Sony .OMA/.OMG File Conversion - Some actual facts [Archive]

atreyu

03-31-2005, 03:47 PM

I just spent over an hour wading through the posts in this thread (http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t=4838&page=1&pp=15), and was amazed at the high BS-to-fact ratio.

If you want some real facts about Atrac3/OpenMG (.OMA or .OMG) file conversion, please read this entire post... I'm going to try consolidate the nuggets of truth in the above thread and add a few that were not mentioned there.

1) OpenMG (.OMA & .OMG) files are files in Sony ATRAC3 (or Atrac3plus) format that have been wrapped in DRM. Contrary to several claims in the above thread, they are NOT "disguised" or renamed MP3 files or WMA files. The reason people can play OpenMG files renamed to .mp3 or .wma in Windows Media Player is because that player is designed to be idiot-proof. Example: if you give it a "dot-MP3" file that's not really an mp3 it will give you a warning, but will still try & find the right decoder for the file. If that user has installed Sony's SonicStage software (a.k.a. Connect Store software) then there's an OpenMG decoder on their system... WMP finds that and tries to play the file back with it. I say "tries" because the playback may fail... read on!

2) No matter what you name an OpenMG file, you CANNOT play or convert that file on a computer other than the one it was ripped to or purchased from. The DRM ensures that the file is "authorized" for only the original computer. Don't believe me? Try it. Take one of your OpenMG files (as-is OR renamed to mp3/wma -- doesn't matter) and try to play it back on a different computer. You can try every conversion method mentioned in the above thread, but if you're starting with an unauthorized OpenMG file (one that wasn't created on or purchased with your computer) NOTHING WILL WORK... not even line-out/line-in tricks, since can't even play the track. I know of no crack that gets around this restriction.

3) The easiest way to convert an authorized OpenMG file (to mp3, wave, ogg or flac) is to use MarCNeT's excellent Hi-MD Renderer, available at http://www.marcnetsystem.co.uk/. dBpowerAMP doesn't yet support OpenMG.

Important: install version 0.30 FIRST, then install version 0.31, or you'll get missing DLL errors on non-WAV conversions. Also, you must have SonicStage installed (preferably v3.0, downloaded from here (http://www.connect.com/download_cookie.html)). Again, if your OpenMG file is unauthorized (i.e. if you can't play it with SonicStage) then not even this method will work! This utility is not a "crack" per-se... it uses Sony's own .DLL's to perform the conversion, and those .DLL's do nothing to unauthorized files.

Hi-MD Renderer even has a convenient "batch" function to lets you convert hundreds of files at a time... so you can convert your entire library overnight!

4) Other (more difficult, imho) options mentioned in the previous thread include burning the files to an Audio CD (NOT an "Atrac CD") with SonicStage, then ripping the files back off the CD using dMC Audio CD Input (or grabbing the temporary wave file created before the burn). Masochists might prefer the option of playing the file with SonicStage or WMP, then recording it in realtime using any number of line-out/line-in software or hardware setups (ugh!). If you've "tried everything" and it doesn't work, let me humbly suggest that you're probably trying to convert an unauthorized OpenMG file, which you CANNOT do, afaik.

Eastern Phoebe

04-01-2005, 04:07 PM

Hi Atreyu (oh, childhood memories!),

I noticed too that Windows Media Player9 plays my .omg files. Then, I posted a question here : Would dBpoweramp Audio Player play them too ? Do you have an idea if it's possible / easy / too much work / legal problems ?

There is certainly a lot of posts here about .omg / .oma files ! I think that Sony's sluggish software gives us a wonderful chance to discover other products. I really like the programs here (especially with Spoon's goldamp skin).

atreyu

04-01-2005, 07:10 PM

As far as I know it shouldn't be too hard... Windows Media Player plays using a DirectShow filter that SonicStage installs. And I just "googled up" a Winamp plug-in that I've confirmed more-or-less works for me:

http://minidisct.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=22928

Apparently this guy hacked the OpenMG DirectShow DLL to make it work with Winamp... since it's a hack it's of unknown legality. It displays various "hacky" behaviors: the song length is wrong until you play it, the visualizations don't work with it, and it seems very sensitive to breakups during system activity (unbuffered?)... sometimes simple mouse drag-and-drop moves will make the audio break up for me.

I'm going to go see if I can play with Spoon's beta DirectShow plugin... maybe I'm wrong, and dbPowerAMP *can* be made to work with OpenMG!

ThomasElla

04-07-2005, 03:31 PM

hi, i found this thread through Google, because im trying to convert the God of War soundtrack i just downloaded. the converter program keeps getting an error for me (it says 'Failed to *directly* connect source filter (omg_src) to dest filter (omg transform)'), so i was wondering if someone could help me out. i can send the files in a .zip folder to someone who can convert them for me, then send it back. theyll get a free God of War soundtrack as a reward. email me if youre interested, because i dont want to have downloaded a bunch of crappy, sony-exclusive files... (my email- ThomasElla@gmail.com )

Spoon

04-07-2005, 04:11 PM

"I'm going to go see if I can play with Spoon's beta DirectShow plugin... maybe I'm wrong, and dbPowerAMP *can* be made to work with OpenMG!"

What was the status on this? did it work in dbpoweramp?

rolph

04-13-2005, 02:04 PM

Atreyu, kudos for your well-thought out reply.

