# iTunes MP4 vs MP3 format



## Benito (Nov 17, 2007)

I have a question regarding the format of the songs in iTunes. I believe you can set your iTunes to convert your songs on your CD from the wave format on the CD to either MP3 or MP4. If I am wrong please correct me. The MP4 I think is the default but unfortunately if I want to burn CD versions of the music from iTunes it doesn't seem to work because I think the songs are in MP4 format. My CD player cannot read MP4 but can read MP3 songs. Is there any way I can get iTunes to convert my entire music library on iTunes from MP4 to MP3 format so I can easily burn MP3 CD's for the car stereo?

The other thing I didn't do when I started using iTunes is that I didn't get all the music volume / level matched so when playing them back on my iPod they will have similar levels/volume. Is there a way of getting iTunes to do this now?


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

Benito said:


> The MP4 I think is the default but unfortunately if I want to burn CD versions of the music from iTunes it doesn't seem to work because I think the songs are in MP4 format.


No. Any songs on iTunes, regardless of what format they are in, are automatically converted "on-the-fly" to CD Audio format when you burn a CD. If this is not working for you, it's because you are trying to burn a MP3 disc rather than an Audio CD. MP4 songs will not automatically convert to MP3 format. MP4 songs bought from the iTunes store (in the Fairplay format) can not be converted to MP3 at all (well, not easily).

So let's review. If you encode your music in MP4 format, you can:
1. Listen to it on the computer
2. Burn AudioCD format CDs
3. Copy it to iPod

If you encode your music in MP3 format, you can:
1. Listen to it on your computer
2. Burn AudioCD format CDs
3. Copy it to an iPod or other MP3 device*
4. Burn MP3 CDs*
*Fairplay-DRMed songs bought from iTunes will not play on non-iPods or be included when burning MP3 CDs.

I too was concerned about MP3 CDs when I first started using iTunes, and so I encoded my music in MP3 format. MP3 CDs are neat -- up to 130 songs on a single CD!

But I quickly realised that if I just plug the iPod into the car stereo**, I could now have virtually UNLIMITED amounts of music. My MP3 CDs are all now just backup discs.
** may require adapters or an FM transmitter depending on your car stereo model.

So I re-encoded my MP3 into MP4 (because AAC sounds noticeably better) and haven't worried about it since. 



> The other thing I didn't do when I started using iTunes is that I didn't get all the music volume / level matched so when playing them back on my iPod they will have similar levels/volume. Is there a way of getting iTunes to do this now?


Yes. See the help file for information.


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## Benito (Nov 17, 2007)

Ah equalizing the volume was easy, thanks for redirecting me to the help section.

Regarding the burning of CD's, I wanted to be able to burn MP3 CD's for the car because the iPod is my partners so I don't get to use it much for the car, so I'd like to burn MP3 songs onto a CD so I can get loads of music in CD format for listening in the car. Is it hard to convert my iTunes to MP3 from MP4 so I can do this?

The iPod will still be in MP4 format because it syncs with my partner's computer's iTunes which is set on MP4 format.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

Benito said:


> Is it hard to convert my iTunes to MP3 from MP4 so I can do this?


You can mix and match MP4 and MP3 song files on the iPod and elsewhere, it doesn't matter.

Converting your MP4s to MP3 is easy. First, set the default encoding (in iTunes preferences) to MP3. Then select any song you'd like to convert, then go under the "Advanced" menu and select "convert to MP3." You can select multiple songs and do this all in a batch if you want.

At the end of the process you'll have two copies of each song. Just delete the MP4 version.

Please note this does NOT apply to any songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store that weren't "iTunes Plus."


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## Benito (Nov 17, 2007)

Thanks Chas! That was extremely helpful.


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