Use iTunes 7.4 To Import (Almost) Anything as a Ringtone [Updated]

Nope - doesn't work (at least for me)

it works for me!! if your file is an mp3 you can change it to a .m4a by going into itunes and going under advanced and clicking consolidate to AAc which will let you use that song. Then do the finder stuff.

This is a post for the people that our having problems creating Ringtones with the updated iTunes (v 7.4). This is the way I am doing it. It is by no means the ONLY way, but it is a way that works for me as well as keep everything organized.

(1) Select your song. If you want to edit it (picking a particular starting and ending point) you can use the method described in earlier posts (see below) or with some free audio programs. I am on a MAC and like Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) but there are others.

(2) Create a folder titled "iPhone Ringtones" so you can keep track of all your Ringtones and come back to them if you need to. This also keeps all of your files neat and tidy and causes less confusion as to where your files are.

(3) If you are using the "itunes" method, select your original song in iTunes. Select "Get Info" in itunes. Click on the "Options" tab. Here you can increase the volume as well as select a starting and ending point for your song.

If you are using this method, you can skip step 4.

(4) If you are using an audio editing program, edit your song and then export as an AIFF or WAV file. Export the song to your "iPhone Ringtones" folder

(5) Open your exported song in iTunes. Select your song and right-click (if you don't have a right-click mouse, use control-click). Select "Convert Selection to AAC." This option is available to me because I have my settings under "Preferences/Advanced/Importing" to "Import Using AAC Encoder." Once it is done converting, right-click the converted song and select "Show in Finder." This will reveal where the song is located on your hard drive. Move the song to your designated "iPhone Ringtones folder" that I told you to create in step 2. If this is merely copying the file and not actually moving it, delete the original file if you don't want duplicates all over the place. Again, this keeps things nice and tidy.

(6) Delete the MP3 playlist file (the one you used BEFORE converting it to AAC) as well as the converted AAC playlist file from iTunes. This will keep iTunes from having several different directories for the same song, keeping things tidy and neat as well as keeping you from having a headache on keeping track of where everything is.

(7) Create a playlist on iTunes called "iPhone Ringtones." This is also for convenience sakes. It will help you have easy access to your Ringtones "playlist" and be the only place where iTunes keeps a directory of your Ringtones items (besides the Ringtones tab).

(8) In the finder, select the song you converted to AAC and press "Command-I" (or right-click and select "Get Info.") and IN THE GET INFO WINDOW (NOT the finder) change the extension of this file to "m4r" - IMPORTANT - Do NOT change the extension name in the finder. IT might appear as m4r in the name, but if you Get Info on this file, you will notice that the file now has TWO extension to it (i.e. "Start Me up.m4r.mr4") which REALLY confuses iTunes as well your iPhone.

**The song HAS to be in an AAC format FIRST before proceeding to renaming the extension. MP3s do NOT work. Repeat, MP3s do NOT work.

(9) Select your mp4 (lowercase works just fine) song and drag it into your "iPhone Ringtones" playlist in iTunes.

(10) Now sync up your iPhone, select the "Ringtones" tab. Select your songs and you should be good to go.

Hope this helps.

Okay, I am the Unregistered that complained a minute ago but I figured it out. I did *not* have the Finder Preferences > Advanced > Show All File Extensions enabled...

This is key, even if your files show up with the .m4a extension, if this Finder preference is turned off, the file system will simply think you are renaming the song to "01 Songname.m4r.m4a"

Instead, make sure this Finder preference is enabled and I can assure this worked for me on my MacBook.

Okay....

Now I have got the stuff in the Ringtones folder on Itunes....but none of them are showing up as options on Iphone.

Thoughts, feelings, emotions?

I did indeed.

Here are step by step instructions from scratch. This is the method i use and it has worked quite well. It is for a Mac only.

Make sure you have iTunes 7.4.

Create a folder called Ringtones in your iTunes Music folde

Open iTunes and GarageBand

Now either drag songs from iTunes in to Garageband or drag any audio file Garageband can play in.

Edit to your desire

Once you have the audio clip the way you want it click on "Share" in the menu bar and go to "export to disk" Export the file as AAC and save it wherever you want.

Go to the location you saved the newly created AAC file and either right click or hit Command-i to take you to the "Get Info" window. Scroll down to the "Name & Extension" field and change the extension to .m4r. It willl probably ask you if you're sure.

Now either double click the .m4r file or copy it to the "Ringtones" folder you made in your iTunes Music folder.

They should now appear in the ringtones tab of your iPhone syncing info


I don't know how to change the name or delete ringtones once they're in itunes. If anyone finds out let us know.

Just did this, works great! Takes a little more effort than iToner etc. but now my ringtones won't get deleted every time I sync my phone, and I don't have to pay the ridiculous Apple double-charge to use my own damn music for ringtones.

Caveat: Be *sure* you go to your finder > preferences > advanced and select "show all file extensions" if you don't this will NOT work. You'll understand why when you do it

It didn't work for me either as long as I left my converted AAC files in iTunes. So I copied my new AAC files to the Desktop then RENAMED them as .m4r

I then DELETED the AAC .m4a files from WITHING the iTunes app to insure they were no longer in the iTunes Music Library list nor in the Music/iTunes/x folders.

Once gone you can double-click the new .m4r files and they will work, create a RingTone folder, Synch with the iPhone and all that good stuff...

iTunes sees them as in it's library as AAC even after you rename their extension so you have to remove them completely from iTunes before the double-click of the new .m4r file(s).

Ok so i read this thread
and got jazzed.

Futzed around a bit
(it seems iTunes likes the AAC
from the Advanced menu best)
and created the Ringtones folder.

Somehow, iTunes 7.4.1 (new version
7 Sept 07 pm EST) seems to have
"eaten" my ringtones folder.

I am trying this on my crappy yet
trusty PPC TiBook, but beware/make
sure to import the ringtones into
itunes (anyway) before converting
then copy from the file structure
into a Ringtones folder.

Foob

Still not sure what happened to my Ringtones folder
but i have achieved RingTone.

the RingTone has landed.

Foob, squashing his own rumor

Spoon....Thanks for following up. But my problem is this: I have done everything right (I think) and created m4r files and deleted the orig AAC files and, and, and..... and now have a Ringtones Tab on my sync options, with all the ringtones I created in them.....BUT they don't show up on the Iphone, and I have synced it a dozen times. I just have the orig. Iphone ones, which, as we know, you can't hear unless you're in a meditation room.

How do I get them onto the Iphone from the Sync thing? I have selected the ones I want....and still nothing.

Hey everyone -- I have achieved success!

But using 7.4.1., it's very important that you NOT leave the file named .m4r, but change it to .m4a, per Michael's post below.

Now if someone could tell me how to just up the volume a little bit more on these.... it's a bit louder, but it aint gonna wake the neighbors yet....

What a pain it was to convert, add to list, delete original files in itunes, the rename original files in their folders. it worked, but man i hope it works with next update.

Thanks all. I'm going to register for this forum right now!

I guess what i meant by delete is delete them from itunes not the iphone. I can delete them from the ringtones folder in the itunes music folder but they still show up in the ringtones tab of the iphone summary. So now with 7.4.1 i have doubles of all the ringtones listed. Some of them work and some don't now.

@jman995x

Create one yourself.

any1 know where i can get a download of 7.4
if u update to 7.4.1
u cant do the nice lil ringtone trick

i know theres a command line way to
do batch file renames for suffixes/prefixes
(lil help please!)

but here's a way too:
http://publicspace.net/ABetterFinderRename/index.html

Foob