will amarok play .wav files? or how to convert to mp3?

[Matt Graham]

From: "Josef Lowder" <joe at actionline.com>
> Some time ago, I had also downloaded but never before tried to 
> play one .wma file and one .wav file.  Now I find that amarok 
> plays the .wma file fine, but not the .wav file. 
> 
> So, what is the difference between these various formats 
> and how can I convert the .wav file to an .mp3? 

WMA = Windows Media (Audio), I think.  WAV is actually a container
format (really!) but is almost always a header followed by uncompressed
PCM data, 16-bit, stereo, usually at 22050 or 44100 Hz.  MP3 is a
lossy (but pretty good if you're not an audiophool) compression scheme
for audio data.  You can easily turn WAV files into MP3s with lame
(Lame Ain't an MP3 Encoder).  If you don't like lame's command-line
interface, grip provides a GUI to both lame and cdparanoia (a program
for extracting audio data from audio CDs).  HTH,