14 DAY TRIAL // A simple converting tool is hard to find nowadays, and the primary explanation would be the fact that developers feel the need to create more and more complex apps with multiple functionalities. For example, an audio converting tool is not only that, most often it has a video player incorporated, it supports complex mixing and synthesizing processes, and sometimes it can also burn your files. Here we can add lots of other features that find no common ground with the primary function of the app.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes the applications are so overwhelmed, that they produce not only confusion, but also malfunctions.
That is why the surprise was so great when we came upon a simple, basic audio converter. However, this too has a certain feature that betrays that need to create multifunctional tools: the program supports video conversion as well. Anyway, this feature is not so far-fetched, and is in a way justified. Converting from video to audio is quite popular, and not only that, but also necessary in some cases.
That is why almost any audio converter supports video manipulation and conversion. Anyway, this program keeps everything simple. It only recognizes a few video formats, the most popular ones, and allows you to extract the audio. That's all it does, nothing too complex or demanding.
illumi Audio Converter is the app we are talking about. A tool that, again surprisingly, is not free. You can download it as a demo, and it will only convert the first 2 minutes of your file. You might probably think that no special requirements are needed, since we’re talking about a simple audio converter. Well... you're right! The app will not stumble across any OS incompatibility during its runtime. It's too small and simple for that.
The main window gives you the impression that you are dealing with a sketch, the converter in its initial, basic form. The main menu is positioned on the right, and that’s all you get. Just add or remove your files, and then convert them. Nothing else, no customizable bitrate or channel rate, no ID3tag options or video settings.
You can, indeed, select the output format, and the supported extensions are the following: WMA, MP3, RA, FLAC, AAC, AC3, AMR and WAV. Input video types are supported as follows: AVI, MOV, RM, RMVB, FLV, MKV, MPG, 3GP, M4V, VOB, WMV and MPEG-1/2/4.
If you didn’t quite realize it by now, this app does not have any Options or Preferences menu, all the settings that you need to adjust are right there, in the main interface under your nose. Your job is to select the file, video, or audio, choose the target format and the output folder, and Convert them. That’s all. And if you change your mind despite the process having begun, just click Stop or Pause. These buttons will be displayed only after the conversion is initialized and running.
The batch conversion feature is available, if you, by any chance, doubted the capability of this app to support such a function. We didn’t expect it either, due to its simplicity, but the converter proved us wrong. A small comment should be added here. Should you have more than one file added, the batch conversion will start automatically without prompting you.
A somehow disturbing action, because you’ll end up with some extra converted files. Anyway, the batch convert feature is appreciated, although it’s not announced in some way (a popup window would have been quite useful).
Overall, the illumi Audio Converter is a reliable app, the conversion process really works, and the files have a good output quality. Of course, the demo mode has given us some trouble, but the final result, although chunked, is satisfactory, and no corrupted files have been registered.
The Good
The Bad
The Truth
The tool will not be able to satisfy professional users, as it is not capable of modifying and manipulating audio files using advanced mixing and synthesizing options. The price issue has been already discussed, but we reinforce our statement by saying that with $20 you can buy a pretty advanced converter with numerous functions and processes.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
