Tunebite DRM Removal and Media Conversion Software Review

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Tunebite220plHave you ever wanted to copy a song or DVD to your iPod or cell phone and couldn’t because of the DRM protection? Typically the only way around this is to illegally remove the DRM protection. For those of you who are not familiar yet, there is a program from RS Audials called Tunebite that can legally remove the protection and allow you to convert the files to different formats.

tune shot

Let me start by saying I spent a fair amount of time playing around with this program, and once you actually get the hang of it, for the most part it’s a pretty handy tool for anyone that is into music or video.
Like I said “for the most part”. Before I get into what the program can actually do for you, I need to let everyone know that figuring out how to navigate the program is in my opinion pretty difficult. There are no instructions so you basically have to learn as you go. Once you figure out that Tunebite is basically a click and drag operation then you can really get into what this bad boy can do.

tunebite

First of all this program can convert DRM protected audio and video into unprotected formats such as mp3, ogg, wma, wmv, wav, mp4 or 3gp for your cell etc. It does all of this LEGALLY and without breaking the copy protection. It uses virtual sound card drivers to record a high quality duplicate of the original. The audio duplicates do not change in size due to the fact that you are only copying it. The same goes for most video that you record as well. However when you copy a DVD it does get smaller in size due to the conversion process. How small, actually depends on which format you are converting to. As for the sound and viewing quality, I never noticed a single difference. The videos that I copied turned out very crisp and clean. Obviously the picture quality is going to be a bit different depending on what type of device you are viewing it on and how good the resolution of that particular screen is. The only down fall is the conversion process tends to take a pretty long time. But the end result is worth it. And the conversion time also depends on how many files are being converted at a time, the fewer files the less time it takes.

Tunebite Platinum includes a CD burning feature to create audio CDs from your playlists. One very cool feature is the fact that it has a ringtone creator that enables you to create ringtones for your cell phone. No more paying to download that one song. And you can even pick the specific part of the song you want. Another great feature is the fact that you can synchronize your mobile device. By syncing your cell you will always have a backup of your most precious information. And the backup process on that actually only took a few minutes. But again the more information you are backing up the longer it is going to take.

Another plus is the fact that the program is compatible with DRM protected files from iTunes, Windows media and Audible. So anything you download form those sites are easily converted with no problems. And to top that off Tunebite will automatically populate your music with id3 tags, album art and lyrics.

tunebite2

And now for the kicker for anyone that listens to streaming internet radio which I am guessing is the majority of us, this program will actually run in the background and automatically record what you are listening to and store it as an mp3 file. It also does the same for any streaming video as well.

Overall I would say that Tunebite Platinum is a must have for music lovers. Once you get past the initial awkwardness of learning how to navigate through the program, it is actually very fun and extremely useful. If you are in the market for new music or new videos and you do not want to dish out the potential 1000’s of dollars it could cost to build a decent library, then how about dishing out the $24.90 for Tunebite Platinum and you can copy and record all the music and video you want and its 100% LEGAL. To start a collection that most people would drool over just go to www.tunebite.com

 

Product Information

Price:$24.90
Manufacturer:RS Audials
Pros:
  • Quality conversions
  • Inexpensive
  • Save a ton of money
Cons:
  • Hard to navigate at first
  • Long conversion times
  • No instructions

15 thoughts on “Tunebite DRM Removal and Media Conversion Software Review”




  1. Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
  2. This is NOT legal. Circumventing the copy protection in any shape or form is illegal, even if that method is recording off the playing song. Using a virtual sound card is the same thing as holding a microphone up to your speakers.

    The only way to remove copy protection from, say iTunes purchased tracks, is to pay the 30 cents per track to “upgrade” them to iTunes Plus.

  3. I have tried similar software before, but I am not sure if the quality will be the same due to the virtual sound card and you are basically rerecording the media again. It’s almost like copying an old skool tape to tape. I avoid buying anything that has DRM build-in, for MP3 I buy them from Amazon so I get a DRM Free version for Music Videos, I buy them from iTunes Plus.

