[pomegranate]

(n.b. I also posted this on iPodlounge)
I'm downloading songs off OD2 (europe) until iTMS comes to the UK. Whilst I don't mind paying (especially at 10p a song with the right payment package), it's all in copy-protected WMA, which is restricted from burning to CD. So if I want to use it in iTunes (which I'd much rather do than use WMP) or on my iPod, what I have to do is record the wave output using Creative sound recorder, clip each song to get rid of the few seconds at each end, give the song the right name, import into iTunes, then convert to AAC, then delete the WAV files. This is obviously a pain in the butt. I can't use dBpowerAmp because it doesn't let you convert protected WMA. Any ideas to make this a bit easier? P.S. I know what I'm doing isn't, strictly speaking, legitimate, but I have paid and I'm NOT sharing so I think its fair enough.

 

[blessingx]

Monotonous, but check for an audio hijack /capture program to use during playback. Don't know of titles on the Windows platform, but you can capture the stream in WAV and then convert in iTunes or Nero (I think).

 

[Earwax]

Quote:

Originally posted by blessingx Monotonous, but check for an audio hijack /capture program to use during playback. Don't know of titles on the Windows platform, but you can capture the stream in WAV and then convert in iTunes or Nero (I think).

Total Recorder from http://www.highcriteria.com/ is the one I use. Others have come out since, but I bought it years ago, well worth the $12 spent, and it still does the job quite well. It can record to wav or convert to MP3 using Lame. I think there are other codecs available too, but Lame is all I ever used.

Edit: re-reading the original post, this may not be any easier than using the creative recorder, but it is strictly a software solution, bypassing the soundcard entirely, not sure if the creative program relies on the soundcard or not.

 

[pomegranate]

fyi, no it's nothing special to do with the soundcard, it's just better than the windows sound recorder because it doesn't have a time limit (not one I've noticed) on how much you can record. On the other hand I still have to use windows recorder for chopping up recordings, duh....
Thanks for the advice guys

 

[stereth]

What version of protection is it? Most official downloads are v7, but if it's v6 or before, you can use a program to unlock it.

 

[pomegranate]

Curious...there is a blank space where it should say which codec version these tracks are...but I'm pretty sure they were wma 9

 

[stereth]

Not the codec version, but the encryption version. I don't know if it says on the player...check to see if the place you're downloading from says anything about it.

Edit: Nevermind...I guess it's the same as the audio codec. Find it by going to file->properties in WMP when playing.