1. rpscott02#CB's Avatar
    When I first started putting music on the storm (my first 300 songs or so) they would show up as .mp3 but now they're being converted to .m4a. I use the same process - drag music files from my computer into the storm's music folder. Anyone know why this happens? I want .mp3 not .m4a

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    06-11-09 07:46 AM
  2. greydarrah's Avatar
    I don't know why they are now showing up in a different format, but can't you just use Windows Media player to rip them to mp3? That's what I do with all of my audio books that I get on CD. Does the new format still play on your Storm?

    Grey
    06-11-09 08:34 AM
  3. BlueGazoo's Avatar
    My Windows Media Player only 'rips' from a CD. How do you 'rip' from a file?
    Last edited by BlueGazoo; 06-15-09 at 08:17 PM.
    06-14-09 10:16 PM
  4. BlueGazoo's Avatar
    Anybody?

    All i want to do is listen to audio books on my blackberry without paying $50 for 'converting' software.

    It wasn't my idea to have all different kinds of formats, and i don't think i should have to pay for it now....
    Last edited by BlueGazoo; 06-15-09 at 08:21 PM.
    06-15-09 08:18 PM
  5. DriftDevil's Avatar
    there r many free conversion software ya kno...

    here:
    Let me google that for you
    06-15-09 08:26 PM
  6. BlueGazoo's Avatar
    I did google it. I'm a newbie but not that awkward. I downloaded 6 different packages and they all say "Free" but all were for sale.

    Btw, the first item on your LMGTFY is AVS Audi Converter. On the "free version" you hear "AVS MEDIA DEMO" in a loud voice every ten seconds; to me that means "not free". BTW: i have a free converter too; it will convert for free if you send me a check for $40.


    Maybe i should be more clear?
    Last edited by BlueGazoo; 06-15-09 at 10:56 PM.
    06-15-09 08:37 PM
  7. Dave12308's Avatar
    I'm going to start with the obvious here. Perhaps your CD ripping software settings got changed, and is now outputting m4a files instead of mp3s? Are you using the media manager add on for RIM Desktop Manager? If so, perhaps the recent DM update caused it. If you're literally dragging and dropping the files to the SD card, there's no way the file format is getting changed on the fly.
    06-15-09 09:14 PM
  8. Dave12308's Avatar
    I did google it. I'm a newbie but not that awkward. I downloaded 6 different packages and they all say "Free" but all were for sale.

    Btw, the first item on your LMGTFY is AVS Audi Convertor. It's not Free.

    Maybe i should be more clear?
    Mediacoder, for the win..........
    06-15-09 09:15 PM
  9. Jaxx111's Avatar
    Is it possible to play flac files in the storm?
    06-15-09 10:33 PM
  10. gtstang462002's Avatar
    I don't know why they are now showing up in a different format, but can't you just use Windows Media player to rip them to mp3? That's what I do with all of my audio books that I get on CD. Does the new format still play on your Storm?

    Grey
    My Windows Media Player only 'rips' from a CD. How do you 'rip' from a file?
    Read CD
    Is it possible to play flac files in the storm?
    What are flac files, or the better question is what generates them?
    06-15-09 10:41 PM
  11. buxleyp's Avatar
    I haven't checked the app store in a while, but I don't recall seeing a flac player for the Storm. Your best bet is to convert flac to mp3 and then copy/paste to your Storm.

    gtstang: flac is a lossless compression music file. You can rip a CD or wav file to flac, and as it's lossless, it'll have the same sound quality as the original but result in reduced file size. Good CD rippers like Exact Audio Copy can rip CDs to flac.

    Formats like mp3/aac/wma are lossy compression; they result in much smaller file sizes but you sacrifice sound quality (higher bitrate == better sound == larger file; lower bitrate == worse sound == smaller file).
    06-15-09 10:55 PM
  12. BlueGazoo's Avatar
    I have about 20 MP3 audio books so far. The ones I was copying over to my blackberry gave me a message (something like: "you may copy the file over but it is not in a readable format and will just be stored on the Blackberry....").

    That's why i thought i needed a converter; that's why i have been looking for a converter for about 7 days.

    However, last night i copied over some of the other MP3 Audio Books and they played fine and i can hear them without problem.

    Does that mean the first ones i tried were corrupt? Or was it a licensing issue?

    (Now i need to find a good player because the default Music Player in blackberry doesn't keep track of where you left off in the 2 hour book!! - i knew i should've been a programmer.)
    Last edited by BlueGazoo; 06-17-09 at 11:10 PM.
    06-16-09 07:36 AM
  13. greydarrah's Avatar
    I have about 20 MP3 audio books so far. The ones I was copying over to my blackberry gave me a message (something like like: "you may copy the file over but it is not in a readable format and will just be stored on the Blackberry....").

    That's why i thought i needed a converter; that's why i have been looking for a converter for about 7 days.

    However, last night i copied over some of the other MP3 Audio Books and they played fine and i can hear them without problem.

