Atrac3 to MP3

[damagician]

I was wandering if anyone could explain in simple terms how to convert from Atrac3 to Mp3. I have about 150 albums on my minidisc in Atrac3 format and am no longer at the computer I used to transfer the music onto minidisc. I have read all the posts in this forum about the subject and understand that Dex has found a way to do this. I am not very computer savvy and would like it spelled out in laymans terms.

I would like to know if I can plug my minidisc into the USB port and then transfer the files onto the computer. After which I would then like to convert into MP3 and then transfer onto my iRiver H340 in any format be it Mp3, Ogg or WMA which is supported by the iRiver.

I know that I could use the line in port on the iRiver and transfer in Analogue but that would be done in realtime and I would then have to add track marks and rename all the files which would take weeks, not to mention the loss of quality which would result.

*Gets down on knees* Please, could someone help me here.

[xoas]

Re: Atrac3 to MP3

Pretty much in layman's terms, "You can't get there from here".
There is no way to directly convert Atrac files to mp3 that I am aware of. I believe DeX was more interested in the idea of encoding Atrac files without having to go through Sonic Stage so that (if I understand this right) he could encode files to Atrac which he could also convert back to mp3 or other formats (although he does not specify how).
Here are what I believe to be your options:
As you stated, you could record tracks from your md player to your iRiver in analog;
you could record from your md player to your computer using dBpowerAMP Auxilary Input as wav files;
You may be able to move your tracks from your md player to your computer as data files but it is unclear to me whether this is possible (Sony FAQ says you can't upload from your md player to your computer-I'm not sure if they are talking about a built-in limitation in the player and/or linkage or if they are talking about their programs, like Sonic Stage and OpenMG Jukebox, not allowing you to upload tracks from md to the pc). If this is possible, your options would be to see if you can burn the tracks to cd and rip the cd to mp3;
virtually rip the cd and convert the wav/cda temp files to mp3;
or find a way to play your tracks (perhaps through RealPlayer, RealOne, WMA or WinAmp-each may require an additional plug-in) and record them off of your soundcard using (again) dMC Auxilary Input.
I believe you should find that recording through Auxilary Input from you md player to be more satisfactory than recording analog to your iRiver. It would be more convenient still if you could transfer your Atrac files to PC and record them as they play using Auxilary Input, but I cannot guarantee that you will be able to do so.
Please keep us posted on what you try since there appear to be several others with the same or very similar problems.
Best wishes,
Bill Mikkelsen

[xoas]

Re: Atrac3 to MP3

You might have already caught this in another thread but a breakthrough in this area has been announced. See: http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=6087

Best wishes,
Bill Mikkelsen