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How To Convert iPhone Voice Memos to MP3 [VIDEO]

17 Sep
2009
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Here’s my process for taking Voice Memo recordings off my iPhone and editing them before I post them the the internet.
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How I edit Voice Memos after MP3 conversion

  1. In iTunes, select the voice memo you want to edit
  2. Go to “Advanced” and select “Create MP3 Version”
  3. Right click on the newly created file to view the file location
  4. Copy the file into Audacity for editing

The audio recording quality of the iPhone 3G S has been beyond wonderful and enables me to capture my public speaking events quickly and easily. I just hit “record” and put my iPhone on the speaking table. This time, I asked the other speakers if it was okay first as I want to respect people’s choices. I then email them once I finish uploading and we all benefit from having working samples!

Not sure how to get the MP3 option to show up in iTunes?

I’ve made a video for you!

Instructions can be found on the new blog post showing how to change your iTunes settings to allow new imports and conversions to happen in mp3 format

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View Comments to How To Convert iPhone Voice Memos to MP3 [VIDEO]

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Stacey

September 27th, 2009 at 1:46 am

Thank you! I couldn't figure out where to find my darn MP3! Much appreciated.

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TxGeorod

October 13th, 2009 at 6:55 am

My ITUNES does not have the MP3 option under advanced ? ITUNES 9.01

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TxGeorod

October 13th, 2009 at 6:59 am

Thanks, I had to set the import settings in itunes preferences to the format i want to create….Yea for you!!! ButYour A Girl……;)

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Andrea

November 30th, 2009 at 10:52 am

How do you get the voice memos INTO itunes? That is what I cannot figure out…it seems it would be a sync of an application but I cannot figure out which one without the warnings iTunes is going to over-write my data and applications in my phone. Hrmpf.

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adriarichards

November 30th, 2009 at 11:54 am

Andrea,

The setting for the sync is listed below. Have you not ever synced with
your computer? Is it a different computer?

http://www.apple.com/iphone/how-to/index.html#v...

Sync the Voice Memos playlist to iPhone:

1.

Connect iPhone to your computer.
2.

In iTunes, select iPhone in the sidebar.
3.

Select the Music tab.
4.

Select the “Include voice memos” checkbox and click Apply.

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Cav

January 6th, 2010 at 10:05 pm

You are awesome!! Thank you so much for making this video. You saved me.

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adriarichards

January 6th, 2010 at 10:07 pm

you're welcome *smile*

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Sarah Auerswald

January 10th, 2010 at 11:12 pm

You are a great teacher! I needed this help and you very helpfully provided it! So glad I found you!

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dlc

January 15th, 2010 at 8:56 pm

found you by googling. I'm trying to convert my voice memos to mp3 but there is no setting in itunes as you have described. Is it the difference between the 3G and 3Gs? or PC and Mac difference?

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adriarichards

January 15th, 2010 at 9:42 pm

This was done on a PC with my 3GS.

What do you have and are you on a Mac?

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gucci2sale

February 2nd, 2010 at 9:54 pm

Thanks for posting this. Very nice recap of some of the key points in my talk. I hope you and your readers find it useful! Thanks again.

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mohenko

February 4th, 2010 at 7:47 am

Top tip, thank you. Only works for mp3, not .wav or AIFF files (in Logic 8).

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gucci wallets

February 20th, 2010 at 8:23 pm

Is it the difference between the 3G and 3Gs? or PC and Mac difference?

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Buffy Hamilton

February 27th, 2010 at 10:48 am

I don't have the “convert to MP3″ option in iTunes either, and I have the latest version of iTunes (PC). I am thinking this only works for the very latest iPhone 3Gs, not for those of us with 3G. This royally bites—how can you edit the longer voice memos without the MP3 option to pull into Audacity?

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adriarichards

February 27th, 2010 at 3:37 pm

Buffy,

The “Convert to MP3″ will not show up until you make the change in iTunes to
have “mp3″ be your conversion preference.

It doesn't matter if you have an iPod, iPod Touch, iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G or
iPhone 3GS.

You need to go into the iTunes settings and change the conversion preference

Making a video now

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adriarichards

February 27th, 2010 at 4:38 pm

No difference. Mac has Preferences in a different area. It's under “iTunes

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adriarichards

February 27th, 2010 at 4:39 pm

George,

Great! I've now made a video as well

New video and instructions posted

iTunes Convert To Mp3 iPhone Voice Memos From
M4a<http://butyoureagirl.com/2010/02/27/itunes-convert-to-mp3-iphone-voice-memos-from-m4a/>

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iTunes Convert To Mp3 iPhone Voice Memos From M4a | But You're A Girl

February 27th, 2010 at 4:31 pm

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pavansura

March 9th, 2010 at 2:32 am

It's little confusing. In window's, from itunes top menu, go to Edit -> Preferences -> General Tab -> Import Settings -> Import Using… Select “MP3 Encoder from the dropdown. Save changes.

