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Converting WAV to MP3

GodfatherGodfather Registered User regular
edited February 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
This is a really stupid question, but I recently picked up a 4 gig SD card to use to record my music theory lessons with so I could listen to it over the course of the week while doing my daily drawing exercises.

Only problem is that these WAV files are around half an hour in length, and every time I try and play it on my PSP it just says "Buffering..." on top of it, which i've never had happen before with any file format on this device.

A simple conversion to mp3 is all I need here, but I can't seem to find a program on the web that will allow me to do this. Well, I can, but they're asking outrageous prices for something as rudimentary as this just to use their program. Some of them are "free", but will only convert 60-80% of the file unless you buy the entire product.


I'm confused here. Am I supposed to buy one of these things, or is it just a big scam like my gut feeling is telling me? Where can I get a simple conversion program so I can listen to these lessons of mine on the go?


TL; DR - How do I convert music theory WAV files to an mp3?

Godfather on

Posts

  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Audacity.

    TychoCelchuuu on
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Audacity is a pretty good free sound editing/converting program, comes in both Mac and Windows flavors.

    ed: Beat. iTunes will do it too if you already use it, with less utility than Audacity.

    KalTorak on
  • 1ddqd1ddqd Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Audacity is free and is very barebones/flexible. You can make it do what you want and there are plenty of guides out there for it:

    http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

    edit: double beat'd!! Also, I *think* WMP (windows media player) can do it.

    AH! Also foobar2000

    1ddqd on
  • BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    foobar2000 should be able to handle the conversion, though you'll probably have to download a copy of LAME. LAME binaries that should work for your system (assuming it's a modern copy of Windows) can be found here.

    Barrakketh on
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  • BoomShakeBoomShake The Engineer Columbia, MDRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    dBpoweramp

    BoomShake on
  • RuckusRuckus Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    If you use Audacity you need the LAME codecs too, but I think the link to them is on the Audacity page.

    Ruckus on
  • BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    BoomShake wrote: »
    dBpoweramp

    The free version doesn't encode MP3s.

    Barrakketh on
    Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
  • BoomShakeBoomShake The Engineer Columbia, MDRegistered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Barrakketh wrote: »
    BoomShake wrote: »
    dBpoweramp

    The free version doesn't encode MP3s.

    Whoops! Could have sworn it was in the free version, but you're right, it's not.

    BoomShake on
  • CrashtardCrashtard Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Audacity is the best way to do it if you're looking for free. Like someone else said, make sure to install the lame encoder and you'll be all set.

    Crashtard on
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  • GodfatherGodfather Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Okay, so I downloaded the software, installed the LAME codec, and everything went smoothly.


    .................but where did my saved file go? Where's the location of my converted mp3?

    Godfather on
  • RuckusRuckus Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Godfather wrote: »
    Okay, so I downloaded the software, installed the LAME codec, and everything went smoothly.


    .................but where did my saved file go? Where's the location of my converted mp3?

    If I remember correctly, it puts them in the same directory as your source WAV file.

    Either that or it opens a Save As dialogue for you to choose where to save it.

    Ruckus on
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Whenever I export as MP3 it gives me the option to save it somewhere.

    TychoCelchuuu on
  • Bob the GamerBob the Gamer Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    I use a front-end utility for LAME called RazorLame.

    Check it out here:

    http://www.dors.de/razorlame/index.php

    It's free and totally awesome.

    Bob the Gamer on
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