Converting mp3 to m4a(AAC)

If I convert mp3 to m4a(AAC) will the quality of the song be better or the same as a mp3? Does converting it really even do anything?

Well, it makes it so those files won't play on anything but an ipod.
I am in the process of converting 5000+ songs from Apple lossless to mp3. What a pain. I wish I'd ripped them as mp3s to begin with.
Anyway - it is personal preference. Convert a song or two and see if you can tell the difference, is my advice.

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How to convert .MP3 files into .AAC with iTunes 10.5.2

Im running a Mac OS X 10.5.8, and my iTunes version is 10.5.2.
I want to convert .MP3 files into .AAC using iTunes, but no option is given for me. What should I do?

im not going to change all my songs into AAC, I was experiementing around with making ringtones for my iphone. I can open a song in Garageband, and export it as an AAC file to my itunes, but it is very annoying. I remember older versions of itunes having a "Convert to AAC" option, but i can't find it anymore on this current version of itunes.
Basically, I want to convert a couple songs into AAC to create ringtones out of them.

Should I convert all my iTunes MP3 files to AAC?

Somehow, I only learned about the advantages of the AAC format a few days ago--despite getting my first Apple computer way back in 1984.
Would it make sense to convert all 80 GB of my iTunes MP3 files to AAC in order so save disk space in my backup before migrating to Yosemite?
Thanks again everybody for all your great help and suggestions.

No. If you originally got them from CDs, you can reimport them as AAC if desired.
(117182)

Converting Low MP3 to High AAC

Does anyone know if there would be sound quality loss if I took a 128kbps MP3 Sound File and used iTunes "Convert Selection to..." to convert it to a 320kbps AAC.
I get a bit confused becuase I am recompressing an already compressed file but it is suppose to be a better method of compression. Does it uncompress first like a JPG? CAN it be uncompressed first and then recompressed?
Any enlightenment would be appreciated.
Thanks!
-ROD

I am by no means an expert on audio conversion, but as I understand it the sound quality of an audio file will be reduced when converting it from one lossy format to another, especially when trying to go from a smaller size/ lower bitrate to a larger size/ higher bitrate.
(paraphrased from Andrew Davidson's Transcoding MP3 Files - Notes & Hints)
When transcoding, the MP3 must be decompressed (if only temporarily) to a decoded format (e.g. raw PCM) before re-encoding. Because of quality concerns, transcoding is not recommended…Transcoding upwards offers no quality benefit whatsoever, and results in a bigger file, so most of the time it is completely pointless. There is no point to transcoding upward (e.g. from 128Kbps to 256Kbps) except in the extremely unusual situation of a hardware player not supporting certain bitrates.
For much more info about your question, google "convert MP3 to AAC quality loss -download" and "convert audio file smaller to larger quality loss -download" (the -download filters out most of the "download our great conversion software" hits).
G4 iMac Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Converting MP3 to AAC in iTunes 8.0.1

I heard about how Walmart is offering MP3 tracks for 94 cents through their MP3 downloading site that is now compatible with Mac OS X, Safari, iPod, and iTunes. The MP3 sites has no restrictions for backups, playlists, computers, etc.
So I'm wondering, how do you convert an MP3 file into AAC file?
Sincerely,
Stu "the1macnerd" Carpenter
P.S. MP3 is okay (MPEG-3 Audio layer 1) but AAC (MPEG-4) is a lot better and sounds better in both 128 kbps and 256 kbps, even though 256 kbps takes up twice the space with no DRM, iTunes Plus. However, buying from iTunes Store is a lot better cause Walmart only has 3 million tracks available compared to iTunes' 8.5 million tracks. The iTunes Store is also worth it for people who don't want to buy the edited versions of music because iTunes Store sells both versions, and Walmart is more selective in that they don't sell certain artists based on religious or moral objections, such as Marilyn Manson and other artists.

You won't get any benefit converting from MP3 to AAC, both are lossy compression formats and you could even end up with a file of lesser quality by converting from one lossy format to another. Converting to AAC won't add any more information to the MP3 file than is already there. However to convert any type of audio file in iTunes 8 you first have to change your import settings in iTunes>Preferences>General, choose the Import Settings button. Once you have chosen your setting (AAC for instance) highlight the track you want to convert and go to Advanced>Create AAC version.

Converting MP3-AAC and condensing iTunes library

Picked up an iPad 64GB 3G and decided to put my whole iTunes 40GB library on the device . This has caused me to rethink my bit rates to save some room. I tested MP3 vs. AAC sound quality, I'm a professional musician, and the quality difference was barely noticeable. So here are my questions:
1. Should I convert all of my iTunes files to AAC on both my Macbook Pro and iPad? Does it make a big difference?
2. If I do this, should I put my iTunes library with MP3's on my Time Capsule prior to conversion?
Thanks as always for the advice.

