I've been copying tons of my CD's onto my PC using the standard Windows Media Player which comes with XP - ramped the rate up to 128kbps to improve the quality a bit - and these are all stored as wma files.

Now comes the question bit - how do I copy these onto a disk that my head unit will play? I presume if I copy them straight across without changing anything, they'll be saved as wma files on the CD and therefore I'll need a wma compatible CD head unit to play them? (The Pioneer DEH8400 being one of the few WMA compatible units out there).

I presume the other alternative would be to somehow change my WMA files into MP3 format and find an MP3 compatible head unit (more freely available)? Any ideas how you change WMA into MP3? And will this change the quality at all - better or worse? I'm keen on the Alpine CDA7893R which is MP3 compatible, and cheaper than the Pioneer DEH8400.

Sorry for all the questions - as you may have guessed I'm a complete novice when it comes to MP3's etc.

Thanks!

 

Gza,

I dont have that problem as I have an 8400 - but thats not what you wanted to here.

From memory there is an add-in for WMP so it can write as MP3 but I dont use it.... Theres more info at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/windowsxp/experience.asp

Alt, you can Google up 'convert wma to mp3' and it appears there are a load of tools to do this.... dont have any experiance of them.

Hope that helps

Ids

[Edited by ids - 6/26/2002 12:40:00 PM]

 

I'm thinking of getting the 7893 - got a local price of 285 quid. Halfords are doing a price match and free fitting.....

 

Cheers guys

Looks like you can get MP3 support for WMP but you need to buy the appropriate plug in. Think I'll be better off using a converter.

Ash - the cheapest I've seen the Alpine is £242 & £10 delivery from www.mcs-direct.co.uk

 

Yep thats the one, I live in Leeds and I called Halfords who are prepared to price match of MCS and also offer free fitting !! Can't see much difference between this model and the 7894 - other than remote is included and better looking facia. Spec looks the same, off to Halfords now to check out the deck for latency and features.

 

dBPowerAMP is a pretty good utility for converting between MP3, WMA, and WAV formats.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

Mav

 

Have used dbPowerAmp and everything seems good You can get an additional WMA codec from the site which allows you to easily transfer WMA to MP3

Cheers!

 

Right, done the deal. Alpine CDA 7893R for £242 from Halford in Leicester. They price matched MCS-direct and do free mobile fitting by Unicar. They will also ship it across to my local store so I don't have to collect. Sometimes I do surprise myself..... I called Alpine and there's no difference between this and the 7894RB, only difference is funky fascia on 7894 and also a remote is included as well. No difference in spec though - the guy at Alpine was saying that the 7893 is proving popular for their price of £350 !!

 

did you remember to turn off the copyright protection when grabbing the wma files?

i didn't and when I burnt them onto a cdr to read in a riovolt sp250, it just showed 'wma drm' in the display (Digital Rights Management).

Had to regrab the lot!!

 

Ash - Did Halfords price match mcs-direct because you are close to them, or will all Halfords branches be able to price match mcs-direct?

If so I'll be taking a trip to Halfords v. soon!

 

Halfords will price match the same item if found cheaper at another retail store within a 20 miles radius of a particular store.

Halfords do not price match mail order companys. If they do, the member of staff responsible can be sacked for breaking company rules.

 

Thats true about the 20 mile radius stuff. So I just range the Leicester store as thats where the retail shop is for MCS. Halfords price matched. Since yesterday they have withdrawn to deliver and will alos only fit at their store. As it stands no problem for me as I'm driving up and down the M1 next week and don't mind popping in to get it fitted.

 

OOH...... I didn't know MCS had a shop.

 

Yep they do, they offer the same price in their shop too. I opted for Halfords as I live in Leeds and if I have any problems with the unit then I can take it local. They will also fit it for me for FREE.

 

Has anyone got their ye-olde-shoppe address so I can take a look (and hear I guess) at the Alpines and Pioneers before I buy one ?

 

Dont have their address - it might be on there website, if not call them ...