Comparison Among AAC, M4A, M4P, M4B And M4R

What is AAC?

Advanced Audio Coding, or AAC, is a MPEG (Motion Pictures Experts Group) audio standard first adopted as part of the MPEG-2 family of standards. Like its predecessor, MP3, AAC is a Lossy Compression format capable of delivering relatively high quality at relatively low bitrates. There are actually two AAC specifications. In addition to the MPEG-2 version of AAC, there’s a newer specification developed for MPEG-4. This version is normally found in the MP4 Container, either with or without accompanying video.

How to Convert AAC to MP3?

What is M4A?

Audio-only MPEG-4 files generally have a .m4a extension. This is especially true of non-protected content.

How to Convert M4A to MP3?

What is M4B?

Audio book and podcast files, which also contain metadata including chapter markers, images, and hyperlinks, can use the extension .m4a, but more commonly use the .m4b extension. An .m4a audio file cannot “bookmark” (remember the last listening spot), whereas .m4b extension files can.

How to Convert M4B to MP3?

What is M4P?

MPEG-4 files with audio streams encrypted by FairPlay Digital Rights Management as sold through the iTunes Store use the .m4p extension. iTunes Plus tracks are unencrypted and use .m4a accordingly.

How to Convert M4P to MP3?

What is M4R?

The Apple iPhone uses MPEG-4 audio for its ringtones but uses the .m4r extension rather than the .m4a extension.

How to Create iPhone Ringtones?

How to sync iTunes music m4p with Windows Phone 7

“I have 5.81 GB (approximately 1200 songs) in my iTunes. How do I transfer ALL of those songs to my Windows Phone 7? I want EVERY song I have in my iTunes on my Windows Phone 7. What is the best way to go about this?”

If you want to play iTunes music M4P, M4A, AAC on your Windows Phone 7, you just need to use some software to convert iTunes music to Windows Phone 7 compatible format and then transfer the output files to your Windows Phone 7. The following guide is going to show you how to remove DRM copy protection from iTunes music, convert DRM iTunes music M4P to MP3, M4A to MP3, AAC to MP3 and sync iTunes music to Windows Phone 7 using TuneClone Audio Converter.

1. Create a new playlist in iTunes.

2. Add the iTunes songs to the playlist.

3. Launch TuneClone Audio Converter. Click the “Settings” tab. In the pop-up window, you can specify output folder, output file name format, output format, etc for the output files. Note: You can check whether TuneClone virtual CD drive is successfully installed and where it is installed at the bottom left corner of the interface.

4. Switch to iTunes. In iTunes, Right click the playlist you just created and choose “Burn Playlist to Disc”.

5. In the pop-up window of “Burn Settings”, select “TuneClon Virtual_CD-RW” from the “CD Burner” drop-down list, click the radio button next to “Audio CD” and tick “Include CD Text” option. Click “Burn” to start burning.

6. Upon the completion of burning the disc and encoding the music, you can open the TuneClone manager screen to show all the converted music files. To locate the output folder, simply click the “Folder” tab on the interface.

After you get the output music files, connect your Windows Phone 7 to computer via the USB cable, drag and drop the converted music to the music folder, then you can play the iTunes M4P music on your Windows Phone 7 at ease.

M4P converter – convert protected AAC to MP3 WAV WMA

Are you annoyed by iTunes DRM? Do you want to remove it because you want to play the iTunes music on non-Apple MP3 players like PSP, Zune, Creative Zen, BlackBerry, PS3, iriver, Walkman, mobile phone MP3 player, etc, use it as background music in a home video, or anything else that DRM limits it to do? Many people know you can remove the DRM from iTunes music by simply burning the song to a CD, and ripping it back over, losing very little quality (if settings are correct):

1. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive.
2. Burn your playlist to make an audio CD. You cannot select the “MP3 CD” option since it requires the DRM protected iTunes music files be converted to unprotected MP3, WMA or WAV files.
3. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes to import the music tracks on the burned disc as MP3, WMA or WAV files.

And the method I am going to introduce does the same exact thing but you will not need a CD-RW disc, a CD ROM drive, or even need to burn anything! It’s that simple. Let’s show you how to perform this.

We are going to be using a program called TuneClone M4P Converter. TuneClone M4P Converter is basically a program that acts as a virtual CD drive that allows you “burn” MP3 from iTunes and “rip” it. TuneClone “lies” to your computer saying that you have a CD-RW drive that it will burn to (like Alchohol 120%). You can use this to move your library of M4P DRM protected music to the MP3 format that you can use on any player out there worth its salt. This is a useful tool for anyone looking to break their relationship with the iPod. The best part is that it maintains all of the music file’s metadata. Below is the step by step tutorial that shows how it works:

1. Create a new playlist in iTunes.
2. Add the protected songs to your playlist. Since iTunes burns the protected music with TuneClone virtual CD drive, there is no limit as to music length so long as you have enough hard drive space.
3. Launch TuneClone M4P Converter. Click the “Settings” tab. In the pop-up window, you can specify output folder, output file name format, output format (WMA, MP3, WAV), etc for the output files. Note: You can check whether TuneClone virtual CD drive is successfully installed and where it is installed in the bottom left corner of the interface.
   