    Does that mean the first ones i tried were corrupt? Or was it a licensing issue?

    (Now i need to find a good player because the default Music Player in blackberry doesn't keep track of where you left off in the 2 hour book!! - i knew i should've been a programmer.)
    For a player, look at PodTrapper (PodTrapper: BlackBerry podcatcher and podcast player - VersatileMonkey.com). It auto bookmarks. I've been using it for about 6 months for audio books and it's perfect. As to your one bad book, I don't know what to tell you. I use Windows Media Player to rip all my books from cd to mp3. I rip about 3 to 5 books per week and have never come across one that did not work. Have you looked at the actual mp3 files created from the problematic book? Maybe you just had a cd too scratched to read.

    Grey
    06-16-09 07:51 AM
  14. Jaxx111's Avatar
    I haven't checked the app store in a while, but I don't recall seeing a flac player for the Storm. Your best bet is to convert flac to mp3 and then copy/paste to your Storm.

    gtstang: flac is a lossless compression music file. You can rip a CD or wav file to flac, and as it's lossless, it'll have the same sound quality as the original but result in reduced file size. Good CD rippers like Exact Audio Copy can rip CDs to flac.

    Formats like mp3/aac/wma are lossy compression; they result in much smaller file sizes but you sacrifice sound quality (higher bitrate == better sound == larger file; lower bitrate == worse sound == smaller file).

    Hey, thanks buxleyp!

    I'm actually converting flac files to mp3, but I'm in search for a better quality of sound in my BB storm. In the past I used to have a PocketPC and there's an excellent music player for that platform named Pocketplayer that can play flac & ape files with good results.

    Maybe the sound in the storm couldn't be better due to hardware limitations. I don't know.
    06-16-09 09:52 PM
  15. buxleyp's Avatar
    There's no hardware limitation on the Storm, just a lack of flac player software for BB.

    The Storm does play wav, so you can convert from flac to wav without losing quality if you want the original CD quality.

    In reality, unless you have a golden ear and really nice audiophile cans, you won't be able to tell the difference in a blind test between really high quality encoded mp3s and flac/wav.
    06-16-09 10:01 PM
  16. Chris Kerrigan's Avatar
    If you're simply looking to just convert files from one to another, use the program Format Factory. Can convert almost every video/picture/audio file that there is.

    Format Factory - Free media file format converter
    06-16-09 10:24 PM
  17. buxleyp's Avatar
    If you're simply looking to just convert files from one to another, use the program Format Factory. Can convert almost every video/picture/audio file that there is.
    The don't cite which encoders they use, so I wouldn't trust it if you care about high quality.

    If you've got flac files, you can use the native flac extractor (flac.sourceforge.net/download.html)

    Then if you want high quality mp3s, pipe the output to a LAME encoder (lame.sourceforge.net/links.php)

    Not as easy as other point & click options, but you'll end up with much better quality.
    06-16-09 10:33 PM
  18. BlueGazoo's Avatar
    For a player, look at PodTrapper (PodTrapper: BlackBerry podcatcher and podcast player - VersatileMonkey.com). It auto bookmarks. I've been using it for about 6 months for audio books and it's perfect. As to your one bad book, I don't know what to tell you. I use Windows Media Player to rip all my books from cd to mp3. I rip about 3 to 5 books per week and have never come across one that did not work. Have you looked at the actual mp3 files created from the problematic book? Maybe you just had a cd too scratched to read.

    Grey
    Got PodTrapper... looks good and is really easy to use. (The scrolling seems to be reversed on my Storm: scrolling down takes you up and vv. I think i'll buy it after the 30 day trial.

    on the other note, could it be licensing? I am not getting these from CD's like some honest people do. I'm downloading them "legally" of course ...

    Thanks
    Last edited by BlueGazoo; 06-17-09 at 11:15 PM.
    06-17-09 11:12 PM
  19. Phone_Chemist's Avatar
    For a player, look at PodTrapper. BlackBerry podcatcher and podcast player - VersatileMonkey.com[/url]). It auto bookmarks. I've been using it for about 6 months for audio books and it's perfect. As to your one bad book, I don't know what to tell you. I use Windows Media Player to rip all my books from cd to mp3. I rip about 3 to 5 books per week and have never come across one that did not work. Have you looked at the actual mp3 files created from the problematic book? Maybe you just had a cd too scratched to read.

    Grey
    I got the PotTrapper trial thinking that it could work for audio books, but have had no luck. Where do you put the mp3 files that PodTrapper can see them?
    06-21-09 05:15 PM
  20. BlueGazoo's Avatar
    I got the PotTrapper trial thinking that it could work for audio books, but have had no luck. Where do you put the mp3 files that PodTrapper can see them?
    I just open PodTrapper (trial version) and it prompts me with the "File Playback" selection option. I click on that, and then "SD Card" -> "Blackberry" -> "Music" and i see my audio books there.
    06-22-09 11:24 PM
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