.wma files: re-encode as audio CD or create ISO file and then re-rip?

[pullman]

In creating my media server I have now come to the final chapter which is to try to access close to 100 CDs that I ripped at the dawn of time when I still used PC. Today this music only exists in .wma files, many of which are DRM-protected. The CDs are long gone.

I am trying to find a way to turn them into files that play on a Mac.

I know there are DRM removal tools but from the significant amount of searching I've done the last few days it seems no one works reliably. I also tried Microsoft's own Digital Rights Update Tool on a boot-camped Windows 10 but that only managed to unlock a handful of files.

Would a solution be:

- to re-encode the .wma files as audio CDs (possibly on a CD-RW) and then re-rip them,
- or somehow create an ISO file from the .wma files which I could "soft-rip"?

Has anyone managed to do this using either Windows 10 or macOS? Are there alternate ways perhaps?

I'm about ready to give up on this but want to be sure there is no other way before I call it quits.

Thanks heaps in advance
Philip

 

[rhett7660]

I believe you can use XLD, load up the files and then hit convert. Set the conversion to your file of choice. You can then use a tagging program to put in all of your tags.

 

[motulist]

If the wma files are using lossy compression then you don't want to convert them to another lossy format, you'll lose quality. If you convert then to a lossless format you likely won't lose quality, but if you then compress that file down again you will.

 

[pullman]

Thank you both very much for your replies.

XLD doesn't open the files unfortunately.

I believe you can use XLD, load up the files and then hit convert. Set the conversion to your file of choice. You can then use a tagging program to put in all of your tags.

Yes that's true, although at this point I'm more interested in simply accessing my music so I'd actually accept a quality loss.

If the wma files are using lossy compression then you don't want to convert them to another lossy format, you'll lose quality. If you convert then to a lossless format you likely won't lose quality, but if you then compress that file down again you will.

Is it possible somehow to create an audio cd image which I could burn? Can Terminal be used perhaps?

 

[rhett7660]

Thank you both very much for your replies.

XLD doesn't open the files unfortunately.



Yes that's true, although at this point I'm more interested in simply accessing my music so I'd actually accept a quality loss.



Is it possible somehow to create an audio cd image which I could burn? Can Terminal be used perhaps?

Are you looking to access them via CD only? Or some other means?

I am confused by your first post and then by this post?

 

[pullman]

Hi Rhett
Basically I am trying create an audio CD (either directly or an iso which I can then burn) in order to be able to re-rip the music as an Apple-readable format.

 

[motulist]

Hi Rhett
Basically I am trying create an audio CD (either directly or an iso which I can then burn) in order to be able to re-rip the music as an Apple-readable format.

It doesn't matter whether or not a file goes into a physical CD or not. That would never change anything. CD's are just another way to store files the same as a hard drive or ssd is. Once a file is compressed using lossy compression (like mp3 or wma does), the original quality is literally deleted - gone forever. There is no way to ever get that lost quality back. The extras audio information is literally removed from the file in order to reduce the file size.

So if you compress to wma, that throws information away. If you then convert it further to an mp3 even MORE audio information will be thrown away. Converting to a lossless CD type format in between those steps won't change anything.

 

[pullman]

Thank you, yes I do know how these things work. What I'm asking about though is something else.

It doesn't matter whether or not a file goes into a physical CD or not. That would never change anything. CD's are just another way to store files the same as a hard drive or ssd is. Once a file is compressed using lossy compression (like mp3 or wma does), the original quality is literally deleted - gone forever. There is no way to ever get that lost quality back. The extras audio information is literally removed from the file in order to reduce the file size.

So if you compress to wma, that throws information away. If you then convert it further to an mp3 even MORE audio information will be thrown away. Converting to a lossless CD type format in between those steps won't change anything.

 

[motulist]

Thank you, yes I do know how these things work. What I'm asking about though is something else.

Then you need to clarify what you're trying to achieve. What is the *final end result* that you're trying to accomplish? For example "I want to get these DRM'ed wma files to play in iTunes".

 

[pullman]

Thank you again. I realise my first post may not have been clear.

I'm aware that WMA files cannot be played on a Mac. I'm wondering if a way too get around this would be to burn them back on to CD/CD-RW, in audio CD format, and then rip that CD to a Mac-compatible format so I can import my music in iTunes.

If it's not possible to create an audio CD of WMA files, including those with DRM protection, then I'm wondering if it could be possible to create an audio CD iso image of the WMA files, which I could then burn onto a CD-RW for ripping, or alternatively "rip" somehow using software akin to what's possible with Handbrake and MKV files.

I've tried several Mac apps like Burn, XLD but they don't work with the DRM protected files. I've also tried several apps in a boot camped Windows 10 without luck.

I'm now wondering if it might be possible to achieve either of the two alternatives via Terminal or Windows command line.

At this point I'm really regretting having ripped my albums to WMA.

Thanks in advance
Philip

Then you need to clarify what you're trying to achieve. What is the *final end result* that you're trying to accomplish? For example "I want to get these DRM'ed wma files to play in iTunes".

 

[motulist]

Thank you again. I realise my first post may not have been clear.

I'm aware that WMA files cannot be played on a Mac. I'm wondering if a way too get around this would be to burn them back on to CD/CD-RW, in audio CD format, and then rip that CD to a Mac-compatible format so I can import my music in iTunes.

If it's not possible to create an audio CD of WMA files, including those with DRM protection, then I'm wondering if it could be possible to create an audio CD iso image of the WMA files, which I could then burn onto a CD-RW for ripping, or alternatively "rip" somehow using software akin to what's possible with Handbrake and MKV files.