4. In iTunes, click the “Burn Disc” button.
5. In the pop-up window of “Burn Settings”, select “TuneClon Virtual_CD-RW” from the “CD Burner” drop-down list, click the radio button next to “Audio CD” and tick “Include CD Text” option. Click “Burn” to start burning.
   
6. Upon the completion of burning the disc and encoding the music, you can open the TuneClone manager screen to show all the converted music files. To locate the output folder, simply click the “Folder” tab on the interface.

 

Content Source: M4P converter – convert protected AAC to MP3 WAV WMA – Bukisa.com

Put iTunes music onto Limewire Napster Rhapsody

The following tutorial will show you how to remove DRM from iTunes protected AAC (M4P) music and convert M4P to (DRM free) WMA/MP3 so as to put iTunes M4P music onto Rhapsody, Napster, Limewire for syncing to a lot more mobile players.

Why Put iTunes M4P music onto Rhapsody Napster Limewire?

When you purchase music from iTunes Store, you actually get DRM protected content (in protected AAC or M4P format), which you will not be able to play on MP3/MP4 players and other non-Apple mobile players. You cannot directly transfer the M4P files to Rhapsody, Napster, Limewire, either. In such case, the option is to burn those tracks to an audio CD and then rip them once again to your computer hard drive wherein the DRM will be removed and you will get the tracks in (DRM free) MP3 or WMA format. After this you will be able to transfer them to Limewire, Rhapsody or Napster.

In case you have purchased a great amount of music from iTunes Store, you can go ahead and use TuneClone M4P to MP3 Converter which acts as a Virtual CD-ROM drive on your PC and lets you remove the DRM element without having to waste actual CD’s, with the music ID3 tags info well preserved.

Step by Step: Burn and Rip iTunes M4P Music for Limewire/Rhapsody/Napster?

1. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive.

2. Burn the iTunes M4P playlist to make an audio CD. You cannot select the “MP3 CD” option since it requires the DRM protected iTunes M4P files be converted to MP3 or WMA files for Rhapsody, Napster, Limewire.

3. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes or Windows Media Player to import the music tracks on the burned disc as MP3 or WMA files.

Step by Step: Convert iTunes M4P Music for Rhapsody/Napster/Limewire with TuneClone M4P to MP3 Converter

1. Create a new playlist in iTunes.

2. Add the M4P songs to the playlist.

3. Launch TuneClone M4P to MP3 Converter. Click the “Settings” tab. In the pop-up window, you can specify output folder, output file name format, output format (choose MP3 or WMA), etc for the output files. Note: You can check whether TuneClone virtual CD drive is successfully installed and where it is installed in the bottom left corner of the interface.

4. Switch to iTunes. In iTunes, click the “Burn Disc” button.

5. In the pop-up window of “Burn Settings”, select “TuneClon Virtual_CD-RW” from the “CD Burner” drop-down list, click the radio button next to “Audio CD” and tick “Include CD Text” option. Click “Burn” to start burning.

6. Upon the completion of burning the disc and encoding the music, you can open the TuneClone manager screen to show all the converted music files. To locate the output folder, simply click the “Folder” tab on the interface.

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How to play iTunes DRM protected AAC/M4P music on Creative Zen

Zen is the first Creative player that supports unprotected AAC format, so you can enjoy up to 8,0001 of your favorite CD tracks that you’ve ripped through iTunes software. Zen also supports iTunes Plus tracks from the iTunes store, in addition to MP3 and WMA music tracks. It is also compatible with music subscription services such as Napster To Go and Rhapsody.

However, as the music purchased from iTunes Store is encrypted with DRM, you cannot directly play it on your Creative Zen. iTunes allows you to burn the protected AAC(M4P) files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make a standard audio CD:

1. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive.
2. Burn your playlist to make an audio CD.
3. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes or Windows Media Player to import the music tracks on the burned disc as MP3 or WMA files.

Or you can get some software to help you. I use TuneClone M4P Converter to do this. Though not free, it is very well worth a try. It generates a virtual CD drive to help to remove DRM from iTunes and convert the M4P music to MP3 or unprotected WMA format, which is compatible with your Creative Zen.

Here is the tutorial as to how to use TuneClone to convert iTunes M4P to MP3.

