Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

[ltshaw711]

As part of the continuing Real Networks attempt to force you to buy their premium player, it would appear that there is no way to convert RAX files to MP3's without sending them $. Is there a method to convert these to other formats out there, somewhere?
Note - I even tried burning to CD but that fails (low-quality RN software). Now I remember why I uninstalled the earlier versions of Real! Arrrgh. 49 cent downloads are great - as long as you can actually use them!

Thanks!
ltshaw711

[Linuxrising]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

Dude I missed your post. I just posted on this.

It totally works to burn the cd.
Burn from Real Player to Cd (Your Purchased Files). Then I used Audiograbber to get the CD Format files off of the CD, and converted them into wav files.

Then used Lame to convert to MP3. I've done it with over 30 of these .rax files and it worked great. I haven't tried it with db. Audiograbber is freeware also.

http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/ YOu have to download Lame seperately and put it in the same directory though.

Good luck.

[ChristinaS]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

Hmmm... I guess not all rax files are created equal. Some are encrypted and others are not probably. This may be why some can burn them to audio cd and others can't while using the same Real Player. Or does it require the premium version of Real Player too?

[Linuxrising]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

I'm just using the Free Real Player X. I double checked on the files and they seem encypted but allowed to be burned to Cd.

In Real's documentation they say that you can burn regular Audio Cd's to use in your CD player with their files.

http://real.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/real.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=415&p_created=1077664997&p_sid=88zVfhjh&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD03MyZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMT0yJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_prod_lvl1=2&p_prod_lvl2=&tabName=tab2

I just never thought about doing that to get a more simplified file. I don't think I got some special .rax files. Double checked and they are REal Audio protected format.

[ChristinaS]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

I'm just using the Free Real Player X. I double checked on the files and they seem encypted but allowed to be burned to Cd.

In Real's documentation they say that you can burn regular Audio Cd's to use in your CD player with their files.

http://real.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/real.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=415&p_created=1077664997&p_sid=88zVfhjh&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD03MyZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMT0yJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_prod_lvl1=2&p_prod_lvl2=&tabName=tab2

I just never thought about doing that to get a more simplified file. I don't think I got some special .rax files. Double checked and they are REal Audio protected format.

Ok,that's very interesting and good to know.

I wonder if it's possible some people have been trying to burn data cd's rather than audio cd's and that's why subsequent conversions didn't work.

But also this other bit from there may shed some light:

Question
How many times can I burn a Music Store clip in RealPlayer 10?

Answer
In RealPlayer 10, you can burn individual Music Store clips an unlimited amount of times.

You can burn a unique playlist (a specific group of songs that contain one or more Music Store files) a maximum of five times. If you change the playlist by adding or removing a song, it is considered a new unique playlist. The new playlist is then burnable up to five times.

[Inger]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

I am having a really tough time getting the .rax files off my computer, even burning to audio CD then out to another format. I keep getting "Unsupported Media Type" and the online help answer #4217 does not have .rax format listed as a type that can be written to CD. (There are other RealAudio protected formats though...just not on the tracks I bought).

I've scoured tech support on Real and even e-mailed for some help (not holding my breath). Has anyone sucessfully gotten, say, Burn by Usher, Heanve by Los Lonley Boys, ot Whiskey Girl by Toby Keith to go to an audio CD? (No comments on my choice in music please)

The only other thing I can think of is iTunes isn't playing nice with my install of Real...
Help!?

[ChristinaS]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

I am having a really tough time getting the .rax files off my computer, even burning to audio CD then out to another format. I keep getting "Unsupported Media Type" and the online help answer #4217 does not have .rax format listed as a type that can be written to CD. (There are other RealAudio protected formats though...just not on the tracks I bought).

I've scoured tech support on Real and even e-mailed for some help (not holding my breath). Has anyone sucessfully gotten, say, Burn by Usher, Heanve by Los Lonley Boys, ot Whiskey Girl by Toby Keith to go to an audio CD? (No comments on my choice in music please)

The only other thing I can think of is iTunes isn't playing nice with my install of Real...
Help!?

First of all if you see reference to .rax type when reading an audio cd that you've burnt, then you haven't burnt an audio cd at all. You must have simply burnt a data cd and you put the same old files on the cd.

Please reverify what you've really burnt. It has to be the Audio CD type not mp3 nor data type.

[Linuxrising]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

Thats got to be the mistake that everyone is making C.S. Real Player burns CDs in three formats.

