converting m4a/mp4 files to mp3

a few weeks ago, i was able to borrow this compilation cd of enigma albums from gwace which unfortunately were in m4a (or mp4) format. now, you can play m4a files in winamp5 directly (with winamp2 you would need to download a plug-in) but i still preferred mp3 because 1. i'm using linux and amarok can't play m4a and 2. mp3 is the most popular format and is currently supported by our dvd player.

at first, i tried doing it by hand (i.e. saving the output to .wav then encoding them to mp3 with lame all in the command line - a very drudging, brainless task) until i found a software that can do it automatically - foobar2000.

with foobar2000, all you have to do is load the files in the playlist, select them, then right-click and convert. you would need to set the conversion settings though to locate the lame executable and the encoding settings (vbr, bitrate, etc).

note: make sure you download the special installer as the lite version does not have functionality to convert to mp3 or other audio formats. also, for mp3 encoding, you would need the lame executable, so download that one also.