TuneClone upgraded to V1.35

TuneClone Audio Converter has upgraded to V1.35. There is no great change from the previous versions except a new interface.

Plus, I’ve noticed that, in this upgrade, TuneClone has made it clear that it doesn’t support Windows Vista 64 bit ( There’s proof in this webpage http://www.tuneclone.com/support.php ). So I am terribly sorry, in some of my previous posts, I mentioned that TuneClone is fully compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista.

TuneClone V1.35 is available for free trial here: http://www.tuneclone.com/tuneclone_setup.exe

How to convert iTunes protected AAC (M4P) to WAV

In previous posts, I talked about how to convert iTunes DRM protected AAC (M4P) to MP3, convert DRM protected WMA to MP3 and convert Rhapsody music to iTunes with TuneClone. In this post, I will show you how to convert iTunes M4P to WAV with TuneClone M4P Converter.

It is very easy to complete the burning (in iTunes 8 ) and encoding (in TuneClone) process. You only need to choose TuneClone virtual CD drive as the CD burner in iTunes. The best three parts are:

1. well preserves the ID3 tags information;
2. works great for batch converting iTunes playlist;
3. no need for real discs.

The only difference from converting iTunes M4P to MP3 lies in that, when you make settings in TuneClone, you need to choose “WAV” from the “Output Format” options.

TuneClone M4P Converter – strip DRM off iTunes M4P music to MP3

TuneClone M4P Converter (http://www.tuneclone.com ) is a very easy to use program that converts iTunes M4P, DRM-laden WMA music files to plain MP3, WAV and unprotected WMA. Via a user-friendly interface, it is very easy to install and very easy to use.

TuneClone M4P Converter doesn’t bypass the DRM. It simulates the burning, ripping and encoding process by installing a virtual CD burner. All you need to do is burn your playlist with your media player software to TuneClone M4P Converter’s virtual CD Burner, and TuneClone M4P Converter will convert music files in the playlist to MP3, WAV or DRM-free WMA files automatically.

Key features of TuneClone M4P Converter: http://www.tuneclone.com

1. Within a few clicks, TuneClone M4P Converter lets you remove DRM protection from purchased music files by applying the virtual CD burning technology. You can play the converted unprotected music files with Media Player or any MP3 players including Zune, PSP, BlackBerry, Creative Zen, iriver, SanDisk Sansa, Walkman, Cell Phone(Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia N-series, Samsung Anycall, LG, etc.) Pocket PC, PDA…

2. TuneClone M4P Converter supports almost all music formats your media player software can play and burn, whether they are DRM protected or not, including WMA, M4P, AAC, MP4, etc. And it can output audio formats such as MP3, WAV and unprotected WMA.

3. TuneClone M4P Converter can easily and quickly convert DRM protected music and movie files and various audio/video files to MP3, Wav and unprotected WMA at very high speed with very nice CD quality.

4. With TuneClone M4P Converter, the converted songs will have NO DRM restriction any more.

5. TuneClone M4P Converter is very easy to install and and very easy to use with a very handy and clear user interface.

6. TuneClone M4P Converter can preserve ID3 tags for artist, album, title names, artworks, etc.

7. TuneClone M4P Converter is specially designed for batch converting large song collections. Compared with using real CD-R or CD-RW disc, TuneClone’s virtual CD burning can use the maximum writing speed so that your music files can be converted at a very high speed.

TuneClone M4P Converter is available at:
http://www.tuneclone.com/tuneclone_setup.exe

How to share DRM protected iTunes M4P M4A M4B music with your Facebook friends?

Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet. And recently, I found Facebook offers an application called Twist me! to help Facebook fans share music with their friends. Below is the brief steps:

First, visit Facebook website and add the Twist me! Application to your profile.

Second, click Twist me! from the Applications list and click Next to import the music files from your local PC. Of course, you can also import videos and images. The supporting formats are various. Here I focus on music. You can add a maximum of 8 audio files here. What’s more, you can leave a message to your friends accompanying the music files.

Third, choose your friends to send the music files to.

It is very easy to share music files with your Facebook friends. However, we always have very classic music on our iTunes accounts and are willing to share them with our Facebook friends. Here comes the headache! The music files under the iTune account are DRM protected. So how to strip the DRM off the protected iTunes music files and output them as Facebook supported unprotected music files? 

The program called TuneClone I talked about in my previous post How to convert iTunes M4P to MP3 with TuneClone can be the perfect solution. It can be used to batch convert DRM protected iTunes M4P to MP3. It uses a virtual CD burner for converting the music files. Compared with using real disc, it is much faster. Moreover, this cute program can keep the information about artist, title and album intact. It can even save the artworks of the album. It is a very good software for iTunes users who have hundreds of M4P files ready to be converted.