Converting wma to mp3

[Bentley]

I have 7200 wma files to be converted to mp3, what are the mistakes I should watch out for? I have looked at the file converter should permanent adjust volume be used and output to replace original file?

[redwing]

Can you explain why you want to do such conversion with those options? You do know converting to a lossy format degrades audio quality, right?

[frankz]

I have 7200 wma files to be converted to mp3, what are the mistakes I should watch out for?

As noted above, the mistake you should watch out for is converting from lossy format to lossy format at all.

[Bentley]

I have a Sony walkman it takes mp3's not wma. Transferring to a cloud storage takes less time and room. My conversion of  260 cassettes to digital is in mp3 is how my player(Tascam CD-A580) does it so having the the other half of my library in the same format is fine. I will select to a new folder for the wma's I converted to mp3 so I have both formats. Another reason mp3's for me is ok because of 40 years of working in noisy areas(hearing protection was worn) I have lost some details in higher frequencies because I hear a hiss and steady high frequency all the time.
For the permanent adjust volume is it a good thing to do? I have gone through a few and done analyze volume and there is up to 15db difference from album to album even track to track sometimes on a album.

[redwing]

Permanently adjust volume option is only useful when your portable device doesn't support ReplayGain while you keep your original files in your library. I guess that would be your situation as you said you're gonna keep the original WMA files. Otherwise, always better not to touch audio stream of the file at all.

You should use latest patch (either 3.1 or 3.2) for converting such a large number of files as there is a bug in older versions in that the continuous monitoring setting occasionally interferes with the encoding process.

http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V3_1/MusicBee31_Patched.zip
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V3_2/MusicBee32_Patched.zip
(Unzip and overwrite to your MB program folder)

[Bentley]

I am running 3.1 and tried earlier today to load patch 3.2 after I unzipped and run it and a message showing it wont run a patch on a patch I believe it was.

[redwing]

You should overwrite existing files in your MB program folder with the unzipped files.

[Bentley]

This what the message I get.
"MusicBee Startup Error
Unable to start MusicBee due to missing files. If you have installed a patch version, you need to unzip the patch zip file to a writeable folder and then copy the unzipped files, replacing the ones where MusicBee is installed."
What the patch version means unsure the app works fine so what files are missing I don't know, I would think it is a full version 3.1.6531.

[Bentley]

Could the problem 'bee' I was directed initially to Microsoft store where I got the app? I have gone to MB's site and downloaded the file from there and it shows up in the MB's folder now. If I run that exe file will I lose my thousands of tags that I have put in over the last few weeks?

[redwing]

So you were using MS Store version? That version doesn't work with the patch.
I'm not sure how you can transfer your settings from the store version to the non-store version.

If I run that exe file will I lose my thousands of tags that I have put in over the last few weeks?

Tags saved in files should be fine. And if you copy your previous library files folder to the new installation, you will be able to keep using your previous library.

[Bentley]

I installed the one that is not from the Microsoft store and all seems fine and the tags are all there. I tried to update to the new patch and it gives me the same message:
"MusicBee Startup Error
Unable to start MusicBee due to missing files. If you have installed a patch version, you need to unzip the patch zip file to a writeable folder and then copy the unzipped files, replacing the ones where MusicBee is installed."
I do have both the store version and the regular one so is this now causing this error still? I was going to uninstall the store version but it wants to uninstall the app and it's related info as well. Does this mean it could then remove the tags in this maneuver and whatever else I am not going to like gone?
Just to mention, redwing thanks much for your assistance.

[redwing]

Before removing the store version, make a copy of library files folder, just in case. But if the non-store version is working fine, removing it won't affect the other version.

If you keep getting the error message even after that, the way you apply the patch may not be correct. Overwriting existing files with the unzipped files shouldn't delete any existing files, so I'm not sure why you're getting such an error message.

[Bentley]

Took me a bit to get back, my PC crashed on an windows update after hours trying to boot, decided to reinstall BIOS then all is good.
I uninstalled the store version then executed the 32 patch and same message comes up. I never had problems with updating programs so why this is not working is confusing.

[phred]

I uninstalled the store version then executed the 32 patch and same message comes up. I never had problems with updating programs so why this is not working is confusing.

You say you uninstalled the store version, but you don't say if you installed the full version or just tried to run the patch. If the later, you need to install the version found on the MB site. -THEN- apply the patch. The patch can't/won't run by itself.

[Bentley]

https://getmusicbee.com/downloads/
This is where I downloaded the installer edition and clicked get MusicBee installer then selected the file to put it in(musicbee where all of it's files go into this folder). Just to indicate the version 3.1.6512 is what is shown in About MusicBee. Oh I did install it and reinstalled it again but still it does not let me install patch 32.