30 Nov 08

How to Convert Music to MP3, AAC, AIFF or WAV With iTunes

I was trying to create an iPhone ringtone using Rogue Amoeba’s MakeiPhoneRingTone application. This applicaiton requires AAC files to be dragged in. “No problem,” I thought, “iTunes does AAC conversions.” And it does but apparently, the interface to get there has become really obfuscated so I thought I’d document how to do it. Everything else out there is horribly outdated and inaccurate.

First, you might find on Apple, this support document about how to do this. That process, though only 6 months old, is also outdated but it did help me figure out the real process.

Here’s the process to convert media to the format you want now:

  1. Go to your preferences (iTunes>Preferences on OSX and Edit>Preferences on Windows).
  2. Under the first tab “General”, there is an area where you decide how to deal with Audio CDs. Clearly, the import settings here apply to ALL import settings. Click on “Import Settings …”.
  3. Under the “Import Using” dropdown, select the format you want to convert your media to.
  4. Optionally, select the quality you desire.
  5. Close all the preferences windows.
  6. Select one or more songs from your iTunes library.
  7. If you right click over your selection, you will see the option to “Create AAC version” or “Create MP3 version” etc. Or you can access the same option from the “Advanced” menu.

In case anyone is interested, before converting them to AAC, I used Audacity to format my music to a manageable, ringtone chunk.

7 Comments

  1. Joshua Kaufman · 30 Nov 08

    AAC is the default import encoder so hopefully most folks don’t have to go through these steps to get that option in the contextual menu.

  2. Kevin Cheng · 30 Nov 08

    True. Mine was switched to MP3 because that’s what I wanted to rip CDs to months ago. Regardless, the conversion settings are buried now in a nonsensical place. Import != convert.

  3. Louise · 30 Nov 08

    Hah, I just had the opposite problem on Friday. I was trying to import a CD but wanted it in mp3 format instead of AAC, which I believe is the default for iTunes. I knew there was an options tab about it somewhere, but it still took me a while to find it.

  4. hurryUPnBUY · 17 Dec 08

    thanks, i’ve had an iphone for more than 6 months and have yet to add a custom ringtone because it looks like too much tedious work.

    also, how can i get rss feeds for your blog??

  5. kevnull · 28 Dec 08

    Update for those of you who are making ringtones for iPhone, RingtoneStudio is being given away at the MacHeist Giving Tree: http://givingtree.macheist.com/ I haven't tried out the software yet but it's worth a shot.

  6. Clarityx · 18 Apr 09

    Can I use this info on my blog using the direct link to your blog? Thanks in advance

  7. MP3 Music Download · 7 Jul 09

    Thanks for sharing this one