Select your memo and now you can see “Create MP3 version” under the Advanced menu option.

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adriarichards

March 9th, 2010 at 8:40 am

That's the correct process.

Confusing + Technology = Human Curse?

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Disha

March 25th, 2010 at 11:20 am

Fantastic! Much appreciated!! :)

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Tammie

April 13th, 2010 at 10:53 am

Thank you, this was exactly what I needed.
Now to figure out why my friend who I email his song to can not open the MP3 on his PC. He thinks it is an Apple/PS incompatibility. I think he is missing the right program. If anyone knows…. please enlighten me.

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Jorge Coelho

April 22nd, 2010 at 10:30 am

Works perfectly!!! Thank you very much. God Bless you!

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adriarichards

April 22nd, 2010 at 11:05 am

He should be able to open an .mp3 just fine. Make sure before you email it,
it has the proper file extension of .mp3. Sometimes Macs will forget. He
can also download the file and add the extension.

To play an .mp3. He simply needs iTunes, VLC or Winamp.

Good luck!

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Bill Pierson

April 25th, 2010 at 2:13 pm

I did what you suggested but the convert to mp3 is still grayed out.
help!

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Mark H

April 30th, 2010 at 9:16 pm

Thanks! Converted over an hour of toads singing in our back yard. We have over 20 this year and it's amazing :) Nice sleep aid recording!

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Christi

May 8th, 2010 at 4:56 pm

Yay! So easy with your help! Thanks!

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J.J.

May 13th, 2010 at 2:02 pm

Thank you so very much! I was getting very frustrated at not being able to transfer all my voice memos to a workable format. Awesome help! You made my day! No, make that my month!

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Cris

May 16th, 2010 at 3:50 pm

I'm using the QuickVoice app to record some classes and I also have a U2 concert. how can I access the recordings?
I would like to transfer all the recordings to my computer as a mp3 file.
Thanks for your help!

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newerahats

June 2nd, 2010 at 9:12 pm

Fantastic website (http://www.goahats.com) I will bookmark it and come back later. Thanks for posting this. Very nice recap of some of the key points in my talk. I hope you and your readers find it useful! discount new era hats Thanks again
red bull energy hats

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amess <3

June 6th, 2010 at 11:40 am

thank you, this was very helpful :-)

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adriarichards

July 5th, 2010 at 4:35 pm

J.J.

Glad to hear it!

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Ada

July 13th, 2010 at 9:10 am

Thank you Adria! This is very helpful!

But I have this problem where, after i convert to mp3, the mp3 file disappears immediately — i can see it existing in the folder WHILE it is being converted, but then it simply disappears — as soon as the conversion is finished — before I can open it in audacity. I wonder if this has ever happened to you, or if you have any advice…?

Thank you in any case!

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Ada

July 13th, 2010 at 9:16 am

ignore the above comment, i solved the problem. it was moving the mp3s to a different location for some reason, and i found them.

Thank you so so very very much for doing this! This will change my life.

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Lesly Simmons

July 13th, 2010 at 7:57 pm

Thanks for the helpful video! I've been trying to convert a bunch of concert recordings and this did the trick!

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adriarichards

July 13th, 2010 at 10:45 pm

You're welcome all you folks who left comments today!

I better start making more videos!!!

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Lesly Simmons

July 14th, 2010 at 1:57 am

Thanks for the helpful video! I've been trying to convert a bunch of concert recordings and this did the trick!

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adriarichards

July 14th, 2010 at 4:45 am

You're welcome all you folks who left comments today!

I better start making more videos!!!

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Wzr675

August 2nd, 2010 at 1:00 am

Your videos are the most informative, easy to understand, to the point tutorials I've ever seen! Thanks!

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flowergirl

August 8th, 2010 at 4:57 pm

When I changed the setting to mp3, an error message showed up that I did not have authorization to do this. I hit ok, and it seemed to work anyway. I converted my voice memos to mp3 files, but when i closed itunes and then tried ti reopen it, the same error came up and now i cannot open itunes at all. I am going to try and reinstall it. Anyone have this problem???

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DentedSoap

August 12th, 2010 at 4:11 am

Read ya article, saw the vid, determined ya voice was sexy,
Beauty and brains taught me how to covert mp3s, test me!
So this goes out to you girl! tweet first then text me!
Cuz you so fly flavor and impressive, nestle

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