Best free WMA file converter?

[bevills1]

What's the best free WMA file converter that converts WMA files to CDA or other file type that can be burned to CD and play on all players? I tried 1 called Switch that works but decoding is very slow. Are all such file converters slow while decoding?

[MOVIEGEEK]

Most burn software(eg Nero,WMP 9+) supports WMA to make audio CD's.
Very few support converting WMA to another format because of license restrictions.

[bevills1]

I tried making audio CD using Nero, but resulting CD doesn't play in standalone CD players. Is WMP 9+ a separate program not included in Nero 6 Ultra which must be purchased separately?

[MOVIEGEEK]

WMP=Windows Media Player,versions 9+ have a burning plugin.
Did you buy the songs online?If so you can't convert to audio CD.

[deckard8]

GX Transcoder is the best free audio converter software I've ever used.
Converts audio pretty much anything to anything.

http://www.germanixsoft.de/joomla/index.php

[bevills1]

The WMA files are recording of a lecture recorder to a portable recorder which was then transferred to PC. Do you mean creating audio CD in Nero should work only if WMP 9 or higher is installed? That would mean Nero uses something in WMP to create audio CD that will play on standalone CD players. Is that correct? I have WMP 7.1, and upgrade to WMP 9+ whould make it possible to create audio CD that will play on standalone player if this is correct.

[bevills1]

GX Transcoder doesn't recognize CD, DVD or USB drives, but that's easily solved by copying files to hard drive folder. Program works great and much faster than the Switch program I tried.

However, the conversion to MP3 plays on DVD player but not on car CD player. GX Transcoder has more than a dozen file type choices to which to convert including WAV which I think I've seen somewhere. Which is the most compatible file type for CD players?

[MOVIEGEEK]

GX Transcoder doesn't recognize CD, DVD or USB drives, but that's easily solved by copying files to hard drive folder. Program works great and much faster than the Switch program I tried.

However, the conversion to MP3 plays on DVD player but not on car CD player. GX Transcoder has more than a dozen file type choices to which to convert including WAV which I think I've seen somewhere. Which is the most compatible file type for CD players?

Does your CD player support MP3?If so make sure you encode >64kbps/44.1khz/16bit/CBR,also use data when burning NOT audio CD.
When you burn an audio CD the program will auto convert the files to PCM.

[bevills1]

MP3, WMA and AAC fail to play on portable and car CD players. Does anybody know if there's a file type that plays on all players?

[cowgoo]

By the sounds of it, both players are just cd players, so the only format that will work is pcm.

[ViRaL1]

I'm pretty sure (not 100% certain) that WMP should be able to do it without any issues. As far as Nero goes, make sure you're choosing to burn an Audio CD, not an MP3 CD or WMA CD. It should do the conversion for you.