Batch Convert Audio Files with Switch
Last Updated on Saturday, 21 January 2012 05:07 Written by Alan Monday, 30 January 2012 07:00
Not many people these days keep audio CD’s. For most of us, all of the CD’s we owned have been ripped to our computers, stored on backups, and/or moved to cloud storage. In our house we began ripping all of our CD’s years ago and then selling the discs to a music shop that dealt in used discs. It saved us a lot of shelf space and made listening to our music a lot easier as well. However, in the early days, I elected to use WMA (Windows Media Audio) as my format of choice, although I wave since switched to MP3. Nothing wrong with that, it’s a great format for music. However, it’s also not compatible with all services, like Amazon Cloud Player. So, what do you do if you have a large bunch of music that needs to be converted to another audio type?
One solution is a free program called Switch, from NCH Software. That’s what we’re going to be trying out here today. Once you have downloaded the app and begun the installation you will be asked if you would like to install any of the extras that come along with it. This isn’t anything nefarious, but a couple of them are checked by default (like the Ask.com toolbar) so be careful here.
The user interface is pretty spartan by today’s software standards, and that’s a good thing. You can add files or folders, play songs to get a sample or make sure it’s the file you wanted, and choose from a few options. At the bottom of the screen you can choose the audio format you want to output and the folder where you want the new files sent to.
Select your music, or a folder full of it, by browsing your PC or network and then choose what format you would like it converted to. Now choose the folder that you want your new files placed in and click the big “Convert” button at the bottom right of the screen.
The conversion goes fairly quickly and I am testing it with Switch installed on a Laptop (on 802.11n) and the files I converted were on a computer with an ethernet connection to the the router.
You can choose, in the options, to delete the source file upon conversion (this isn’t set by default), but I would recommend making sure your new files are good and then using them to replace the old format ones.
In my tests Switch worked flawlessly. It’s a small file and doesn’t come with bloatware, although as I said earlier, watch the installation to make sure you only get what you want. It handles a LOT of audio file formats and converts music quickly. The interface is straight-forward to use. The app is free as well, although there is a paid version that adds a few more features. You can get a copy by visiting NCH Software.
Google Finally Adds the Ability to Download Your Music
Last Updated on Saturday, 28 January 2012 05:14 Written by Alan Saturday, 28 January 2012 05:14
One thing that has been glaringly absent from Google Music has been the ability for users to download their music. It seemed that this feature would be added when Google Music came out of Beta a couple of months ago, but it was the one thing still lacking. Now, finally Google has corrected that issue. There had been some work-arounds, but none were very good, and Google only allowed for downloading one track at a time.
Google has updated the service to bring full library download capability, making Google Music not only a streaming everywhere service, but also a cloud storage service. The new feature is available from both the Google Music web site and also via the Music Manager app. For songs you have uploaded to the service there is unlimited downloads available, but for songs purchased from Google Music there is a two download limit, although even after download the songs remain in your online library for play.
With the ability to hold up to 20,000 songs for free Google Music has been a great deal since day one, but now it’s functionality feels more complete. If you haven’t yet used it then now is the time to give it a try. Head over to music.google.com.
Setting Up Amazon Cloud Music
Last Updated on Friday, 20 January 2012 07:56 Written by Alan Monday, 23 January 2012 07:00
The cloud is becoming the primary place for people to store their music these days, with Google Music getting there first and being followed quicky by Amazon Cloud Player and later iCloud. Amazon, like the others, combines music purchases from their MP3 store with their cloud service, which allows the user to not only store their purchased music, but also the music they own that’s on their computers.
To get started with Amazon Cloud Player you can just visit the web site and click the link for “Cloud Player”, which will open a web app that allows you to play, upload, download, and delete your online music files. The first time you visit this web app you will have to install the Amazon Cloud Player Uploader.
Once you click the “Upload your music” button the Uploader app will begin downloading and installing. It will install automatically set to the account from which you were signed in when you downloaded it. There doesn’t appear to be a way to change accounts, so if you share your computer you will need to be careful with this step.
The app will automatically check your computer for music, although it doesn’t scan our whole hard drive, but instead scans both Windows Media Player and your iTunes library.
If you don’t see the music you are looking for then you can click the “browse for more music” and you can then look for other music stored anywhere on your computer, or on your network.
Now you can begin uploading all of your music. Once it’s done, you will be able to access your music from any PC by visiting the Amazon Cloud website or by installing the Amazon MP3 app on your mobile device.
The Amazon Cloud Player comes with 5 GB of free storage. However, you can get free unlimited music storage, along with 20 GB of basic cloud storage for other files right now for $20 per year. Amazon also offers more tiers of cloud storage that all come with free unlimited music storage. You can get started by visiting the Amazon Cloud Player