Indeed, Sonic Stage no longer plays the .oma files that I recorded of my own band because I had to reinstall Sonic Stage (on the same computer!)

Is there REALLY NOTHING that can let me access MY OWN RECORDINGS OF MY OWN BAND? There's no way around this protection? Somone should sue Sony! It's like they've stolen my music or permanently locked me out of my own house!!

ChristinaS

04-13-2005, 02:07 PM

rolph

04-13-2005, 02:18 PM

ChristinaS

04-13-2005, 03:10 PM

They're no longer on the portable player, just on the PC.
I've assumed that if I can't play them on the PC, I can't put them back on the minidisc, at least not using Sonic stage.

I have other portable players (a Creative Nomad, a flash mp3 player), but again, I'm assuming if I don't have the "rights" in Sonic Stage on the same hard drive that I'm trying to play the oma files on, they won't play.

Am I wrong?

Again, thanks so much for the prompt reply.
Oops! Sorry, not that I know.

I don't know if you do a straight copy from HD to the Sony mini-disk. Can it be seen as an external hard drive of sorts when it's plugged into your PC?

Otherwise I'm afraid that unless you manage to restore your licenses, there's nothing more that can be done.

I'm wondering if you could have opted for no copyright protection at the time you recorded or downloaded those recordings. I seem to recall somebody saying that the option is there with this player or with Sonic Stage, but, as often is the case, it's not on by default.

Anyway, too late I guess for that.

You best bet is maybe to pester Sony for a solution, which indeed must be there, but well hidden as tehy'd not want to publicize it. After all, it's possibly just a wrapper placed around the true audio file, rather than a full encryption of every byte in it.

But, on the offchance that it is a disguised wma type, try to rename one of those files to wma and try using the unlocking program given in a zip file http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t=6541 lower down in the thread.

rolph

04-13-2005, 03:42 PM

ChristinaS

04-13-2005, 04:28 PM

Doesn't work.

Sony says nothing they can do, and the tech was nice enough to tell me off the record that there's 3rd party oma conversion programs on the web that aren't hard to find, though legally he couldn't name names. I think he was mistaken that 3rd party programs can do this.

Haven't found anything that works.

Sony is now keeping the artist from his art. Copyright protection backwards. Copyright infliction.

Sony = evil. :teufel8: :vmad:
Hmmm.... that tech must have known what he's talking about. If you didn't find it in the very long oma thread here in the forum (I'm not even trying to read through that any more as I cannot ever test any of the stuff, I don't own any such device, never dealt with those fyle types), jump on Google and keep trying the rest of the web.

Good luck.

Aniketos

05-21-2005, 09:21 AM

I have a question, i'm trying to use this program, but it keeps telling me that they can't find the type of file, it's an OGM though, am I doing something wrong?

Dizillusionment

05-26-2005, 06:03 AM

I have downloaded the OMA to MP3 you mentioned, it works fine and does convert the files to mp3 and they play fine. My problem is because I ripped my CD's to OMA and then later went on the internet to get the track names so all the file names are untitled(1) untitled(2)...ect because sonicstage has just edited the tags and not changed the file name. This OMA to MP3 converter doesn't copy the tags so mp3 tag editors don't work and all the files are named untitled(#) once converted. Is there away to change the filenames using sonic stage or a OMA tag and file editor anywhere just to make my life a little easier.

ranky

06-25-2005, 09:14 PM

oma files do not have tags, instead, sonic stage copies them to one of the .dat/.bak files on the device (for the nw-hd* neway), so in answer to you question, i think u'll have to edit the tags manually :(

missgem

08-09-2005, 04:59 PM

Hello I think this will help some people having a problem in Sonic Stage converting to wav. I had the same probelm Rolph had it woldnt play a CD that had been made on my computer prior to using the win xp restore disk

I read yesterday 12 pages of threads that was closed down. I Had found OMA files on my computer that is stored in the sonic stage library. Found them in the sonic stage program files. found them in "C:/Documents and settings/All users" You can convert them to WAV in sonic stage and save them on your computer. I Was Trying to figure this out myself and I finally did, lol.

Maybe The reason people keep having this issue with converting OMA files is they dont have the program it was created on?? or maybe they are using a different computer other then the one the Cd was created on? If not then I know Sonic Stage version 2.3 allows you to convert. I know Sonic v. 2.3 saves music from the library as OMA files on the computer. Are the files on music cd's created under the sony label OMA's? I dont know because I dont have any CD's by artists under the Sony Label. Was wondering if these oma's that people are having a problem with are from a Sony artist music cd, a Cd made through sonic stage on a different computer, or oma files in sonic stage program from their computer?

well anyway, Some people had left out details when explaining how to do it on the other posts I had read. Thats what took me a little longer. I could not do this in sonic stage version 3.1 this version creates OMG files and does not give you these options. Anyway this is How I did it:

First you need an audio CD created in sonic stage version 2.3 under
the "create CD" option.Someone had mentioned in other threads to rename them also to add "OMA" to winamp's nullsoft directshow plugin those didnt work for me.I had to do it through Sonic Stage and Im sure to do it correctly and have a usable file to use in other programs or in your car or your stero you would need to use the program the OMA file was created in, for me and for most people I'm sure.

