converting audio formats

:wave Hi! A dude I know is looking for good FREE easy-to-use audio converter for MP3s. No, I don't really have any solid details other than he said "I need a good free easy-to-use MP3 converter". I was looking at Switch and a couple of the free CD rippers here at Major Geeks. If any of you kind folks can recommend some apps, I'd be grateful. I do a lot of video type stuff, but not much with audio, so any ideas will be appreciated.
:-D Thanks!

[dlb]
:major

 

I guess that would depend on what he wants to convert it to......or from...you don't state which way this conversion needs to go.

 

rolleyes I know :-o The dude just said "free easy-to-use MP3 converter" so I'm not 100% sure if he's going to MP3, or from MP3. I guess I was hoping I could get some ideas for to and from MP3, and then see what is really needed. He might need BOTH!

 

The Dude?
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd112/trustno1-gr/TheDude.jpg

I use dbPoweramp for my cd ripping and audio converter. If you can find version 9, thats the one to use.

 

Forgive me for jumping into this thread...but my question is fairly relevant.

I too am looking for an audio file converter. More specifically, I want to convert my WMA's to MP3's. I use to have iTunes on my pc and would use that. But, I recently removed iTunes and all the related bloat from my pc.

Checking briefly on the web, I see some converter freeware, but much of those products are more robust (and heavier on the resources) than I need. Instead, something very light and specific to converting between WMA's and MP3's would be perfect.

I figure there has to be something simple out there for my needs. Can anyone help?

(As an aside, if anyone is looking for lightweight mp3 editing software, that includes recording capabilities, two that I recommend are mp3Directcut and Wavosaur. True, they don't have tons of bells and whistles, but they have ample features for my needs and do a good job.)

 

In my search for free apps, I found this free WMA to MP3 converter. I read the EULA (which sometimes warns of impending "marketing" software installs), installed the program, and it's free of spyware, adware, toolbars, and all the other garbage that is sometimes bundled in to these free tools. Here's the direct download link:
http://www.wma-mp3.org/free-wma-mp3-converter.exe
Free and easy to use! :-D

ENJOY!!!

 

Super!:cool I downloaded it and it looks like it's exactly what I want. Nice and light and practical (I dislike needless bells and whistles). I'm a lover of Sandboxie and I set up a separate sandbox where Jodix's Free WMA to MP3 Converter happily resides.

One question: When trying to convert some WMA's, I'm getting an error message stating DirectX needs to be updated. This happens about 50% of the time. I googled DirectX and it apparently is some sort of Windows media application. I'm still running SP2 on my XP Pro machine with all updates (except for not installing SP3 yet). Any clues how I can update DirectX?

 

The hard way is to use Windows Media Player and a CD-RW. Burn the Windows media files to the CD-RW and then rip it as an MP3, Have done this with WMP10. Got to be some good program that is open source though. My Linux box (Amarak) plays Windows Lossless files now so I no longer have that need.