What do I use to convert M4A to MP3?

[ill88eagle]

Quality discussion aside, if you're already using VLC, there is no need for extra software -> https://www.vlchelp.com/convert-audio-format/

[LZA]

Quality discussion aside, if you're already using VLC, there is no need for extra software -> https://www.vlchelp.com/convert-audio-format/

Huh... I use VLC and had no idea...

[ill88eagle]

Quality discussion aside, if you're already using VLC, there is no need for extra software -> https://www.vlchelp.com/convert-audio-format/

Huh... I use VLC and had no idea...

Yea, you can use it to convert and UPSCALE videos too. Not to mention stream (and record) youtube and iptv links. The interface is a bit convoluted but it just werks™

[Fant0men]

Or get a new MP3 player. I'm sure that you could find a really cheap one

Even cheaper than buying a really cheap new MP3 player is to keep using my old MP3 player. 

You gave me some great information and I truly appreciate it. However, I'm not a DJ or a concert hall owner.  All I want to do iscle listen to some music when I'm working out or cleaning my home. It does the job, I don't need anything more.

When I really want super "quality," like when I've got company visiting me, then I use my records and my 60s HiFi.

In this day and age, you could probably find a new MP3 player for 10 bucks that has more storage and better codec support than your current one. Saves you having to convert between file formats. Don't get me wrong, I use stuff until it breaks, but only if I can't afford new stuff. Life is meant to be lived. Everything is meant to be excellent and the highest possible quality.

I'd retire that old MP3 player, by throwing it in the electronics recycling bin. Though, be sure to thank it for its many years of service first

Vinyl records are not high quality audio. They also degrade with time. Every time you play a record the stylus wears it out a little bit. Eventually all that wearing out adds up, and the record gradually starts sounding worse and worse. Vinyl records are fragile, large and cumbersome. That's why practically everyone who lived through the 80s, had money and was somewhat tech-savvy, switched to Audio CDs immediately once that format was released.

About the only good thing about vinyl that I can think of is that it comes with large, high quality album art.

If vinyl sounds better than MP3, now that's a debate that's actually worth having. Because if there's anything that degrades the audio quality, it's cutting out most of the information to make the file smaller. Now, if you were to compare Audio CDs, WAV or FLAC to vinyl then the lossless digital formats win hands down.

I don't know how old you are, if you're a hipster who got into vinyl recently since it's trending again, or if you're someone who never stopped playing vinyl in the first place.

I can understand the nostalgic appeal and vinyl being retro, but let's not confuse that with quality. Digital is better, especially this day and age when we're switching from Audio CDs, to downloading straight from the web. We are no longer bound by the storage limitations of CDs, and can raise the bitrate and sample rate even higher. We can also have more tracks in an album.

About the dumbest thing I know of, is that A LOT of electronic music is put out on vinyl these days. Which is an oxymoron in and of itself. Electronic music is made digitally, so why store it on an analog medium? It just doesn't make sense.

The cracks and pops, and various other audio artifacts / distortions, are not an indication of high quality. It's the opposite.

[soulcity]

I'd retire that old MP3 player, by throwing it in the electronics recycling bin. Though, be sure to thank it for its many years of service first

Vinyl records are not high quality audio. They also degrade with time. Every time you play a record the stylus wears it out a little bit. Eventually all that wearing out adds up, and the record gradually starts sounding worse and worse. Vinyl records are fragile, large and cumbersome. That's why practically everyone who lived through the 80s, had money and was somewhat tech-savvy, switched to Audio CDs immediately once that format was released.

1. Thanks for the advice but I'm going to keep using my MP3 player until it dies and then maybe I'll rummage through the electronics recycling bin for another one. (Thanks for the idea)

2. Someone can say whatever they want about vinyl and its quality.  However, there's one indisputable fact and that is that vinyl can have a much greater resale value.

[Fant0men]

I'd retire that old MP3 player, by throwing it in the electronics recycling bin. Though, be sure to thank it for its many years of service first

Vinyl records are not high quality audio. They also degrade with time. Every time you play a record the stylus wears it out a little bit. Eventually all that wearing out adds up, and the record gradually starts sounding worse and worse. Vinyl records are fragile, large and cumbersome. That's why practically everyone who lived through the 80s, had money and was somewhat tech-savvy, switched to Audio CDs immediately once that format was released.

1. Thanks for the advice but I'm going to keep using my MP3 player until it dies and then maybe I'll rummage through the electronics recycling bin for another one. (Thanks for the idea)

2. Someone can say whatever they want about vinyl and its quality.  However, there's one indisputable fact and that is that vinyl can have a much greater resale value.

Vinyl is trending and a vinyl record is viewed as a collector's item. It says nothing about the quality of vinyl, but says a lot about demand and what people want. Most people aren't really interested in quality, but they buy vinyl for other reasons. Probably, most of it is nostalgia and some kind of retro feeling of using some alien technology that's not super common anymore.

Me saying that Audio CDs have higher audio quality is not just my opinion. It's a measurable fact and no one can dispute it. People may say they like the sound of vinyl, but what they like is the audio distortions that are a result of imperfect playback, due to a worn record and maybe a bad stylus or player.

[soulcity]

It says nothing about the quality of vinyl,

 I like the cover art, the act of playing a record and I like the sound that I hear.   Honestly, I really don't care about the "quality" debate.

[Fant0men]

It says nothing about the quality of vinyl,

 I like the cover art, the act of playing a record and I like the sound that I hear.   Honestly, I really don't care about the "quality" debate.

So you basically don't care if things are well produced or not? You don't care about good things? Music doesn't need to sound good?

I think you should sell your DVD and BluRay player and switch back to VHS or Betamax. There's just something about watching a movie on VHS. It looks better than BluRay, it sounds better than BluRay. Right?

I think even vinyl is too modern and uncool. You would probably be happier with wax cylinders. Right?

Old shitty technology = good
New improved technology = bad

Right?

Just do the opposite of what everyone else is doing and you can be one of the cool kids. Right?

This vinyl resurgence is just for hipsters and people who can't get with the times.

All music made today is produced digitally. Some of it is also put out on vinyl. Let me ask you this. What is the magical property that is gained when you transfer a lossless digital audio file to vinyl? Is it some special property of the plastic that makes everything sound better? How can the vinyl sound better than the digital file which was the source for the vinyl? Short answer: it can't, because that's not how things work.

Whatever you like about the sound of vinyl is that it sounds like vinyl, not that it sounds good, because it doesn't.

About the only thing I can relate to in your post is what you say about the album art. That's the only thing that's truly missing from Audio CDs.

[soulcity]

So you basically don't care if things are well produced or not? You don't care about good things? Music doesn't need to sound good?

You can listen to whatever you want and however you want.  

I like what I like and you like what you like.  Why is this a problem for you?

[waregim]

@FO
Do folks who collect vinyl actually *play* them?
The valuable titles?

On books of any value, I do not read them.
I get their etexts instead.

I am all in favor of collecting vinyl.
As a cultural objet d'art.

That said, quality is not necessarily all it is cracked up to be.
Some folk just prefer the tonality of the older tech.
Live music can sound fairly harsh. I dont particularly care for it.
Run it through the hands of a good sound engineer who will technically distort the bejeezis out of it, and then I will like it.

If not, I have my own equalizers.....

Got rid of the vinyl player years ago.
Along with my cylinder player.

I do have an old tube amp around somewhere. As well as a Marantz stereo FM.
On a very high shelf.....