All About Ogg on Mac

OGG, short for Ogg, is a fully open, non-proprietary, general-purpose format for storing compressed digital audio.  OGG was developed by the open source community (the folks that brought us BSD and Linux) in response to the license fees being charged for using the MP3 format.  Although OGG is relatively new, it is also royalty free.  Because of this, it is widely expected that OGG will be quickly adopted by product developers and challenge the dominant positions enjoyed by MP3 and WMA.  The Ogg libraries are available on all computer platforms as open source.

 

How to Play Ogg on Mac

Ogg can be played on your Mac using Ogg player software such as iTunes or mirethMusic.

iTunes will play Ogg once you’ve installed the Xiph Ogg QuickTime Component. (There are some known problems with this. For further information, consult the Xiph Ogg QuickTime Component FAQ)

  1. Download the Xiph Ogg Quicktime Component.
  2. Double click the .dmg.
  3. Inside, you’ll find a file called the XiphQT.component. Drag it to your Quicktime Component Folder. (User>Library>Quicktime).
  4. Find the OGG file in your iTunes library. If the OGG file is not already in your iTunes library, you’ll have to add it before you can play it. To add it, go to “iTunes > File Menu > Add to Library” and then navigate to where the Ogg file is on your computer. Click the “Choose” button to add it to your library.
  5. Highlight the Ogg file and press “play”

You can also play an Ogg on your Mac with Quicktime Player, once you’ve installed the Xiph Ogg QuickTime Component. (See above)

You can play an Ogg on your Mac with Audacity but it’s not really a player, so the interface isn’t very convenient:

  1. In Audacity, open the mp3 file.
    “Audacity > File > Open” and navigate to the file/files you want to play
  2. Move the cursor to where in the track you want to start playing and click the Play button
  3. To play the next song, repeat steps 1 and 2.

You can play an Ogg on your Mac with Music Man, from anywhere on your computer, from a CD, DVD or an USB device (thumb drive, external drive).

 

How to Rip a CD to Ogg on Mac

There are many utilities available to allow you to rip an Audio CD to Ogg on your Mac.

You can’t rip an Audio CD directly to Ogg with iTunes.

You can rip an Audio CD to Ogg on your Mac with Audacity by doing the following:

  1. In Audacity, open the Ogg file.
    “Audacity > File > Open” and navigate to the file/files you want to rip
  2. Navigate to the track/tracks you want to rip, select them and click “Save”. The files with be ripped to AIFF.
  3. Once the files are on your hard drive, use the “Convert to Ogg” instructions below to convert them to Ogg.

You can rip an Audio CD or a selection of tracks to MP3 on your Mac with Music Man

 

How to burn an Ogg CD on Mac

You can burn Ogg on to CD or DVD. Although you can play Ogg CD or Ogg DVD on your Mac, other hardware (mp3 players, car stereos) that supports the Ogg format are very limited. If you want to play Ogg files on your DVD player, stereo or in your car, we recommend you check your owner’s manual to ensure your hardware supports Ogg first. If it doesn’t, burn the files as mp3 or Audio CD

You can’t burn an Ogg CD using iTunes.

Audacity also does not support burning Ogg CDs.

You can Ogg CD or Ogg DVD on your Mac with Music Man

 

How to Convert from Ogg on Mac

There are many utilities available to allow you to convert an Ogg to another format.

You can’t convert an Ogg to another format on your Mac with iTunes.

You can convert an Ogg to another format on your Mac with Audacity by doing the following:

  1. In Audacity, open the Ogg file.
    “Audacity > File > Open”
  2. From the file menu, choose the format you want to export to and click “Save” (Your options are MP3 and WAV).

You can convert an Ogg audio file on your Mac with Music Man to MP3, AAC (m4a, m4b), WAV, AIFF or WMA

 

How to Convert to Ogg on Mac

There are many utilities available to allow you to convert audio files to mp3.

You can’t convert an Ogg to another format on your Mac with iTunes.

You can convert an Ogg to another format on your Mac with Audacity by doing the following:

  1. In Audacity, open the track.
    “Audacity > File > Open”
  2. From the file menu, choose the “Export to Ogg” option and click “Save”.

You can convert an audio file to Ogg on your Mac with Music Man

 

Ogg for Mac Resources