The WMF tracks I used in Sonic stage and converted
to WAV were created in sonic stage under the "create audio CD" under the "tranfer" option on
the main screen. Make sure you dont select "create an
Atrac CD" This will create ATP files on the CD. The WMF
files I had are 44 KB each to convert to WAV. THESE were made from the sonic stage's "library" songs/ CD's that have been loaded into the SONIC Stage program.

Then in sonic stage VERSION 2.3 there is a option right in sonic
stage to convert tracks/albums that have been loaded in
sonic stage to WAV format.
Open sonic stage, go to Tools/options on the menu click
on "location to save recorded files" that is
where it will be saved. Then go to under Tools/Options go
to "CD Recording" it will say recording format on the
screen to the right and has an "select Format" option,
select WAV {pcm} then click ok go back to sonic stage. Go
to "View" on menu click music source from there 2 options
slide out click on the "Record a CD" select the tracks you want to convert in the box check them,

Then You need the insert the audio CD {WMF files} created in sonic, then there will be a {red} recording button you click on it to record them or "start recording" under controls in the menu. It will give you the option create an album or add to an existing album. You will know where it is saved to in your computer as I explained above. Then you can convert the WAV files to Mp3 with a MP3 converter

You can also Play or RIP the WMF files CD you created in sonic stage in Windows Media Player 10 not sure if Windows media player 8 or 9 has the RIP feature. You can also play WMF files in other music players. I played the CD on RealPlayer and a radio/Cd player

The sonic stage program uses compressed files {oma files or ATP using the create Atrac feature} I know because my son made a CD {using the create atrac" option} and has 117 songs on the CD. These ATP files can only be used in the sony walkman.

K hope this works for you like it did for me

;)

missgem

08-10-2005, 12:23 AM

So the point is to sum up my long last post lol:

1. you can make WMF audio files to a CD in Sonic Stage

2. you can convert those files to WAV in sonic stage
save them to your computer or you can use the WMF audio CD to listen to where you want WMF audio format is well recognized by most if not all
audio players that i know of.

So my OMA files were coverted to WMF some were then converted to WAV {in sonic stage} and some of those to MP3 using another converter and they sound just fine

hope this is not meaningless to anyone lol

;)

missgem

08-10-2005, 03:42 PM

HMMM i just downlooad/upgraded from sonic stage 2.3 I have the disk to version 3.1 seems I cant transfer the now OMG files to a disk. They were OMA files when I had sonic stage 2.3. The 3.1 version has a "create MP3 CD" option on it. Says the disk doesnt support it. I tried 2 different disks. I also cant record the files to WAV on save it to my computer with version 3.1. Im going back to version 2.3. I had to uninstall version 3.1 and delete all the OMG files it created reinstall sonic stage 2.3 in order to have the OMA files again to create record and save them to a disk or my computer. Is anyone reading these posts? lol

missgem

08-10-2005, 08:34 PM

I just loaded more cd's into sonic stage library back to version 2.3 but I still see a few features from version 3.1. The songs in the library are WAV format and OMG. Seems after installing version 3.1 It doesnt save them as OMA's anymore. Must be something that were still in the registry. Guess I would have to delete it from the registry to have the real sonic 2.3 again. HMM go figure Sony stinks. Cant The "create MP3 cd" option is still there and I know 2.3 didnt have that and it wont let me make a mp3 CD. hhhm Well at least I can still save music files through sonic to the computer as wav files. I dont even need this sonic program theres plenty of other programs out there

seems noyone reponds in these types of threads of this subject anymore. Im all finished with it myself bye bye

gophertron

09-02-2005, 11:02 PM

My friend has tons of .omg files, however, he reloaded windows on his workstation. (formatted the hd), he has the .omg files and some Access .db files. Do these files hold the data that authorizes these .omg's? if not, how can he re-authorize them?

I just spent over an hour wading through the posts in this thread (http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t=4838&page=1&pp=15), and was amazed at the high BS-to-fact ratio.

If you want some real facts about Atrac3/OpenMG (.OMA or .OMG) file conversion, please read this entire post... I'm going to try consolidate the nuggets of truth in the above thread and add a few that were not mentioned there.

1) OpenMG (.OMA & .OMG) files are files in Sony ATRAC3 (or Atrac3plus) format that have been wrapped in DRM. Contrary to several claims in the above thread, they are NOT "disguised" or renamed MP3 files or WMA files. The reason people can play OpenMG files renamed to .mp3 or .wma in Windows Media Player is because that player is designed to be idiot-proof. Example: if you give it a "dot-MP3" file that's not really an mp3 it will give you a warning, but will still try & find the right decoder for the file. If that user has installed Sony's SonicStage software (a.k.a. Connect Store software) then there's an OpenMG decoder on their system... WMP finds that and tries to play the file back with it. I say "tries" because the playback may fail... read on!

2) No matter what you name an OpenMG file, you CANNOT play or convert that file on a computer other than the one it was ripped to or purchased from. The DRM ensures that the file is "authorized" for only the original computer. Don't believe me? Try it. Take one of your OpenMG files (as-is OR renamed to mp3/wma -- doesn't matter) and try to play it back on a different computer. You can try every conversion method mentioned in the above thread, but if you're starting with an unauthorized OpenMG file (one that wasn't created on or purchased with your computer) NOTHING WILL WORK... not even line-out/line-in tricks, since can't even play the track. I know of no crack that gets around this restriction.