Audio
MP3 (only for premium Custies $$)
Data

Try it again burning your CDs in REal Player. Then Close Real, and use another piece of software to get the audio tracks off of the CD. I notice you mentioned iTunes. I hope you didn't let REalplayer install that so called Firmware on your player. I've got a Nomad Zen Xtra and I'm glad I found a way to convert them before I did the install.

Got to get some sleep. Peace

[Unregistered]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

Converting protected files in RealAudio format RX4 to MP# works exactly as described here by the other poster. I really works.

1. get acopy of free audiograbber @ audiograbber.com
2. you need the lame_enc.dll to record at higher quality rates (192)

find the file by searching google for it. You'll probably get a zip file that contains many files, just extract lame_enc.dll to the same directory as the grabber. If you try to use audiograbber to convert to mp3 without lame audiograbber will suggest that you download this dll.

3. make a CD using RealAudio player of the tracks you want to unprotect
4. use audiograbber the rip the files from the CD back to your hard drive
5. the newly created mp3 files can be copied to any MP3 player without protection .

I use the Sandisk MP3 Companion so I had to do this. I paid for the tracks so I dont feel guilty about removing the protection.

[Linuxrising]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

Glad that worked. AudioGrabber is a sweet little freebie. Nothng fancy but it works. I really dig DB also though for more complex jobs. LIke digital line in recording.

[Unregistered]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

Here is my take on it all....

It's immoral at least and dang near illegal what REAL is up to...
No where do they tell you how unbeleivably difficult it wil be to actually hear the music you buy on anything but their crummy player...Not to mention their glitchy Media Center software and music store software which will just magically change screens and go where it wants...Mine showed for a second that I bought over a hundred tracks from wild and varied artists, then went back and showed the five songs I did buy! What a joke...
And it tries to installl upgrades on upgrades and firmware on firmware just to play on my Nomad Zen Xtra....and then oh..yeah...hangs up and does nothing!!!!! I did let it install firmware "upgrade" on my Nomad, but no biggie, since I have the "old" file which was actually 3 versions newer than their so called "upgrade"...

The word I'm thinking of is ..let's see...pirating?..Makes it look pretty good after trying to do the right thing and actually pay for music...

Yeah, I guess I could download two pieces of software, burn CD's, rip them,m convert to WAV, then convert to MPS..wow...naw..I think I'll just go to Imesh instead..!! ;-)

Chris

49 cent music

[Unregistered]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

Hello,

I have been having trouble writing my RealPlayer 10 rax files to CD. I have no problem, however, writing to the exact same CDs from Windows Media Player 9. This makes me think the problem is from the rax file format. Will AudioGrabber work for me in this situation to convert the rax files to wav format? This is such a frustrating problem ... makes me wish I had not wasted my money... Anyway, I'd appreciate any help since RealPlayer seems to have taken my money and left me with no support!


Thank you!

[Unregistered]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

I upgraded the RA10 player (for $49.xx) just to create .mp3's. Still, it did not create .mp3's (the FAQ says they do not do .mp3's at this time). I cancelled the upgrade; however, if you read the FAQ, it emphasized that you can create Audio CD's. OK, create the audio CD, then use any ripping package and rip to .mp3. I used Nero to rip to .mp3 and everything is fine.

[Linuxrising]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

Hello,

I have been having trouble writing my RealPlayer 10 rax files to CD. I have no problem, however, writing to the exact same CDs from Windows Media Player 9. This makes me think the problem is from the rax file format. Will AudioGrabber work for me in this situation to convert the rax files to wav format? This is such a frustrating problem ... makes me wish I had not wasted my money... Anyway, I'd appreciate any help since RealPlayer seems to have taken my money and left me with no support!


Thank you!

Yes I'm almost positive it will. All you can do is try. Audiograbber is free so get a copy and grab the files off of the AUDIO CD. LIke CS said make sure you don't make a DATA cd instead. I also burned all the .rax files from REal Player to AUdio, and then closed the program(not that it made much difference". Then used Audiograbber to get the CDaudio files off of the CD to Wav. Then Encoded to MP3's. More than one person has had success with this.

Let us know if it works.

[Unregistered]

Re: Converting RealAudio10 (RAX) files to MP3 (or anything else)

I have tried playing the real10 Audio CD's that I burned in my car's stereo which is fairly new and no luck, just get an err and cd ejects.. am I missing something...? being new to all this how do I get these songs to play on my or any car stereo?

Thanks.

DG