Software for converting?!

[piratemeister]

I always use Mp3, also because is compatible to all platform.

[anon]

I always use Mp3, also because is compatible to all platform.

Install vanilla Ubuntu on your PC and try to play an MP3 audio file. See what happens.

You can install the codec, however, and Linux Mint comes bundled with those.

---------- Post added at 15:34 ---------- Previous post was at 15:31 ----------

I downloaded two albums, I think they're ripped from iTunes, and they're not in MP3 format, but in M4A. Now the bitrate is 256kbps, and I want to convert them to mp3. What I wanna know, should I convert it also in 256kbps or is AAC codec superior?

There was a method to convert M4A files to something else without transcoding, which decreases quality.

[dreamer]

regarding the 256 question, 256 to 256 in any format (mp3 or aac for that matter) doesn't mean the content remains exactly the same.

every transcode consists of 2 stages:
1. decode
2. encode

so it doesn't really matter matter, encoding it in 320 will also decrease the quality a little bit. every transcode does.
after the first encode (to aac in your case), information is already being cut. any further encode will decrease the quality too, but not in a level that makes a different to the average ear.

for the aac question: AAC is better than MP3 on paper. but in high bitrates there is hardly a difference.
read thoroughly here: Advanced Audio Coding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

AAC and HE-AAC are better than MP3 at low bit rates (typically less than 128 kilobits per second).... However, as bit rate increases, the efficiency of an audio format becomes less important relative to the efficiency of the encoder's implementation, and the intrinsic advantage AAC holds over MP3 no longer dominates audio quality.

I'd personally keep it in AAC.
if you're worried about compatibility issues, and still want to have good quality, get another copy of the album (if mp3 isn't available, grab flac and encode it to mp3, there's only 1 transcoding here because flac is lossless)

There was a method to convert M4A files to something else without transcoding, which decreases quality.

which way? I might be unaware but normally you need to decode the file to wav and encode it back again to mp3 (with LAME)

[anon]

which way? I might be unaware but normally you need to decode the file to wav and encode it back again to mp3 (with LAME)

Correct, but this didn't convert to MP3, it rather extracted the audio stream on the M4A container to whatever format it's on.