3) The easiest way to convert an authorized OpenMG file (to mp3, wave, ogg or flac) is to use MarCNeT's excellent Hi-MD Renderer, available at http://www.marcnetsystem.co.uk/. dBpowerAMP doesn't yet support OpenMG.

Important: install version 0.30 FIRST, then install version 0.31, or you'll get missing DLL errors on non-WAV conversions. Also, you must have SonicStage installed (preferably v3.0, downloaded from here (http://www.connect.com/download_cookie.html)). Again, if your OpenMG file is unauthorized (i.e. if you can't play it with SonicStage) then not even this method will work! This utility is not a "crack" per-se... it uses Sony's own .DLL's to perform the conversion, and those .DLL's do nothing to unauthorized files.

Hi-MD Renderer even has a convenient "batch" function to lets you convert hundreds of files at a time... so you can convert your entire library overnight!

4) Other (more difficult, imho) options mentioned in the previous thread include burning the files to an Audio CD (NOT an "Atrac CD") with SonicStage, then ripping the files back off the CD using dMC Audio CD Input (or grabbing the temporary wave file created before the burn). Masochists might prefer the option of playing the file with SonicStage or WMP, then recording it in realtime using any number of line-out/line-in software or hardware setups (ugh!). If you've "tried everything" and it doesn't work, let me humbly suggest that you're probably trying to convert an unauthorized OpenMG file, which you CANNOT do, afaik.

ChristinaS

09-03-2005, 01:08 AM

My advice is let your friend try and see what works or doesn't. If he's no longer got the licenses (so that those files no longer can be played) his only whisper of hope would be Sony - and don't anybody hold your breath. They probably cannot recover anything.

enviroguy

09-09-2005, 09:24 AM

Thanks to Atreyu for that comprehensive post. I am one of the masochists doing real time playback of atrac's to my hard drive. I use Polderbits, which eases the pain quite a bit and gives you a chance to edit out useless bits of recording.
Can the approach described using the renderer software be used for Net MD created atrac's???

bigudeez

09-11-2005, 12:10 PM

Check this out...I have a sony vaio that came with sonicstage. So the stupid person that I am, took MY OWN MUSIC and created a small library, about 500 tracks or so. I recently got a 300gb hard drive and wanted to move the music to the new drive. So i burned a dvd of MY MUSIC and then put them in sonicstage on the new drive. Not a new or different computer, but the same one. I try and play a track and guess what it says. "WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE THIS TRACK?" Yeah that's right, SONICSTAGE STOLE MY MUSIC!!! 534 TRACKS !!!!!!!! THOSE BASTARDS.. SCREW SONY. I WONDER IF BILL GATES IS AFFILIATED SOMEHOW...........

LtData

09-11-2005, 12:39 PM

If you still have the songs in their original locations, try exporting the licenses from Sonic Stage, that may help

catonthemesseng

09-12-2005, 12:53 AM

so there is officially no friggin way to convert supposedly unauthorized openmg formatted songs to mp3's no way to listen to them @ all or retransfer them back to the device.... :vmad:
someone answer me so i know if i can torch my laptop or not.....
flaming hot mad..
thanx

phoenix

10-16-2005, 07:59 PM

Atreyu,
thankyou you are a genius even, the hi-md link is superb, thank you sooooooo much.
if i could i would kiss you right now, but i cant so your outta luck lol

ghostcorps

11-15-2005, 10:54 PM

Hi Guys

Just to add my two cents worth.

I dont know if this is old info to everyone, but when I uploaded MP3's (unconverted) through SS onto my HD5 they were stored as .OMG files. Unfortunatly SS was unable to transfer all files (no explaination why), so I deleted them all and uploaded again, with the convert to ATRAC3 option selected. Strangley enough it had no problem with any of them this time. As ATRAC3 they are .OMA files.

=^_^=

dewdude

12-02-2005, 10:40 AM

HAving been a former and early NetMD adopter, i can say the early versions of the program were a pain.

The thing, at least with NetMD..is there was that copy protection...and yes, OMG files were wrapped in DRM. The main limitation about this was, once you encoded a file, you could only transfer the ATRAC3 copy to a compatable device up to 3 times...meaning if you just deleted the track off MD..then you'd have two more available transfers of that mp3, after that, i believe you had to rename and reimport.

I've since long sold my NetMD unit, but i recently grabbed a PSP..which is a MagicGate compatible device. Upon finally upgrading to the firmware 2.0 they finally added support for ATRAC3 plus transfers. After nabbing a copy of Sonic Stage, i will say the whole process is much less of a PITA than before, and it doesn't force you to store the converted tracks.

There's also something else different...my file permissions...everything i've encoded has had unlimited transfer...meaning..while it probably is DRM protected..it's got no restrictions....meaning i could copy the file between copies of sonic stage (and probably even import the OMA files directly) with no problem. no idea if that's something to do with the fact i've got a PSP and not a Network Walkman or NetMD or what. Your milage will vary with what you try.

The overall encoding process is faster...after slecting my tracks and hitting transfer, it starts encoding and transferring..unlike the old versions which mass converted THEN transferred....and yes..you CAN make it convert the file to a standard .OMA. You can convert a single file without actually transferring it..leaving it to be transferred later since SonicStage won't re-encode ATRAC3 content if you tell it not to. It even tells you where the OMA file is stored.

