MP4 Conversion

Google "MP4 to MP3 convert". You'll see a long list of conversion apps, many of them free. If you go someplace like download.com you'll be able to see user feedback on individual programs. Some of them will only do one song at a time while others will do batch converts.

Cheers

You could try LameDropXP:

http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lamedrop.php

I'm sure if it supports decoding AAC, though.

I been using Mediamonkey w/c works pretty well. http://www.mediamonkey.com/

Getting a MP3 audio file from a MP4 audio/video file

First, let’s discuss the differences between MP3 and MP4 files.

MP3 [which is shorthand for MPEG -1 (Moving Pictures Experts Group). Layer 3] files are audio files that can be played on MP3 players or your computer and copied to CDs.

MP4 (shorthand for MPEG4 Part 14) files can contain both audio and video and are used for internet streaming and some cellphones. There are two types: Simple Profile and a higher quality Advanced Video Coding (AVC) format.

I did not have any MP4 files on my computer, so I had to find a way to get one so that I could see how to convert MP4 to MP3. So I decided to watch again something from YouTube that had been recommended by a friend. It is called the “Christmas food court Flash Mob: Hallelujah Chorus - Must See”. I tear up and blubber every time I see it. Watch it at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

After I watched it, I wanted to save it on my computer , so I used the program “YouTube Downloader HD” to download the audio/video in FLV format and convert it to a AVI file. The software has the ability to convert to MP4 so I went back and re-downloaded into MP4 format. YouTube Downloader is a “portable” app and is run from the directory into which you unzip the download. You can get YouTube Downloader at
http://www.youtubedownloaderhd.com/download.html

Now, having a MP4 file, I used the program XmediaRecode to read the MP4 file and extract a MP3 audio only file. XmediaRecode is also a portable program where it is unzipped into a folder of your choice and run from there. Get it at
http://www.xmedia-recode.de/
After the download and unzip, delete all files other than English from the Lang folder before starting the program.

After running XmediaRecode, I had a simple MP3 audio file of “Christmas food court Flash Mob: Hallelujah Chorus - Must See”.

Thanks I'll try it - food court chorus as well! Many thanks - but I know you get that often on here!

Great video. Thanks for sharing.
Best of the season.
Jim

I just used this one....It's pretty good....Not free though...

One of the best audio/video converters I've found is called Super, it's totally free and is available here:

http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

I read lots of people who do more converting than I ever have (I rip to the format I want and don't, ever, touch iTunes) swear by it.

If you want a player that won't mess with your files I'd recommend WinAmp, Media Monkey or, if you like to play with setup and multiple customization addons etc., Foobar.

Maybe its a Mac version problem, but my mp3 files are still mp3 files with the latest iTunes revision on my PC. Nothing was converted.

If you have mp4 files either through purchases or CD ripping, you set the iTunes conversion from CDs to mp3. You can then use iTunes to convert mp4 files to mp3 files. Check the Advanced menu for Convert to mp3.

I just use iTunes to convert most of my music. In the preferences, you need to verify that CD Import Settings are set to MP3. Then you can select a song and under the Advanced menu go to "Create MP3 Version". Some additional info is available here - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1550

Any Audio Converter will convert just about anything and it's free. Just Google it.

I resolved my problem through a combination of changing the itunes setting and using a combination of the Media Player with Windows and itunes.

Interestingly, the problem arose as nothing seems to allow "ripping" to anything other than a CD and I wanted the music on my nuvi (for a variety of reasons!)

Many thanks to all who took the time to respond.

“Christmas food court Flash Mob: Hallelujah Chorus - Must See”. This was great. It made my day.

Hope others who stumble on this thread will take the 4 minutes it takes to view it.