Hey Susannah ~ do you have RMP on your machine? I get a message that says I need the software that is required to play RM files on the machine in order to convert. It tells me to DL a new version of RMP.
Mernin', Star!
"Hey Susannah ~ do you have RMP on your machine? I get a message that says I need the software that is required to play RM files on the machine in order to convert. It tells me to DL a new version of RMP."
Yes, I have RMP because it came with my computer, but I don't have the upgrades or all the plug-ins that some sites require to play their music.
If your main reason for being interested in the "Switch" program is to convert real audio files, then I would suggest getting the free version of the real player.
Prior to seeing how well the Switch tool works, I was using another totally freeware program (Real7ime Converter) that converted real audio to wav format. I've only used twice since I found the Switch program, and once the Real7ime converted the real audio to wav I was able to use Switch to convert the wav to mp3.
Real7ime takes longer to convert a file (about as long as the song takes to play) and it only converts real audio files to wav format.
I honestly don't know if Real7ime requires Real Player in order to work, but I'll post the info I have for that program too:
Installing Real7ime is simple, just unzip the file.
For WinXP like mine, that amounts to:
1. double-click the zip file
2. double-click the R7C.exe
3. click on the "extract all" option when the message shows up
Real7ime Converter will not show up in the programs section of your start menu, so it's best to just put the folder on your desktop for easy access after you unzip it.
To open the program, go into the folder and double-click on the R7C.exe...then a message will pop up and you'll need to click on "run" for it to open.
In the "Options" tab of the converter, choose "Sound only (WAV) from the drop down choices in the "Convert" section.
To the right of the Output line, there is a tab labeled "...",click on that to choose the folder the converted files will be sent to.
It's best to choose a file other than where most of your
music is so that you can check the file before you place it in with your other music.
After the conversion is complete, there will be a message in the window box saying ">Ready to be used."
Check the finished file to make sure it plays properly.
There's a small box labeled "Preview", but I see nothing that it's useful for. Ignore it!
I don't know if the feature called "URL Fetcher" works or not.
If you have the real media plug-in feature, you might want to try putting the URL for a .ram file that can't be downloaded in the URL line and try it.
"streaming" real audio will only convert while you are
connected to the internet and only if the file can be downloaded.
When you right-click for a download and the download begins, you'll notice the download message will tell you how big the file is and if it's less than 100KB it's usually not going to be something you can listen to without an internet connection unless you convert it to another format (exceptions are usually some theme songs or cartoons).
After downloading a real audio file, left-click once on the file and then right-click to choose properties. In the properties, click on the "summary" tab and type the title and artist of the file in the title section along with any notes in the comments section...then click apply. It's best to add the title and artist in the properties section of the real audio file BEFORE converting it to a wav because you can't add that info to the properties section
of a wav file. Before converting the file, you can then go to the properties section and copy the title info so that you can paste it into the "Output" section before converting the file to wav format.
Be sure the ".wav" is after the file name before pressing the "Go" tab to convert it.
Before opening the converter, move downloaded real audio files to the edges of the desktop screen so that when the converter opens you can more easily drag the files into it.
Use "drag and drop" to place downloaded real audio files into the converter. Left-click to highlight the real audio file, then hold your mouse on the file and move it into the window box of the converter, then let loose of the mouse to let it "drop" into the box. The file will stay on your desktop, butwill automatically name the "URL" line box in the converter.
If an error message pops up stating "cannot overwrite file",
try entering a one-word title and then try again. You can
rename the file after it's converted.
The program is completely free to use and distribute.
http://www.etplanet.com/download/details.php?file=210
Real7ime Converter 1.1 (277 KB zip file)
converts .ra , .ram , and .rm files to .wav files
If the real audio file can be played without an internet connection, it can also be converted to wav format without an internet connection.
By the way, here's my latest favorite site for downloadable real audio:
http://www.helenwick1935.addr.com/d_july4th.html
16 patriotic songs in real audio to stream or download,
plus a menu to go to other sections/categories of music on the site for more than a thousand songs.
Even though I already have most of the patriotic songs in mp3 that were at the site, I still downloaded some of them just to see if they could be converted. I was having some problems converting some of my real audio files that were of the .rm variety, but the ones I downloaded from the above site converted in less than a minute each. I just downloaded to my desktop, opened the Switch program and used 'drag and drop' to place it in the program window ..... pressed "Convert" and had a full-length 128kbps mp3 in less than one minute. Drag and drop, by the way, does not move the file from the desktop in this case, it merely adds the file's name and location to the program for conversion.