Comments on: real-to-mp3 conversion

Question: real-to-mp3 conversion

RavinDave — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 21:47:08 -0800

Um ... Real ==> mp3 file conversion? Any simple way?

I have a stack of old radio shows in .ra format. Many fans use a program called OTTER to catalogue their OTR collection — but Otter only recognizes mp3 files.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 22:53:33 -0800

Here you go.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 23:03:37 -0800

Not sure what system you use. If you're on a Mac, try Audio Hijack Pro from Rogue Amoeba Software, or Wiretap Pro. If you're on Windows, someone else'll have to suggest a counterpart ...

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 23:09:23 -0800

ra to mp3

By: nathan_teske

nathan_teske — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 00:11:26 -0800

I was trying to do this earlier today on my Mac using the steps outlined in this MacOSXHints post. Unfortunately mencoder couldn't find the Real codecs even though I have them in the correct place. Sigh.

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 02:37:56 -0800

Drat ... I was hoping there was something simple like a WinAmp plugin. (There was at one time, but it seems to have be made obsolete; it only take a few seconds of input from my .ra files before locking).

I just got screwed over when I bought a commercial mp3 conversion program -- was greeted by a message that told me I was only allowed 20 conversions mp3 (wtf???). That program couldn't handle .ra anyway (at least they were up front about that). Thus, you can see why I'm a bit gun-shy about buying another one without hearing something about it first.

By: chill

chill — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 03:54:36 -0800

I've trialled these programs - 1, 2, 3 - in the past. I ended up paying for the Boilsoft one.

By: nikzhowz

nikzhowz — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 06:21:30 -0800

3 or 4 program suggestions in this Freeware Newsgroup thread.

Someone in this forum thread assembled and posted a Winamp plugin pack that'll supposedly do the conversions.

By: blag

blag — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 13:12:18 -0800

Certainly no need to pay for software - dBpowerAMP will do it for free. You'll need the real audio codecs, as discussed on this page. I've got this working perfectly, it really is as simple as right-clicking and selecting "convert to mp3"

By: neckro23

neckro23 — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 22:10:04 -0800

I did this with a bunch of files once.

1. Install Real Alternative.
2. Load RA files into Winamp (they should play as long as you have the Real codecs installed). I _think_ I used Winamp5, although I may have used v2 instead.
3. Use disk output plugin, set codec to Fraunhofer (if you have this installed; otherwise install the Kazaa Lite Codec Pack or something to get it) at the appropriate bitrate. Set the option for headerless files.
4. Hit play and wait for it to finish. Voila!

When I did this I had a few files that wouldn't cooperate. These ones I converted to WAV with dBpowerAMP and then encoded with Winamp.

dBpowerAMP has a pretty lousy Real converter -- it only works in realtime. For the files I was doing this with, that was unacceptable. Winamp will do it as quickly as your computer can handle.

By: tomble

tomble — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 00:37:22 -0800

Switch is a very nice converter for this sort of thing. No messing about with codecs or anything, and a good range of output options.