Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: Mass m4a to mp3 conversion ? (Read 5833 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Mass m4a to mp3 conversion ?

Hi

I want to use my GF's itunes library in Traktor, but can't do so unless install iTunes (no way !) or convert to mp3.

Is there a good (preferably free) utility which will do this ?

Preferably it should be able to search nested folders for mass conversion, rather than me having to direct it to each folder, one at a time (it's a 10 GB collection).


Thanks

Mass m4a to mp3 conversion ?

Reply #1
You should not convert lossy files.  Traktor says it supports AAC files, so I would just leave them as AAC.

Mass m4a to mp3 conversion ?

Reply #2
I agree with the previous poster that it's better to avoid lossy-to-lossy transcoding.

I want to use my GF's itunes library in Traktor, but can't do so unless install iTunes (no way !) or convert to mp3.

On the Windows platform, Traktor requires QuickTime for AAC playback. This is somewhat surprising considering that Traktor requires Win 7 or later. And Win 7 or later support AAC playback out-of-the-box. I suggest you open a support request with NI, suggesting they remove this dependency on QuickTime.

Mass m4a to mp3 conversion ?

Reply #3
In that case it's presumably just because Traktor needs the QuickTime library (the same that iTunes uses) to decode AAC. That is indeed a bit odd since Windows 7 decodes AAC out of the box.

I agree with not transcoding from AAC to MP3, it's not great for audio quality and unnecessary. Just install Quicktime but make sure it is not the default player for any format. QuickTime is essentially a big codec pack with a small player on top. It is often used by professionals to add some pro formats (such as ProRes 422 or Cinepak) that Windows doesn't support out of the box. Traktor will use the AAC decode library but you will never have to use or even see Quicktime yourself. Just forget it's there.
Every night with my star friends / We eat caviar and drink champagne
Sniffing in the VIP area / We talk about Frank Sinatra
Do you know Frank Sinatra? / He's dead

Mass m4a to mp3 conversion ?

Reply #4
Thanks.

Point taken. I'll copy over the original iTunes library & and install Crapple's hideous bloatware.

Mass m4a to mp3 conversion ?

Reply #5
I'll echo the others in that a lossy-to-lossy conversion is generally not recommended.. BUT if you still want to do it, Xrecode2 (http://xrecode.com/) can do this for you.

 

Mass m4a to mp3 conversion ?

Reply #6
Or you can convert AAC files to WAV or FLAC if Traktor supports them. This requires more space but it will happen during editing/mixing audio in Traktor anyway, and this way you don't have to install QuickTime and won't lose quality.