Playing WMA's in EQ

[EZ_Trebax Shadowstealer]

One of my biggest pet peeves with EQ right now is that you can only play MP3 and WAV files with the internal music player. Why not WMA? 90% of my music is ripped from CD's in WMA format (via WMP9). Think they'll ever add WMA support for EQ's music player?

[freonsmurf]

Why not disable sound and run a 3rd party program in the background?

[EZ_Trebax Shadowstealer]

I used to do that...running WMP9 in the background, which worked fine until a patch last summer. For some reason, EQ crashed only when WMP9 was active. Don't know why.

I've built a new system since then, though...perhaps I could give it another try.

Would still be nice if they'd play WMA's in EQ though.

[EZ_Katsuo Muramasa]

Get a real stereo with real speakers. Pay real money for those songs you stole (guessing you downloaded the MP3's, unless you ripped them off of your own CD's)

[EZ_mikebridge]

sony probably doesn't want to pay M$ for the rights for a WMA decoder. and i don't blame them. now, ogg support on the other hand, would be quite nice. Sensei Talynn Raijinken - Transcendant of the Celestial Fists (65) - Prexus
Iuchiban - Necromancer of Neriak (10) - Prexus
Kendryk - Ranger of Surefall Glade (14) - Prexus
"Classes are not that out of balance. --AbsorEQ"
Reverse the Monk Mitigation Nerf!

[freonsmurf]

Get bent Katuso

[EZ_Katsuo Muramasa]

Get laid.

[EZ_Raven00x]

as i recall, when you rip songs from CDs with WiMP, not only do you get a .wma media file, but WiMP also creates an internal lisence for the song, so that only *you* can play the song, and *only* on WiMP9.

at least, that's how my recollection goes.

R. Sablerose
Luclin

[EZ_Gyorg]

OGG or ACC. Though, on a windows machine, the wma decoder codecs are already there. Oh, and you 2, play nicely. Though wix most certainly isn't someone who needs to be told to get laid.

Personally, I say get another computer to host your media off of.

[EZ_AsturiasAurora]

I downloaded a program off the internet that allows Windows Media Player 9 to rip to MP3's instead which saves me a lot of hassle of going back and forth. Between my roomate and I we have about 3 solid WEEKS worth of music (I kid you not, not stop playing for over 3 weeks) and since we both use MP3 players as portable or via discs to play in our cars we gave up on the idea that windows media file format would actually be useful.

Take a look around on the internet. Odds are you can find a suitable ripping program to make all those .wma's into .mp3's. Heck, I believe Windows Update has an optional program update you can download direct from Microsoft to do it for you.

Or just do what Gyorg suggested and hook your speakers up to another computer and just play the songs from a different source.
Click the pic for my Magelo

[EZ_Spyder AK]

Quote:Get a real stereo with real speakers. Pay real money for those songs you stole (guessing you downloaded the MP3's, unless you ripped them off of your own CD's)

Go back and reread his second post about how he rips them from his own CD's. Good Job! Edited by: Spyder AK at: 1/8/04 12:00 am

[EZ_Katsuo Muramasa]

Quote:90% of my music is ripped from CD's in WMA format

Where did he say they were his CD's? He could have borrowed them and ripped them. Good job.

[EZ_Trebax Shadowstealer]

Let me clarify for those who seem to need it...

90%, plus or minus a small variable percentage, of my music, which I have personally purchased from brick-and-mortar establishments such as WalMart, MediaPlay, BestBuy, Meijer, Circuit City, Barnes & Noble, and several other establishments, and also from online vendors such as EMusic, Amazon.com, and similar reputable and legal sources, is ripped (ie: digitally copied) from CD's in which I own, in WMA format, which stands for Windows Media Audio (copyright Microsoft(tm)).

For the rest of you, thanks for understanding the original eleven word phrase.

Coins, now that you mention it, I can recall seeing something yesterday about a patch or add-in for WMP9 that allows you to burn to MP3. Think I'll look into that.

Names of businesses used in this post that incorporate trademarks have been used without expressed written permission from said corporations, which is legal when utilized for not-for-profit reasons. Thoughts expressed in this post may not be shared by and are not held responsible by the staff and management of The Safehouse or EZBoard, or any of their families or subsidiaries. Rated PG for slight intellecutal requirement. Void where prohibited and in Connecticut since most things are prohibited by law there anyway. Some assembly required. Yes, I'm bored, but that's not illegal in Ohio. Can not be used in conjunction with any other offer. No animals were harmed during the making of this post. Batteries not included. Some restrictions apply. Edited by: Trebax Shadowstealer at: 1/8/04 6:04 am

[EZ_Katsuo Muramasa]

LOL, nice.

edit. Stupid sig. Edited by: Katsuo Muramasa at: 1/8/04 11:07 am

[EZ_Trebax Shadowstealer]

[EZ_InvisiBill]

www.exactaudiocopy.de

I only use WMP9 for playing videos, but I'm guessing it's not as good as alternatives like this (based on the track record of other MS programs and older versions of WMP).

As others have said, MP3 is basically the same thing as WMA (for end users, i.e. a music file), but much more open. If you're ripping the CDs yourself, simply ripping to MP3 seems like the best solution.

Based on what was said here, it sounds like WMP won't rip to MP3, right? I thought the older version(s) did, but again, I don't use it for music stuff. If so, it's just another case of MS's "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" policy. Embrace the new technology - make a clone of an existing program and bundle it with Windows so everyone starts using it. Extend - add new proprietary features. Once people are convinced they need to have your program, extinguish the old standard. This leaves everyone using your program, with your proprietary formats. But as long as people use the open standards and alternative programs (which, in general, are better than MS software), they can't extinguish anything. Doing so would simply remove a feature from their program and people would use something else.

Ok, I guess I'm done ranting for now. =) -------------------------
Invissibill
Llibisivni