how to convert wma files for iTunes

Wolfgang Raudszus wrote:

This is definitely not correct. When opening wma files on a mac (Maverick) with QuickTime, the file will be automatically converted.

You are right. This is not correct.

Unless you have installed Flip4Mac, or some other component, it won't work.

Hello Chris! Thanks for the info. I have MplayerX which plays the wma files for me...these wma files are from my now defunct Samsung mobile. A few weeks ago, when I had need to convert these files into MP3 for use in a new MP3 player I had purchased, I realised that QT would't play them. At this time I joined this thread. Actually the Philips MP3 player I purchased plays wma files straight and my 'problem' was removed. I had to continue to be involved in this thread because I was receiving updates whenever this thread had new posts. I did find this free app. do a good job of converting the wma files into MP3: Video Converter Master Lite...actually it converts it into MPEG-4 movie which plays in QT.

Regards and take care.

Dr. Somanna

Message was edited by: somanna

I have VLC and would like to convert entire albums at a time (or more), which file type should I convert them into?

I tried mp3 - mpeg ts - and they all came out as one file. I'd like each song as a single mp3 if possible?

Overall plan is to convert all the .wma into something that iTunes likes and work it out from there (trawling through my various backups from various devices from the last 7 years...)

I didn't really like any of these solutions so I put together a simple one liner using ffmpeg that will convert the files.

This one will recursively convert all files in sub directories:

find . -type d | while read -r dir; do pushd "$dir";for f in *.wma; do ffmpeg -y -i "$f" -c:a libfdk_aac -b:a 192k "${f%.wma}.m4a";done;ls;popd; done;

And this one can do just one directory by running it in the directory you need

for f in *.wma; do ffmpeg -y -i "$f" -c:a libfdk_aac -b:a 192k "${f%.wma}.m4a"; done;

ffmpeg is pretty easy to install:

http://www.renevolution.com/how-to-install-ffmpeg-on-mac-os-x/

And more details on the conversion process here:

http://sinclairmediatech.com/converting-wma-to-high-quality-m4a-audio/

If you're not afraid of the terminal there is an app that comes pre-installed on OSX called ffmpeg that will convert DRM-free wma to a number of different formats (including mp3 and AAC).

Open the terminal (use spotlight to search for terminal) change to the directory where your music is located

cd ~/Music/music

(adjust for where you actually stored your music so if you copied your music to a folder on your desktop it would be

cd ~/Desktop/music

Then you want to run ffmpeg on every .wma file in your music directory

for file in */**/*.wma; do ffmpeg -i "$file" -a "${file%.wma}.mp3"; done

It'll take a while but eventually all your files will be converted to mp3. now you can import into iTunes and delete the old folder.

iTunes would not even recognize my wma files - had to convert in order to import. Downloaded Adapter (free) and it took maybe 30 seconds to convert them all. Program is *extremely* user friendly - people who are having trouble with it must have corrupt files because all you need to do is drag & drop them and it does the rest. Could not ask for better. http://www.macroplant.com/adapter/?utm_source=Adapter+%28Mac%29&utm_medium=deskt op+app&utm_campaign=Adapter+%28Mac%29+2.1.2

Well here is what I did. I would drag my WMA files into my music in I-Tunes and it would ask if I wanted to convert and "yes" and it would say it was converted but I could not find the file and play it. I also would try and open with I-tunes and I-tunes would open but the file would not play. So I created a Play list in I-Tunes, named it WMA files. Opened up the folder with the WMA files, selected all and drag to the play list "WMA" again it ask if I wanted to convert and I said yes, they converted and showed up in the play list and I'm listing to them now in I-Tunes. I also selected them all in the WMA Play list and drag them back to a folder on my USB drive and the new converted file .m4a will now play in my car USB plug in where my WMA would not.

bblqw71 wrote:

Well here is what I did. I would drag my WMA files into my music in I-Tunes and it would ask if I wanted to convert and "yes"

iTunes, not I-Tunes.

Because you are using iTunes for Windows.

This is the iTunes for Mac forum.

There are 5 and a bit pages of responses spread over 5 years. Start with page one and read through.

tt2

i will give it a try, thank you very much 😉

I was looking for a more direct way to do this, but this what I've done.

10.6.8, Perian and Flip4Mac are installed. Quicktime 7 Pro.

In QT > Export > Aif. Convert AIF in itunes.

I downloaded and used Adapter after reading your recommendation. I liked its performance and speed of conversion.

Thank you for sharing 🙂

Easy:

Open VLC Player (free), drop files.

Go: Streaming/Exporting Wizard > Transcode/Save to File

VLC or Adapter does the trick

maybe this post is just so old but i just did it so easily - import file to library and iTunes converted to WAV took all of 10 seconds