What is RAM2MP3?

RAM2MP3 is a command line script (for Windows PC) that helps convert Real Media streams to MP3, so you can listen to the converted audio anywhere you can listed to MP3s, for example on your iPod. It is really just a short script that ties together 2 programs, Mplayer (to download the Real Audio to your PC) and LAME (to convert the audio to an MP3). (Please note I am not taking credit for writing this software, I am merely tying together 2 packages and simplyfing the conversion process with a small script.)

How is it set up?

  1. First install Mplayer with the Real Audio Codecs (to "c:\program files\mplayer\". You have to install the Real Audio codecs seperately-- they are not installed by default with Mplayer. If you get errors with Mplayer decoding, it's probably because the Real codec isn't installed properly.
  2. Next download the LAME binaries lame.exe and lame_enc.dll. Extract the files and put those 2 files in your PATH, for example "c:\windows\system32" or "c:\winnt\system32".
  3. Last, save this file as RAM2MP3.BAT to a directory in your PATH, for example "c:\windows\system32" or "c:\winnt\system32".

How does it work?

Command line usage: 

RAM2MP3 [RAM URL] [Outfile MP3] [optional MP3 preset]

MP3 presets (default is voice):