  4. paying for a DRM free version is: legalized extortion. if you paid for it, you own it! i don’t believe in licensing software as much because it like region coding: it’s artificial trade embargo. i really don’t agree with M$ when say: xbox owners are licensing their systems and don’t own them hence making it illegal to modify thier box physically even to prevent overheating. the difference with tunebite is that you pay someone else for the equivalent tool that enables APPLE to charge you a la carte. diff here is that the money is paid once and the CORP big dogs don’t get the cut! good tool, because i can’t see my self paying $60 bucks for an ebook that suicides in 6 months because i “licensed” and the same book used and new is the same price.
    http://preview.tinyurl.com/fixedpricingcollegebooks

  5. Um, not sure what happened on the post, but my response was that this is not legal, and if the author has some argument that it is, he should include more than “This is LEGAL!” in the article.

  6. while it may be possible that re-recording the protected mp3 files and whatever may not be illegal, as it is not removing the DRM to access the files, the fact that it can record internet radio makes me pretty damn sure it is. Simply for the fact that the music on those stations is provided on a streaming license, not a purchase license, so recording that stream is illegal. Just the same as the cassette days, so who knows if they will ever actually go after anyone for it, but seems like a dubious claim to me.

  7. I say it’s legal, of course if u keep the files for your personal use and don’t start sharing them on god knows what websites.I agree with fuchikoma:wtf pay twice for the same thing , in the case of Itunes for example, just because they decided that if u wanna upgrade u have to pay some additional fee.
    I actually find this app pretty useful,it helped me convert, besides the drm’ed files, a ton of stuff I needed to put on my phone.

  8. I am very glad that julie posted the link about the legalities. Now as far as everyone condeming the author or the people who use this program, you guys really need to do more research before getting all defensive over something that in no way affects you personally. I have been using this program ever since I started the review and I love it. Im sure all of you have a TIVO or DVR right? and you use it to record shows for you to watch later. Well this program is the same exact idea as that. As long as you are not distributing the recorded media then you are absolutley not doing anything illegal!

  9. Orson J,
    I have been learning different things you can do with this program everytime I use it. If you come across a feature that you think is cool or useful be sure to shoot me an email so I too can check it out if I haven’t already!

    Thanks

  10. As it does not break the DRM, this software degrades sound quality by making two conversions: digital to analog then analog to digital.

  11. I’m sorry, but I’ve read the sections of the DMCA quoted on the link above, and I cannot for the life of me see how this company can claim that their product does not infringe it. The product is marketed for the sole purpose of defeating DRM, and doing so is clearly stated as illegal under the DMCA.

    OK, it does it in a clunky fashion without needing to reverse-engineer the DRM, or to decrypt any keys, but it’s still not legal under the very terms of the DMCA they quote on their website.

    Leaving all that aside, this product will significantly degrade audio quality – it’s not (as the poster above said) doing a D-A conversion followed by an A-D conversion, as it works entirely in the digital domain, but it is even worse – it is doing decompression from a lossy format and then recompressing in another lossy format. Two lots of lossy compression is really not a good idea.

    So, it’s illegal, and it damages the sound quality. If you’re that bothered by DRM, buy tracks from an online service that don’t use it, or just buy CDs – which is what I do! I hate DRM, and wouldn’t pay for DRM-ed content in the first place, but products like this aren’t the answer.

  12. It’s pointless arguing whether it is legal or not, someone said that “Law rules the poor, while the richs rule the law”, right?

    As a consumer, I think it is my due right to have the full usage rights of the purchased music or movie to which I’d paid good money, should I be deprived by those big lable or the manipulating Apple iTunes?

    Back to the subject, although Tunebite is very popular with its powerful function, I still choose this DRM Removal Software which is even more easy-to-handle
    http://www.all-media-converter.com/media-converter.html#136

  13. Thanks for the write-up on Tunebite.

    I have tried Tunebite, SoundTaxi, and a few other products to convert from DRM-protected MP3 to non-DRM protected versions.

    Generally, they work okay, but the loss in sound quality is pretty significant.

    Now, I have changed to simply finding my favorite songs on YouTube and then using an online service like http://www.convert-youtube.org to convert from YouTube video to downloadable MP3 file. It’s free and is quite fast too.

    Just like with most of these software products, they let you choose the bitrate for the audio conversions, though it will obviously be limited to the quality of the original source file on YouTube.

    Just my 2 cents.

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