How to Convert Windows Media to MP3

A lot of great radio, video and audio clips are in Windows Media format on the Web. You can listen to these whenever you want, as long as you're on your PC. But what if you want to take this great audio to go on your MP3 player? This article tells you how to capture those clips, and turn them into MP3 files.

Using Replay A/V from Applian Technologies, you can record and convert Windows Media Audio files in one step. Replay A/V has a handy Stream Capture function which you can use to capture clips. All you need to do is play the media, let and Replay A/V record and convert the clip in one step.

Here's how to convert Windows Media files from the Web into MP3 using Replay A/V:

1. Download and install Replay A/V, then open it. It appears like this:
   
   
   
   
2. Open Replay A/V, and choose Record, Stream Capture from the menu. The Stream Capture dialog appears.
   
   
   
   
3. Start playing the audio or video you want to capture. As the media plays, all audio and video URLs are added to the Recent Audio/Video URLs list. The most recent URL is at the top of the list. Here's an example:
   
   
   
   
4. Pick the URL, and click Add Selection as New Recording. You'll see something like this:
   
   
   
   
5. Edit the Name of Show to describe the media you're about to capture.
6. Change the After Recording, Convert To field to one of the Audio MP3 options as you see here:
   
   
   
   
7. Click OK. Recording will start in a few seconds.

Hints:

• URLs appear in the URL list with the most recent one appearing on top. If you're unsure which URL to use to record, wait for a few seconds after the clip starts playing, and select the top one. Often clips will have an advertisement or other media that appears before playback.
• You can also schedule this to record later, or on a repeat schedule - just uncheck the Record Now option, and click the Schedule tab.

Using a Conversion Program

If you have already downloaded a Windows Media file, a simple way to convert it is to use a program like Replay Converter. There are a lot of conversion programs out there, but Replay Converter is one of the easiest to use.

Here's how to convert Windows Media to MP3 using Replay Converter:

1. Download a copy of Replay Converter. You can try it free.
2. Open Replay Converter, and click Add Files. A file picker appears:
   
   
   
   
3. Locate the audio file to convert, and click Open. The file you picked appears in the list of files to convert:
   
   
   
   
4. Repeat if you want to convert more files.
5. Next, we'll need to pick an output format. Click Convert Audio, then pick from one of the supplied Target Formats:
   
   
   
   
6. Once you have all your files chosen and the target format selected, click Start Conversion Job. The file conversions begin.

Products mentioned in this article:

Learn more about converting Windows Media to MP3 with Replay A/V

Learn more about converting Windows Media to MP3 with Replay Converter