MP3 players: Which Format Would It Be Best To Convert DRM Protected WMAs?

Use highest available bitrate

Using Tunebite, you are not performing a conversion of the original wma file; you are creating a new file that Tunebite makes from recording the wma file being played through a music player. Tunebite listens to the output of your sound card. Presumably, you are referring to Napster wma files at 192K, and you (or rather Tunebite itself in this example) are playing them through WMPlayer 10 or 11, Napster 4, etc., while Tunebite records the output. Therefore, there is no illegal stripping of DRM. The second part of your question involves choosing a file format and bitrate suitable to you and available through Tunebite. The simplest but more laborious answer is to perform your own tests. Make recordings of one music file at three or four bitrate settings, e.g. wma: 128-160-192; mp3: 160-192-256-320, then judge the best. When you make a conversion of a compressed music file to another format, such as when you import a wma file into iTunes and convert it to AAC or MP3, you are effectively applying another layer of compression to it during the resampling. A 192kbps wma or MP3 file is small in size because it has stripped the original music file (at 1411kbps) of all but 14% (approx.) of the data (music material). You will strip more through additional conversions (transcodings), and that is the "downside". Although you are not "converting" a file using Tunebite, nevertheless you are effectively resampling already compressed musical material; the new file will always suffer audio deterioration. Although it is unavoidable, you need to keep deterioration to a minimum. If you CAN hear well and do notice shifts in sound quality, I suggest you perform a listening test and decide for yourself. If audio quality differences are noticeable but no need to test, then choose the highest bit rate available in the format you select (192K for wma, 360K for MP3 and so forth). If sound quality differences do NOT matter to you, pick the format you like and choose the medium bitrate setting. Using Tunebite to make MP3s suitable to my hearing, I sacrifice size for audio fidelity and choose MP3 360kbps. I choose MP3 because it is the current de facto standard and universally playable. Hope this helps.