I've tried several Mac apps like Burn, XLD but they don't work with the DRM protected files. I've also tried several apps in a boot camped Windows 10 without luck.

I'm now wondering if it might be possible to achieve either of the two alternatives via Terminal or Windows command line.

At this point I'm really regretting having ripped my albums to WMA.

Thanks in advance
Philip

Sigh. Dude.

Say in ONE short sentence what ***END RESULT*** you want to achieve.

 

[pullman]

I thought it was pretty clear in the first post since I wrote "I am trying to find a way to turn them into files that play on a Mac" and then described the two alternatives I just re-described. We're probably just talking at cross-purposes.

Anyway, if anyone has suggestions I'm all ears.

Regards
Philip

Sigh. Dude.

Say in ONE short sentence what ***END RESULT*** you want to achieve.

 

[Secubia]

I burnt my drm-protected wma files onto a CD (audio cd format) and then ripped the tracks as MP3 files, that did the trick for me. In my case the files were purchased from Nokia music store, but I can't remember if I used their software to burn the audio cd or if it was in Windows media player (This was back in 2012 I think)

 

[pullman]

Thank you very much for your reply. This is exactly what I want to do. I've now tried pretty much any burning software I can find but they all stop, as expected, for the DRM protected tracks.

I burnt my drm-protected wma files onto a CD (audio cd format) and then ripped the tracks as MP3 files, that did the trick for me. In my case the files were purchased from Nokia music store, but I can't remember if I used their software to burn the audio cd or if it was in Windows media player (This was back in 2012 I think)

 

[theluggage]

Thank you very much for your reply. This is exactly what I want to do. I've now tried pretty much any burning software I can find but they all stop, as expected, for the DRM protected tracks.

Yes, unfortunately, that's what DRM is supposed to do, and why DRM is/was such a blight. The usual suspects would be things like VLC media player or ffmpeg which can take most formats and convert them into whatever other format you want (no need to faff about with CDs) - but probably not if they have DRM.

If all else fails, you'll have to go through the "analogue hole" - play them on a PC under parallels/virtualbox and record the "analogue" output of the virtual machine and capture that to a file. I haven't tried it but I think that soundflower (free, if you can find it) + Audacity (free) should do that, or there's a paid app called Audio Hijack that should do the trick. Unless the DRM is really nasty and refuses to play back on an unrecognised sound card.

Say in ONE short sentence what ***END RESULT*** you want to achieve.

Remove the DRM from wma audio files (which, apparently, OP ripped from CDs they had bought, so no need to weep for the starving music publishers).

...and while burning to CD and re-ripping sounds dumb, ISTR that it used to be a work-around with iTunes back in the days when the iTunes store still used audio DRM. So, not so dumb. Unfortunately, Microsoft and others drank more deeply of the DRM kool-aid than Jobs (at least for audio).

 

[pullman]

Thank you immensely for this, I really appreciate that you took the time to set it out in such detail. You have given me a few things more to try.

About the analogue hole you describe - I don't have a sound card in my Mac Pro, except whatever built-in "card" the machine came with. Is there any particular sound card I should try to improve my chances of being able to record my music?

Yes, unfortunately, that's what DRM is supposed to do, and why DRM is/was such a blight. The usual suspects would be things like VLC media player or ffmpeg which can take most formats and convert them into whatever other format you want (no need to faff about with CDs) - but probably not if they have DRM.

If all else fails, you'll have to go through the "analogue hole" - play them on a PC under parallels/virtualbox and record the "analogue" output of the virtual machine and capture that to a file. I haven't tried it but I think that soundflower (free, if you can find it) + Audacity (free) should do that, or there's a paid app called Audio Hijack that should do the trick. Unless the DRM is really nasty and refuses to play back on an unrecognised sound card.



Remove the DRM from wma audio files (which, apparently, OP ripped from CDs they had bought, so no need to weep for the starving music publishers).

...and while burning to CD and re-ripping sounds dumb, ISTR that it used to be a work-around with iTunes back in the days when the iTunes store still used audio DRM. So, not so dumb. Unfortunately, Microsoft and others drank more deeply of the DRM kool-aid than Jobs (at least for audio).

 

[theluggage]

About the analogue hole you describe - I don't have a sound card in my Mac Pro, except whatever built-in "card" the machine came with. Is there any particular sound card I should try to improve my chances of being able to record my music?

Just to clarify - #1 suggestion is to run your wma player under windows in a Virtual Machine on your Mac (e.g. Parallels or VirtualBox) and use a utility like soundflower or audio hijack to capture the audio output. No actual soundcard required and although it's a virtual exploit of the "analogue hole" there shouldn't be any analogue loss (although the result will be affected by output volume/eq and input recording level).

Soundflower (https://github.com/mattingalls/Soundflower) acts like a virtual sound card - you set your VM software to use i"soundflower" as the audio output device and then use something like Audacity or Garage Band to use soundflower as the audio input. Audio Hijack (https://rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/) is a point-and-click tool that would replace the soundflower/audacity combo but costs money).

As I said, though, I can't guarantee it will work - I'd suggest using the free trials of Parallels and Audio Hijack (the latter adds a horrible noise to the recording after a short time, but should prove the point) before parting with cash.

I believe that there are various "virtual sound card" devices available for windows, if you want to do the whole thing under BootCamp - but they're more likely to be thwarted by DRM.

The utter last resort is the real "analogue hole" - i.e. plug the headphone jack of a PC into the audio input on a Mac soundcard - and there, any Mac USB sound dongle with an audio input should do the trick.