problems converting stereo wma to mono mp3

[phuturerave]

When i convert a stereo wma to mono mp3, the resulting file comes out pretty much silent!?!?! If you convert to stereo mp3 the result is ok.

I have all the codes installed etc.

Any ideas on how to solve this?

thanks in advance
John

[ChristinaS]

Re: problems converting stereo wma to mono mp3

When i convert a stereo wma to mono mp3, the resulting file comes out pretty much silent!?!?! If you convert to stereo mp3 the result is ok.

I have all the codes installed etc.

Any ideas on how to solve this?

thanks in advance
John

Have you tried to do this in 2 steps: convert to stere mp3 and then convert that to mono mp3? Is this still happening?

[phuturerave]

Re: problems converting stereo wma to mono mp3

yes, the problem still occurs if i try it in two steps.

[ChristinaS]

Re: problems converting stereo wma to mono mp3

Stupid question #99: when you look at Volume Controls, is the balance slider off to one side for Master Volume or is the speaker volume separately controlled? If your'e using headphones, is one side dead?

[phuturerave]

Re: problems converting stereo wma to mono mp3

no balance is all centered etc.

[phuturerave]

Re: problems converting stereo wma to mono mp3

same thing happens if i try to convert the stereo wma to a mono wma

[ChristinaS]

Re: problems converting stereo wma to mono mp3

no balance is all centered etc.

Sorry, fresh out of all ideas.

I assume there are no DSP efects that may quieten the sound or else they'd have done the same to the stereo mp3.

Are you preserving all other settings like bits, frequency?

[phuturerave]

Re: problems converting stereo wma to mono mp3

AND you get the same 'silent' result if you try to convert the stereo wma to mono wav, or mono ogg too?

On closer inspection tho it looks like it may be a problem with the source files i was using......... cos i just created my own stereo wma from a wav & converted that to a mono mp3 succesfully.

I don't know why this could be tho? I'm puzzled!

[ChristinaS]

Re: problems converting stereo wma to mono mp3

AND you get the same 'silent' result if you try to convert the stereo wma to mono wav, or mono ogg too?

On closer inspection tho it looks like it may be a problem with the source files i was using......... cos i just created my own stereo wma from a wav & converted that to a mono mp3 succesfully.

I don't know why this could be tho? I'm puzzled!

OK, at a wild guess, the file was originally a mono file. Somehow a second channel of silence or near-silence may have been added making it a sort of stereo file, but one channel for all intents an purposes is dead, muted or nearly so.

When you convert to stereo mp3, you may not notice this. When you convert to mono, it probably somehow picks up precisely the dead channel (might it be the left channel) to keep, or mixes the two in such a way as to obtain a much lower volume.

As a matter of fact you can use a wav editor if you have one and see both channel waves.