If anyone out there would like to play around with one of my OMA files to see if they can get it to work on thier sytem and find out if my theories are right, let me know.

However, you still can't just drop the OMA files into the PSP..you still have to use sonic stage to transfer..so..again..i don't know what kind of DRM it's using on the files..or if it's just formatting them a certin way...BUT..i could transfer my ATRAC3 files between copies of SonicStage directly off my PSP without it saying anything about limitations.

ruz

12-12-2005, 11:40 PM

Here's how I did it ...

1) In SonicStage, under Tranfer select Create an AudioCD and burn all your OMA music files.
2) Open MusicMatch and select Copy from CD (make sure it copies as MP3s)
MusicMatch will copy the files as MP3s (you will need to lookup Tags, which I find very easy in MusicMatch)
I also then opened iTunes and copied all the newly created MP3s so I could transfer to my iPod.

jcatt

12-16-2005, 11:15 PM

I have figured it out, how to copy OMA’s into WMA’s it takes a while and sometimes crashes but it works. This is what I did. ONLY WORKS IF SONICSTAGE IS INSTALLED

1. Download Windows Media Encoder 9
2. Next open Windows Media Encoder 9 and cancel out of the wizard.
3. Go to Properties, under the sources tab go down to find Source from and instead of devices select file.
4. Now browse for you OMA file you want to convert.
5. Let the encoder think for a while as it reads the oma file ( This is when it sometimes freezes on me)
6. Once it is finished processing go to the output tab, deselect “Pull from encoder” and select “Archive File” and save the file name and location.
7. Next go to the Plug-ins tab, Here click on the register button, and select the “OMG Seamless” Plug-in and hit ok.
8. Now add the available plug-in to the current plug-ins box and hit apply (Going to think for a while)
9. Once finished working hit start encoding in the main window. And it will encode your oma to an wma file
KEYWORD:OMA CONVERTER, OMA CONVERTION

ChristinaS

12-17-2005, 01:03 AM

Same thing as playing the song in the player and recording it to any format you want using dMC Auxiliary Input. Why is everybody looking for all sorts of acrobatics to do the same thing?

ns81112

12-25-2005, 03:15 PM

I know this is backwards, but is there an easy way I can convert wma to oma?

LtData

12-25-2005, 06:17 PM

Using SonicStage, mabye, but not via dMC.

ERW

12-29-2005, 10:03 PM

I purchased a Sony Network Walkman for my wife for Christmas.
To my dismay, I found in tiny, low contrast print on the box after opening the blister pack a note which said that it needs at least Windows'98 Service Pack 2. The box also had in Large print that the unit plays MP3 files. My wife's computer has plain old Windows'98. I tried to install the software anyway, but it didn't work. I was able to transfer MP3 files to the unit from her computer, but they do not play. Is there any way to get MP3 files to play on the unit without converting them to Atrac3Plus format, or a way to convert MP3 files to Atrac3Plus Format on a Windows'98 machine?
I see only two other alternatives: The first is to install the software on my own XP machine, which I was reluctant to do before reading the other posts on this board (simply because I wanted it to be completely hers), and which I now refuse to do, after reading these posts.
The other alternative is to try to return the unit with the opened blister pack to where I bought it. If anyone has other suggestions, especially a way to get MP3 files to the unit from a Windows'98 machine, on please let me know. Thanks.
ERW

donny

01-12-2006, 02:21 PM

@ERW,
hmm a bad situation indeed... can't you upgrade the win98 it seems as the easiest solution...
maybe there is a "to oma" converter, but you need to put the files on the specified locations, I can make a dir list of how it should look on a NW-105 model, but I haveto check does it create extra material (a list somewhere), if you are interested... I think it does play mp3, just wraps them up into oma files.
anyway the Sony walkmans are pretty amazing and I really like them, but that software thingy is getting on my nerves...

in my experience i didn't have the problem with the software, it is a bit slow, but i didn't buy none nor licence them thru it, just good old mp3s imported to sonic stage...

bobybacs

01-19-2006, 06:19 AM

Hi,

I know this is a little bit off-topic, but maybe someone could help me.
Is there any way to found out the duration of an OMA/OMG track ?

Maybe some specification for header format, because I saw that SonicStage doesn't need to authorize itself to determine the duration, so I guess this information is kept in the header.

Thanks and regards,
Boby

Canbulat

02-04-2006, 12:15 PM

I followed the steps carefully. I can play .oma files in my computer (so I think they aren't unauthorized files), and I tried to convert them with HIMD Renderer, but all the time it gives the same error. When I press the button again, it says conversion is complete, but the file is nothing but a shit. The error is "Output sample type is not as expected". So, we cannot convert these .oma files to mp3 or another type? Don't get angry to me if I missed a part to read.

xoas

02-04-2006, 12:42 PM

allandstewart

02-16-2006, 06:30 PM

my sonic stage won't even allow me to burn audio cd's to move them to my new computer. had to use nero which also wouldn't burn audio but it would create a data disc. sonic stage doesn't seem to detect the cd burner it seems. but anyway, omg files wont work anywhere elseso far, so.....

SphynxAPE

02-23-2006, 11:12 AM

I visited the site for HI-MD Renderer. I see that the program has had several updates since this thread was started. I see that other file conversion options have been added. Perhaps one of our hard-core .oma/omg users might want to create a new thread updating the use of HI-MD Renderer. My only other advice would be to check the HI-MD Renderer site, since that program is not affiliated with dBpowerAMP Music Covnerter.

