Fuck DRM

[Xeen]

I have some .wma files that are DRMed. This means they play ONLY via Windows Media Player 9, and restrict what I can do with them. I want to covert the files to uncompressed .wav files to edit them how I want, and then convert to MP3 or AAC eventually. But no audio editor will open DRMed wma files. Anyone know how to remove the drm protection from wma files? I know you can do it by burning to a cd (virtual or otherwise) and then ripping from it. Any other way?

[KernelPanic]

To try and avoid losses take a look at 'FreeMe' and 'Unfuck'.
Otherwise you will have to re-encode twice which will make quality crap.
I beleive with both of those applications you require a licence to play the files with originally.

In the future i'd suggest http://www.allofmp3.com for legal, cheap, and DRM-free digital media.



Also, I think it will be prudent for users not to post links to software of dubious legality. Xeen knows how to google.

[KernelPanic]

Sorry, I misread your post.

To go straight to wav, you need to use the Winamp trick.
=> http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=73346

Then you can do whatever in audacity and export to OGG Vorbis


Interesting link: http://www.drmblog.com/

[Xeen]

Otherwise you will have to re-encode twice which will make quality crap.

Not necessarily. I have a habit of double encoding stuff and it's just fine. It depends on the sources you use. I have a thing about all my mp3 files being uniform in some ways. I like them all to be the same bitrate (I use 192 kbps), and to have exactly 0.5 of silence in the start and end.

So when I download stuff, I only download mp3s that are already AT LEAST 192kbps. I edit it in Cool Edit Pro - fix the amount of silence in beginning and end, do some hiss reduction if necessary, cut out any parts I do not want if the audio is too long and boring, and normalize the audio to about -3 to -6 db because the record labels make CDs too fucking loud and distorted.

After that I encode using a good encoder to 192 kbps. All my stuff sounds good, unless the original sources were crap to begin with.

[Orethrius]

Oh yes, of course a Microsoft employee's opinion [of the quality of WMA] is far less biased than the results of a blind listening test.

THAT is going in my sig.  
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[mobrien_12]

I'm not  going to give too many details because I wouldn't want this site to get a DMCA takedown notice, but it's pretty easy to turn a WMA file into a .wav .mp3 or .ogg on  windows by playing with winamp and re-recording with audacity.  

However, it was  suprisingly not easy to do (as in I couldn't do it) with Linux.

[KernelPanic]

THAT is going in my sig.  
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Hehe,

The only test you can trust is an ABX test by yourself

[Xeen]

I'm not  going to give too many details because I wouldn't want this site to get a DMCA takedown notice, but it's pretty easy to turn a WMA file into a .wav .mp3 or .ogg on  windows by playing with winamp and re-recording with audacity.

Of course I know that. You can do that with any audio, but that's a crappy method. It messes up the volume levels and distorts the audio by recording based on the OS's current volume settings rather than the file's original levels. Re-recording is bad.

[Annorax]

I'm not  going to give too many details because I wouldn't want this site to get a DMCA takedown notice, but it's pretty easy to turn a WMA file into a .wav .mp3 or .ogg on  windows by playing with winamp and re-recording with audacity.

Seconded. I'm not going to bin or delete this thread yet, but I would prefer  it if further replies followed mobrien_12's example and left the specifics out. They're easily found elsewhere, and I have no desire to leave MES open to a confrontation with RIAA lawyers.

[WMD]

This site is hosted in Canada.  Good luck, RIAA.

[Annorax]

This site is hosted in Canada.  Good luck, RIAA.

Some of the moderators (and Webmaster IIRC) are in the US, and I'd rather not be in the position of having to get a lawyer and pay several hundred dollars to tell the RIAA precisely legally why they can go fuck themselves.

[choasforages]

ermmm, in my book of law, the riaa can go fuck themselves....then agian in my book of law.....sacrificing a virgin means fucking said virgin.....a very good sacrific indeed

[Kintaro]

I like your book of law choasforages. Pity I don't have a "said virgin".

Does it let you burn DRM media to a CD, if so just rip it back off the CD.

In future I suggest you just get your music from http://www.piratebay.org