Doing a search for software to convert wma files to mp3 brings several choices.

Does anyone have any recommendations based on experience?

Thanks for any help!

I personally like the Xilisoft audio converter. Just google it for a download. It supports pretty much every file format I have ever used and allows for quite a bit of tinkering. It has a little bit of a learning curve but it is relatively simple as long as you only convert to mp3.

The trial version allows for unlimited uses, but has a nag screen that you have to click through after every file is converted. Also, you can only have 5 files per session (you have to restart the program after that).

For mp3 encoding, make sure you select the LAME encoder in the drop down selection in the main window. You can click Settings and change the bit rate if you so desire. I typically use VBR (variable bit rate) recording with a minimum of 128 and a max of 320 and a quality setting of 3 or so.

Just remember that wma files are usually a bit smaller than mp3's (at least in my experience).

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/
You would want the Music Converter. I belive it is still free.
Sorry would post more but am on my BB.

Thanks to you both.

I did not realize wma would yeild smaller files than mp3.

The reason I want to do this is to put some recorded books on my iPod. As I understand it, wms cannot be imported to iPod.

I just converted from wma to wav then to mp3 via a loooooong process with the softward I currently have, and am looking to skip that.

Interesting. I just installed the dbpoweramp and the wma converter.

Won't work on the voice file as it is "encrypted." Any ideas?

Basically, this is a book I downloaded through my public library. By playing it and simultaneously recording it in "GoldWave", I got it to a .wav file, and then was able to convert to mp3 through RazorLame.

But the wma --> wav had to be in real time: 11 hours!

Any ideas appreciated.

would also recommend DBpoweramp. I think the latest version has now become a demo. So here's a link to a previous version: dbpoweramp

So easy to use. You can right click on audio files and just choose what you want to convert them to. You can also get a add-ons to convert to other lossless formats such as FLAC.

Since you are working with a wms file you probably only have two options:
1. Play the file and record the music as you so did
2. Make an audio CD with Windows Media Player.

If you make an audio CD you can then open up itunes and then rip them.

How much smaller are WMA files vs comparable MP3 files? Is it worth it to consider another player over the iPod on the basis of WMA compatibility?

At a given bitrate, it's no smaller. Some people claim that WMA sounds better than MP3, and therefore can use a lower bitrate, resulting in smaller files. Once you get to 128 or 192 kbps, most people can't tell the difference in quality, and the file sizes will be within a few percent of each other.

To the OP, the fastest way to convert encrypted WMA's is to burn them to CD first.

murphy and mrmakochan, thanks!

Thing is that I was hoping to do this with recorded books I download from the web.

At 11 hours of reading/listening time, the number of CDs and my actual time is a factor.

I guess unless there is another idea out there, I will convert them to wav in real time the way I described and then use lame to convert to mp3.

Fastest way...

Burn the WMAs using Nero or something to an Audio CD
Rip the CD using whatever you want like iTunes back into MP3 format

That's the fastest way without getting into lots of different apps. Of course, if you don't have a CD burner... well... Oh well.