Best wishes,
Bill

I don't really know about you, but when I record a HI-MD file using the MiniDisc Device (MZ-NHF800), I can copy it over onto my computer using SonicStage 3.3.02.10240, and then convert it to WAV by right-clicking "Save in WAV Format." I can do multiple files at once (by holding down the CTRL key), and then convert the files into any odd format I want using dBPowerAMP.

I used to use the HIMD-Renderer when I used SonicStage 2.1, but now we have the built-in capability with SS 3.3.

EDIT: And we now have the capability as of SS 3.4 to directly convert the files (recorded using the device) from the MiniDisc recorder, without even having to take off the OMA files in the first place.

Am I missing something?

dannyboy48888

03-25-2006, 11:33 AM

sony just released sonic stage 3.4, as long as you asint using a "a" series player , it lets you upload/downlad unportected oma files at multiple computers. still doesnt wor with netMD formatted discs for uploading/downloading though , so if you vcan us the HiMD format

mario

03-28-2006, 03:18 PM

LtData

03-28-2006, 09:55 PM

Please watch your language

andykohl

05-20-2006, 03:22 PM

:cry: Sorry if this has being resolved before, i just made an account to ask THIS:

I have american idiot by greenday, i have placed the songs on my PC using SonicStage and i would like to place them in a CD with all my fav music, however i cannot burn .OMA to a CD and wost of all- i cannot place a .OMA file to my PSP...I would like to convert them in anything that i can burn & put to my PSP eg: .mp3,.wiw ect!!!I need help in this :smile2: :komisch12

Exitao

05-24-2006, 05:20 AM

I don't want to interrupt, but has anyone tried using this with Winamp?
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Sony_ATRAC3_Audio_Codec.htm

It's a decoder plugin to play atrac files in Winamp. It seems to work for me.

And then, it occurs to me, that if this works for you, why not get this plugin for dbPoweramp?
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central-winamp.htm

It allows the converter to use winamp plugins to decode and convert in DMC.

I bet this would work.

If it doesn't work, I guess you could just use winamp to output them to wav files. Or... if worse came to worse you could use a program like total recorder to capture them and save them as wav files...

I use SonicStage, I had to downgrade from Sony Connect. I POS if I ever used one. Just make sure that you don't copyprotect anything when you convert to atrac. It keeps defaulting to copy protect, but it's worth the trouble to make sure you can get at your audio files.

It's too bad DMC doesn't have a plugin to encode to oma. SonicStage is unweildly and slooooooow.

The only real reasons to bother with atrac is for gapless playback and because Sony has made it so that atrac saves on battery life compared to other codecs...

Sidecar83

05-26-2006, 01:52 PM

raintheory

06-15-2006, 05:42 PM

Sorry to be so backward here but can someone please tell me where to find the library of CDs stored in SStage. I seem to have been going round in circles for hours and checked all the folders with anything to do with sony or sonic but cannot find the library.

I have upgraded to sonic connect from an early version of stage 1.5 I think, was this the right thing to do or should I reinstall the earlier version?

Thanks.

If you are using a newer version of SonicStage, the files should be located somewhere around C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\SonicStage\Packages

The .OMA files here are most likely wrapped in DRM. To release them from DRM do the following:

In "My Library" select the tracks that you wish to remove copy protection from, right-click and select "Convert Format". From there choose the same bitrate that the original files were recordd in but leave the check box for "Add Copy Protection" unchecked. This removes copy protection from the .OMA files without transcoding. If you select a different bitrate than the original it will transcode the files, but use the same bitrate and it simply removes DRM. This works at least with files uploaded to PC from a Hi-MD recorder, may work with other files as well.

After this process the un-DRM'ed files can be found in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\SonicStage\Packages\Optimized Files -you can safely move these files and back them up without any DRM issues.

Hope this helps some. I would recommend upgrading to the newest version of SonicStage (Version 4).

bugannoyer

06-23-2006, 01:46 PM

I've been using the Sony NWE507 and while perceptually the sound seems fine, I'm concerned about quality loss f the storage in OMA format involves reencoding using the ATRAC CODEC. Various statements in Sony's docs imply that the MP3 files are transfered without reencoding, but demonstrably they are stored as OMA files. Some say these are MP3 merely "wrapped" in OMA DRM, but I've never seen any official technical details from Sony... Has anyone else?

Here is a transcript of a chat I just initiated at the Sony site (note I had to transcribe this manually because it was in a Java applet, so there may be some typos. Also I've changed my name at the prompt to "bugannoyer" - my name in this forum, just to protect the innocent - i.e., me ;^)
-----------------------
My concern is in regard to audio quality using the NWE507 to play MP3 flies (VBR, avg bit rate of 192kbps).

What *exactly* do SonicStage and also MP3 File Manager do when transfering MP3 files to the NWE507 player?

They are always stored as OMA files, no matter what transfer method I use.

((Analyst Wallace_ is here to assist you ))
Wallace_>Hi bugannoyer. Welcome to Sony Online Support. I'm Wallace. Please allow me a moment while I review your concern.

bugannoyer>Hello Wallace - I should say that although I haven't noticed a sound quality difference, I'm concerned if there is an actual re-encoding into ATRAC (re-encoding in lossy format invariably affects audio quality). I've seen some comments in forums stating that the files are actual MP3 wrapped in OMA DRM, but I haven't seen any official statements from Sony on this question.

