Quantcast
PCWorld.com is upgrading some back-end systems. Some site features, such as user registration, may be temporarily unavailable.

Blogs

    Answer Line

  • From Windows to wireless, Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector finds solutions to readers' most vexing PC problems.
  • Subscribe to this blog

Convert Mp3s to Aacs

Lincoln Spector

kdillon17 asked the Answer Line forum how to convert .mp3 music files to the .aac format.

Before I say how, let me ask "Why?" There's only one good reason I can think of: You just got a Nintendo DSi. That's the only digital music player I know of that supports .aac files but not .mp3s.

Otherwise, don't do it. If you want to take advantage of AAC's superior sound quality, you'll be disappointed. The information that was lost when the audio was converted to MP3 cannot be regained by conversion. In fact, sound quality could actually get worse, because your music will have gone through two separate lossy compressions rather than just one.

But if you have a DSi:

You have two options. If you've got iTunes, simply select and right-click a bunch of songs and select Create AAC Version. That will do it.

If you don't have iTunes, and don't want to install it for this one-time job, download and install The Format Factory. This free program (paid for with moderately annoying advertising) can convert just about any audio and video format into any other.

Add your comments to this article below. If you have other tech questions, email them to me at answer@pcworld.com, or post them to a community of helpful folks on the PCW Answer Line forum.

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

"Convert Mp3s to Aacs" Comments

Learn more about the Windows Phone PCWorld Gift Guide

Focus on Personal Productivitysponsored by Microsoft

  • Personal Finance 2.0 These free and fee-based Web services not only aggregate data from your online bank accounts, they give you tools for managing your money.
  • High-Tech Travel Tips Plenty of stories provide advice for elite mobile professionals. But what about you, the unproductive traveler?

People who read this also read:

Answer Line

All PC World Blogs

Sponsored Links