MacAddiction wrote:
I guess the bottom line is that I don't fully comprehend all the various formats.
see Digital Audio Formats: A Guide
Most of mine are MPEG, 225 kbps (VBR).
as i said, i would leave them as they are.
I noticed that I have quite a few AIFF files that are huge.
AIFF is a lossless format (as the article above outlines). here it would sense to convert to, say, AAC 256.
edit the article does not mention AIFF so here's a read to peruse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AudioInterchange_FileFormat
When I converted a sample MPEG to AAC, it saved a good bit of space.
true. but, converting from an already lossy format to an even lossier (e.g. AAC 128) will certainly affect the sound quality. so, it comes down to what is more important to you: space or sound quality. since you are a professional musician, i would expect the latter
what i'm doing is this: CD's are ripped into Apple Lossless files. i move these files to an external HD, then option drag them into iTunes. this will cause iTunes to index the path to the original files but not copy them physically into my main library. with the external connected, i have iTunes convert the Apple Lossless into AAC 256. the AAC's are added to the main library.
for example, if an Apple Lossless files weighs in @ 34,2 MB, the AAC 256 has 9,2 MB only but the sound quality is excellent.
JGG
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

After converting mp3s to AAC, does itunes write id3 tags?

I'm on OSX 10.3.9 and running iTunes 5.0.1. I just recently converted a lot of music which was on mp3 format to AAC at 128kbps (saved about 30% space with no loss of quality).
Now when I'm running iTunes, it lags and a small window comes up sporadically saying "Writing ID3 Tags."
Is this for the files I converted to AAC recently, or what's this all about?

out of interest how did you do the conversion ?
Make an intelligent playlist, with the setings, "kind is" - "MPEG"
Check that your "convert to" setting is AAC.
In your MPEG playlist, press command and a keys together (or Edit > Select All, from the menu bar) and choose Advanced > Convert to AAC.
When you are done, use Select All then option and delete keys together in the playlist, to remove the MPEGs from your library.

How to convert mp3 to m4r ringtone ?

hi all i have just purchased a small MP3 file to use as a ring tone, but, to be be able to use it on my iPhone i need to convert it to a m4r file
is it easy to do this WITHOUT purchasing special software ?
although, having just said WITHOUT purchasing special software !!, i just googled for the relevant FREE software and they ALL seem to be very dodgy !!!!!!
tim

You can make ringtone using iTunes
Convert mp3 to AAC (you can also cut interesting part of the song using information page in file properties) and then rename file extension from m4a to m4r and reimport it to itunes and viola!
BTW. Here is one of instructions available online: http://howto-themes-for-iphones.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-convert-mp3-to-m4r.h tml
Regards

.m4a (aac) audio files don't appear in podcast/iTunes

My blog is at http://jumplive.blogspot.com
[ I'm using Feedburner.com, with Smartcast enabled ]
My audio files are (native) .wma. I used Windows iTunes to convert them to .wav & .m4a (aac).
The audio files ".wav" are showing up in iTunes/podcast. However, the .aac (with extension .m4a..it's MPEG4, right?) are not showing up. ?? (I'm storing the audio files on blip.tv servers)
[ Is there anyway of getting the (native) .wma files to show up? The .aac & .wav files are considerably larger than the (native) .wma files, which is bad. For example, a 17mb A.wma file converts to a 34mb A.aac & 64mb A.wav . Am I doing something wrong in the Conversion settings under Preferences? ]

My audio files are (native) .wma. I used Windows
iTunes to convert them to .wav & .m4a (aac).
The audio files ".wav" are showing up in
iTunes/podcast. However, the .aac (with extension
.m4a..it's MPEG4, right?) are not showing up. ??
(I'm storing the audio files on blip.tv servers)
Your feedburner feed doesn't contain any M4A files that I can see. That would be one reason they don't show up.
[ Is there anyway of getting the (native) .wma files
to show up? The .aac & .wav files are considerably
larger than the (native) .wma files, which is bad.
For example, a 17mb A.wma file converts to a 34mb
A.aac & 64mb A.wav . Am I doing something wrong in
the Conversion settings under Preferences? ]
Okay, first, are they .aac or .m4a files? iTunes will get *.m4a files, but not *.aac files.
Secondly, size is all about bitrate. If you use a higher bitrate, you get bigger files. WMA tends to default to a 64kbps bitrate, which usually sounds like utter crap. M4A (AAC) generally defaults to 128kbps. So with default settings, it'll be twice the size.
However, you say you're converting from WMA to M4A and WAV? That's a bad, bad idea. You should be converting from the original recording (in WAV format) to MP3 and M4A. MP3 is more widely supported for podcasting, and M4A is supported by iTunes and sounds better than MP3. Nobody uses WMA for podcasting. WMA sounds terrible.