Wallace_>Thanks for waiting, bugannoyer.
Wallace_>Are you referring that the quality of the songs are lower when played in the Sony player?

bugannoyer>As I said, I haven't *noticed* a difference using a side-by-side test (my test: copy an OMA back into SonicStage just using Windows explorer and then reimport into SS, and then play both the original MP3 and the OMA in SS). However, my concern is a general technical one, since there are no official technical statements (that I've found) from Sony on what is being done to create OMAs when transferring MP3s.

Wallace_>I'm sorry.
Wallace_>As this information is available only with the Sony design department I'll not be able to assist you in locating the information.

bugannoyer>That's too bad. There are a lot of people in MP3 forums asking just this question. There is a lot of conflicting opinion out there, meaning that there is no doubt a lot of mis-information as well. Many people are saying essentially, stay away from Sony personal audio players because they do not play MP3. Others are saying yes they do, it's just wrapped in DRM, no quality difference. An official statement from Sony would be helpful. If you have nothing more to add, you can end this chat.
bugannoyer_>Thanks, bugannoyer

Wallace_>Thank you for contacting Sony online support today.
Wallace_>Analyst has closed chat and left the room

Incendentus

07-22-2006, 04:49 PM

First of all, I have a Vaio, and Sonic Stage. I have WMP. I recently bought a cd that was made in Japan, then imported to the U.S. where I purchased it. The cd plays fine on any of my cd players/walkmans but my comp won't touch it. The cd contains the files (.oma) plus an odd program called "Magiqlip2" and said something about it being a "Labelgate CD 2"; the rest is in Japanese which I can't read. I installed it and found it to be a media player, but it wouldn't play the files on the cd. Instead it led me to a website (sony's japan site) which that "Labelgate CD 2" will not play without a valid authentication code only available for residents of Japan.

WTF?!

SonicStage led me to the same page (which is <http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/cccd/lgcd2/help/foreign.html> by the way)

I am looking for a way to play these files or convert them to another type that I can play. Actually, it seems to me that there is no way to do this, but it never hurts to try. It would be really gay (pardon the expression) to not be able to play files that I BOUGHT LEGITIMATELY and that I OWN on THEIR OWN PROGRAM!

thanks

Aryawanso

08-24-2006, 12:31 AM

i don't know if i a'm helpfull but i download a free codec and play the music from my sony nw-hd5 wich contain the famous atrac 3 files on my mediaplayer the codecs came from freecodecs com when you try to play he said that he don't regegnized them but if you like to play them than you say yes and it plays the music
please pardon my english but i a'm Flamish hope you can play your cd

0rsted

09-07-2006, 03:30 AM

Hi - new user at the board

Just wanted to add my five cents

I bought a NW-E203 and immediately hated the fact that you had to use a weird (and WAY too big) piece of software to transfer music - and to add to the insult - it couldn't install on my machine (an error in the scripting engine they use for the installer - yay for compiling install-files daily)

Then when I FINALLY found the solution I found the new OMA-format and thought HUH??

Being the interested young man that i am (the term hacker applies here - in the original understanding of the word) i decided to take the files apart bit by bit - now THIS is where the fun began...

First of all - to encode MP3 i usually use iTunes - the only flaw it has is the amount of excess data that lands in the file
Then i used the good old LAME-encoder to decode and re-encode a single file - and voila - small file again...

I then transferred the file to my player (as the only file) and downloaded the OMA file to my computer - and ran a compare...

the ONLY difference I could see (of any importance - the others seem to apply to the ID3-tag and an extra amount of NULL-data at the end of the file) is the first to bytes...

The OMA files has :

65 61 33 03 00 00 00 00 : e a 3 ♥ NULL NULL NULL NULL

The MP3 files has :

49 44 33 03 00 00 00 00 : I D 3 ♥ NULL NULL NULL NULL

I used a small (and free) hex-editor named XVI32 ( http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm ) for changing the bits around - and the file played without any problems - and read the ID3 tags as well...

I use SonicStage CP (v. 4.0.00.05080) and I do not know if this applies to older versions of the software

I'm working on a script that automatically changes the first two bytes when downloading (and further on also renames according to the ID3-tags) so the files will be playable by any MP3-player

Therefore - no sweat - there is no reason to use a special codec - it's just MP3-files with a new header

ghostcorps

09-07-2006, 05:03 AM

Orsted: Thats the best news I have heard all year!!! Whats the chances of your script working in reverse?

If you need any testing (I have an HD5) I'd be happy to help :)

email me at ghostsblood@gmail.com

How hard do you think it would be to apply that trick or a no-write workaround to the Winamp in_atrac3.dll so that we don't have to have SS installed to listen to the OMA's through winamp?

again, I can't wait for your script!!

0rsted

09-07-2006, 07:01 AM

ghostcorps
Well - If I can make the script (currently it's looking like it has to be software, since I can't get VBScript or JScript to do hex-editing - bugger) to make it work in reverse would (as far as I currently see) be as simple as reading the header first, and then work from that - AKA simple...
BUT!!!
I cannot (okay - I WONT - i'm lazy) make it copy the files to the device - I have seen some reverse of the structure of the directory-files, but they still don't make sense...

regarding the no-write workaround, i have absolutely no idea...

