This board is my last resort. I have asked and asked. Searched and searched. I am unable to find an audio conversion utility that will convert RealAudio files in .RAM format to .WAV or .MP3.
I have several .RAM files that I would like to burn onto CDR for use in my car stereo.
This is not the .RAM stream-only format, but are actual whole files on my hard-drive.
I am aware of utilities that will work with .RA formats, however they will not work with .RAM formats.
The only answer I get is typically along the lines of “Dude, there are a bunch of audio converters that will do this.” Well, I’ve tried about 10 different ones so far… and none, not one will convert .RAM to .WAV or .MP3
When you perform a search for such a utility on the net, the descriptions will SAY they can handle .RAM files, but when you finally download and set up the program, you’ll get the message “No longer compatible with .RAM format” or some such message. None of 'em work. I’ve tried (off the top of my head… MediaWizard / Blaze / Awave / Streambox / ra2wav / and a handfull of others. Nothing.
I’m at wit’s end, but figuring you all are a bunch of smart dopers, does anyone actually HAVE a utility that converts .RAM and tell me where to find it?
I assume that you’re using windows. Off the top of my head, I don’t know any programs that will do what you want to. Sorry.
In Linux however, you could redirect the output device to be a file on your hard drive rather than the soundcard. The result would be the RAM file in wav format. I don’t have the details on exactly how to do this (unless it’s as easy as “RAMplayer file.ram > outputfile.wav”, I’m sure you can figure out what stands for what there). Anyway, if you’ve a linux system, or a friend with one, you might want to try that.
I too, and beginning to think that there is no such program. I think it may have to do with proprietary issues. The odd thing is that while there are programs that will convert WAV to RAM, there aren’t any that do the opposite.
The digital domain is always such a sticky wicket; I have always found it much easier to work around the problem than with it. In your case, what I would do is simply play back the files you have- don’t bother doing any conversion from file type .abc to file type .xyz, just feed the line level audio signal into a DAT or MD recorder (or a VHS tape- a lot pf people seem to forget that VHS can be used to make audio recordings without the usual tape “hiss” that you get from ordinary audio cassette recording. VHS will even retain Dolby encoding. And if you use MD as your repository medium, you’ll have access to a bunch of neat-o editing features. There, you’ll have a digital format that easy to work with and you can copy it onto RCDs or cassette tapes for your car. I suppose you could even play back the MD and convert that audio to MP3 if you were so inclined. I seriously doubt you’ll hear any loss in the digital -> audio -> digital conversion process, especially if you’re going to be listening to the results in your car.
There is a program called “Total Recorder” that will record any sound file being played on your pc and save it as .wav (and I believe .mp3 also). I tried out the trial version of it and it seems pretty good. You can get it at http://www.highcriteria.com
I did search on ram to wav conversions on the net.
I did come up with about a dozen utilities that claim to do this.
They do not convert .ram files as they claim to do.
ra2wav does not convert .ram files.
.ra and .rm files are different from .ram files
I eventually had to use Total Recorder. The only way to convert .ram files to .wav is to use a program that redirects your audio output to the hard drive.
It turns out that this is indeed a proprietary issue. RealAudio will not allow software to convert RealAudio to other formats due to competitive issues.
Any conversion utilities that once did convert RealAudio to other formats no longer do so. Probably a “Cease & Desist” letter rec’d.