Converting MP3 to Audiobook format

I downloaded a 3-part series from a public radio website. The files are in MP3 format. I want this program to appear as an audiobook on my iPhone instead of residing in my music library. How do I make that happen?
PowerBook G4 12-inch (PPC) 1.25GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.10) 2nd gen shuffle - iPhone

Thanks. That's what I needed. Here's how I did it...
Converted the MP3 files to AAC audio files i.e. M4A.
Converted the M4A files to Protected AAC audio files i.e. M4B files. To do this I used an Applescript named MakeBookmarkable.scpt found at:
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/scripts07.php?page=1#makebookmarkable
The script installs in yourhomefolder/Library/iTunes/Scripts. After restarting iTunes the script menu will be present. To run the script simply select the item (AAC audio file) in the music library, and select Make Bookmarkable from the Script menu. After the script runs it removes the selection from the music library and puts it in the audiobook library.
To clean up, I deleted the original MP3 files from the music library.
PowerBook G4 12-inch (PPC) 1.25GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.10) 2nd gen shuffle - iPhone

Re: Converting FLAC to m4a

Re: Converting FLAC files to m4a: I understand that Apple's m4a files generally sound better than mp3s. First of all, is this true? And what is the best program to convert lossless FLAC files to m4a (AAC) files? Sound quality is the most important thing to me. (I'm sorry if I have repeated this question - I'm a newbie here.) Thanks.

If you want to play files in iTunes without using a plug in, you will need to convert to M4A. M4A will probably give you the best quality conversion as it is far less compressed than MP3, so yes to answer your question, it is better quality.
However you can play your FLAC files outside of iTunes via programs like PLAY http://sbooth.org/Play/ (its free) I would tend to say from a shear quality of playback, PLAY is probably better than iTunes. However there are a lot of missing features like album art and such, but it does work very well.
There are other programs such as Pure Music which use iTunes as a GUI and allow you to play FLAC through iTunes as well, but they are not free programs. http://www.channld.com/puremusic/ Pure Music is often noted as the best in that it allows you to use iTunes as your interface and will accept virtually all types of music file formats.

How to convert mp3 songs into mp4

Help?

An mp4 is a video format. You can add an mp3 music files as the sound track of a video.
Do you mean you want to convert a mp3 to a ma4 (used for ringtones)? Id so then
http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/how-to-convert-an-mp3-or-m4a-file-to-an- iphone-ringtone/

Detecting the Beats Per Minute (bpm) of songs in mp3 and m4a formats.

hi,
i am working on a mac on a mac application which needs the functionality of detecting the Beats Per Minute (bpm) of songs in mp3 and m4a formats.
For detecting bpm we are using the codes from http://www.surina.net/soundtouch but it is giving wrong bpm values for m4a files even though they are converted
to mp3 or wav format using ffmpeg(Please note that bpm detection for mp3 files are working fine ). For detecting bpm we also tried the binary named SoundStretch which is also provided by soundtouch (http://www.surina.net/soundtouch).
Can any one explain what is going on?!. The m4a files even when converted to mp3 or wave are not working. Is any other open source libraries or classes for bpm detection are available for mac?
Any one please give some directions

I thought BPM was obvious. But then I downloaded a 15-day trial of Tangerine, which analyzed about 2/3's of my iTunes library, assigning BPM and beat intensity to each song. The light has not gone on for what these terms means now that I've listened to several songs with exactly the same BPM and BI. They don't sound similar, they sound entirely different. So I'm left still wondering what these terms mean, and how they can be useful in catagorizing music in my library.
As a self-described recording geek, perhaps you can help me grok these terms. What I really want to do is understand with my ears, not my brain.
Thanks
Greg

Converting Audio Files to AAC format

I have a mix of MPEG and AAC files in iTunes. Is there an advantage to converting all files to AAC?

YOGenereally, you shouldn't convert from a lossy format AAC or MP3) to another lossy fomrat.
It's called loss because you lose information when you convert it.
If you only use these files on the computer and the iPod, I'd recommend AAC. Better quality at same bit rate as MP3.

Burning mp3 cds using AAC files

How can I burn mp3 cds using AAC files from iTunes?

You can't burn MP3 CDs from MP4 (AAC) files. You have to convert the AAC files in in iTunes to MP3 before you can burn them to MP3 disc.
You can use iTunes to convert any copy protection free songs in your library another format. When you convert a song in iTunes it will be converted to the format that you have set to import your CDs in. Converting creates a second copy of the song in the format you have chosen which gives you the opportunity to either keep or delete the original. If you are using iTunes 8 go to iTunes>Preferences>General and click on Import Settings, change your option to MP3 for example. Go back to your library and highlight the songs you want to convert and go to the Advanced menu at the top of your iTunes window and choose "Create MP3 version": iTunes: How to convert a song to a different file format
One exception to this are standard copy protected songs (if you haven't upgraded to iTunes Plus versions) purchased from the iTunes Music Store which can't be directly converted due to the DRM (Digital Rights Management) copy protection. However you can burn these to an Audio CD which will work like any regular CD.

Converting mp3 to m4a(AAC)

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