I could use some help, since I don't know if the files have been encoded differently due to the fact that I have one of the smallest players they have...

If you could create a OMA-file for me (let's use the same base)
http://dontdownloadthissong.com/
Since it's his own site, i'll assume it's legal...

I'll be setting up a directory when I get to my server (in 5 or 6 hrs) so you can upload it - I'll post the link here

I can only work on the script during daytime (well - it's rather that I try not to be glued to the monitor at the evenings - family and all)

If I end up having to write software instead, I'll try to make it so simple that you just plug in your player, and run the software - and then it'll play the files directly, and have a "copy"-feature where it'll copy the file(s) currently selected to a folder - in unobscured MP3-format

(why do my posts always end up being novels???)

Hou_JaI

09-09-2006, 03:22 AM

Hello all, I am a newbie in Atrac3plus. I manage to convert some mp3s to Atrac3plus Audio 320kpbs. I am just wondering whether i need some special application to get these files into a CD and get it playing on my Sony DNE-10 CD player. The player is actually Atrac3plus compatible. I have tried burning the files into the CD directly but when the CD player tries to read the files, it gave "NO FILE" error.

Appreciate any help here ! tq !

raintheory

09-10-2006, 12:54 PM

accused_victim

12-30-2006, 02:19 PM

Hi,

I have a Sony mp3 and all my music on sonicstage. I now want to use a new phillips mp3, which means converting all my files. I have read my way through this thread, but being a technophobe, not understood a word, i'd be grateful if someone could summarise how to convert my 1000 files quickly and easily, and keep the names if possible.

thanks

Marvin

02-17-2007, 02:04 AM

I like what you wrote.
but I can't belive that there is no way around the transfer problem.
I will find away and keep everyone posted.

I did not spend 160 dollar so that I can be screwed by Sony! :vmad:

jlmagill

04-26-2007, 07:44 AM

The thread that I am replying to says it all. The only way that I have found to convert openMG files into MP3 files is to create a audio CD (.cda format) using my Sony SonicStage software, then use my Nero Ultra 7 software to convert the audio on the cd into MP3 format and even that is not as easy as it sound as some downloaded songs can not be burned to cd with other songs due to differences in formatting, even though they were purchased at the same time and you wind up wasting blank cd (which in my case is not a problem as I buy the bulk and pay .03 cents apiece).

SuH

07-31-2007, 08:02 AM

Thank you so much Atreyu!. You are so right, this is the only solution, It worked for me!. You save my neck!

hadiwood

08-25-2007, 03:14 AM

Okay, I hope someone can help me out here. I have a sony mp3 player and can only use Sonic Stage to transfer music. It converts my mp3's into oma files. However, some of my mp3's are copy right protected and it won't convert to an oma. Does anyone know how I can remove a copyright or make a copy of the mp3 so it doesn't have the copyright?

Please let me know.
Thanks!

rubenoid

08-29-2007, 09:56 PM

Converting OMA to MP3, the long way, in SonicStage version 4.3.01.14050

In "My Library" view, Go to Transfer --> Make an Audio CD

Drag titles from left panel to right panel, then click red button

The CD will eject when it has finished

Reinsert the CD and rip the files using Windows Media Player

Convert the WMAs to MP3s using dbpowerAMP

I wish there was an easier way, but this one works for me.

Spoon

08-30-2007, 05:30 AM

Why not rip direct to mp3 with dBpoweramp?

rubenoid

09-15-2007, 02:27 PM

Can this be done? When I right-click on the OMA files the menu doesn't even show dBpoweramp. Then I try opening dBpoweramp and browsing to the directory and it doesn't recognize the OMA files.
:headbang:

Spoon

09-15-2007, 02:41 PM

After burning a CD from oma, then rip direct to mp3.

Tony Zamacona

10-10-2007, 01:01 PM

Anyone can help me?

I'm very sad because I can't convert my oma files to wav, SS didn't recognize them, fist at all I can save my recording into my PC as hma files, then I convert them into .oma format via HIMDrenderer but still SS don't recognize them.

I think my archives are protect by sony, I've been looking for some answer that help me but nothing yet...

Please help me!!!

Luis Peñaflor from Mexico City

vagabond_heart_mex@yahoo.com.mx

Sorry for my english

suspect1983

11-15-2007, 09:28 PM

Ok hi...im new to this forum....I am an hiphop artist who had most of my instrumentals backed up on sonic stage with my sony walkman....my luck my hard drive crashed and I went to comp usa and they were able to pull the files off the walkman and put them on a cd for me....these files are in open mg audio format....I desperatly need a conversion to mp3 to finish the demo ive been working on....MARC I have tried your himd renderer with no success....I even downloaded for a price the wma converter which they even show of open mg conversion.....on a web ad.....when I try to plug and play the files on sonic stage (the latest version) it tells me they cant play with out obtaining a license....entered my email and pass. and that jus takes me to a page to purchase music from there store....basically a gimic...any way look if any 1 can help me I would highly appreciate it....MC SUSPECT

<removed link>

futher-more to this post...I have been reading up and down forums...im about to try the music match trick....see if that cracks nething.....there has to be a solution to this....sony cannot lock your files....this is my damn music career they are effecting....