, but you lose sound quality moving from mp3 to CD (which is why you always want to burn from a .wav file format). Same goes for Windows Media files (.wma). Note: when burning from .wav to .mp3, you can choose a higher sound resolution (192kbps is remarkably better than 128, but your files will be a little larger...if you've got a 40gb mp3 player, that's fine...you'll still get a good 6,000 4 minute songs on it).


Okie dokie, that's all I had to say...as long as you're enjoying the music, that's all that's really important.

[AW Meyer]

David M: Go to your Windows Media Player and click on "View" at the top. Then click on "Enhancements"; then "Play speed settings."

[AW Meyer]

Oops! Wrong thread. Sorry about that. I was still thinking about the slow downer question.

[amowry]

DBPowerAmp is great because you can download (for free) additional codecs for many other formats. Whenever you need to convert a new file type you can download a codec rather than searching the web for a specialized application.