All About MP2 on Mac

What is an MP2?

MP2, short for MPEG-1 Audio Layer II, is a lossy audio file format primarily used in broadcasting. It has the extension .mp2

While it has been replaced by MP3 for computer and Internet applications, it is a dominant standard for audio broadcasting.

MP2 was developed in the 1980s by the MPEG Group to standardize digital audio and video encoding for digital radio and TV broadcasting (DAB, DMB, DVB), and use on VCD.

You should have no problem working with MP2 on your Mac, although software for the Mac that supports the MP2 format is somewhat limited.

How to Play MP2 on Mac

MP2s can be played on your Mac using MP3 player software such as mirethMusic or iTunes.

You can play an MP2 on your Mac with iTunes by doing the following:

  1. Find the MP2 in your iTunes library. If the mp2 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 MP2 is on your computer. Click the “Choose” button to add it to your library.

  2. Highlight the MP2 and press “play”

You can play an MP2 on your Mac with Audacity but it’s not really a player, so the interface isn’t very convenient:

  1. In Audacity, open the mp2 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 MP2 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 MP2 on Mac

There are a few utilities available to allow you to rip an Audio CD to mp2 on your Mac.

You can’t rip an Audio CD to MP2 on your Mac with iTunes or with Audacity.

You can rip and Audio CD or a selection of tracks to MP2 on your Mac with Music Man

MP2 Converter – How to convert From MP2 To MP3, and more on Mac

There are a few MP2 converter utilities on Mac that will allow you to convert audio files FROM mp2 to other formats. Here are just a few of them. For more software, see the links at the bottom of this page.

You can convert an mp2 TO (AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless or WAV) on your Mac with iTunes by doing the following:

  1. Set the Preference for which format music will be converted to.
    In iTunes preferences, choose the format you want to convert to and click “OK” (Choose from FORMAT – AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, MP3 or WAV).
    “iTunes > Preferences > General > Importing Setting > Import Using …”
  2. Find and highlight the track you want to convert in your iTunes library.
    If the track 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 track is on your computer. Click the “Choose” button to add it to your library.
  3. From the “Advanced” menu, choose “Create [format] Version”
    “iTunes > Advanced > Create [format] Version ”

You can convert an MP2 TO (MP3, Ogg or WAV) on your Mac with Audacity by doing the following:

  1. In Audacity, open the mp3 file.
    “Audacity > File > Open”
  2. From the file menu, choose the format you want to export to and click “Save” (MP3, Ogg or WAV).

You can convert an MP2 to MP3, AAC, M4A, M4B, Ogg, WAV, Audio CD-AIFF or WMA on your Mac with Music Man using the following tutorial:

MP2 Converter – How to convert From MP3, WAV, more To MP2 on Mac

There are a few MP2 converter utilities on Mac that will allow you to convert audio files TO mp2. Here are just a few of them. For more software, see the links at the bottom of this page.

You can’t convert an audio file TO mp2 on your Mac with iTunes or with Audacity.

You can convert an audio file (Audio CD, AIFF, AAC, M4A, M4B, MP3, Midi, MID, KAR, Ogg, WAV, WMA, MP3) to MP2 on your Mac with Music Man

MP2 for Mac Resources