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Audio Conversion

Convert RMI to WMA — Free Online Converter

Convert RIFF MIDI (.rmi) to Windows Media Audio (.wma) online for free. Fast, secure audio conversion with no watermarks or registration....

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How to Convert

1

Upload your .rmi file by dragging it into the upload area or clicking to browse.

2

Choose your output settings. The default settings work great for most files.

3

Click Convert and download your .wma file when it's ready.

About RMI to WMA Conversion

RMI (RIFF MIDI) and WMA (Windows Media Audio) both originate from Microsoft's multimedia ecosystem, but from different eras and architectural philosophies. RMI is a RIFF container from the early 1990s Multimedia Extensions, designed for the midiOut/midiStream APIs and later DirectMusic. WMA is a late 1990s streaming codec built on the ASF (Advanced Systems Format) container, designed for Windows Media Player and Windows Media Services. Converting between them spans two generations of Microsoft audio technology.

This conversion extracts MIDI performance data from the RIFF container, synthesizes audio through a SoundFont engine, and encodes the result using Microsoft's Windows Media Audio codec. The output stays entirely within the Microsoft ecosystem — from RIFF-era MIDI to Windows Media-era audio.

Why Convert RMI to WMA?

WMA is deeply integrated into the Windows desktop experience — Windows Explorer displays WMA metadata natively, Windows Media Player manages WMA libraries, and Windows Media Center indexes WMA files automatically. For organizations standardized on Microsoft infrastructure, WMA is the expected audio format for all media content.

Converting RMI to WMA keeps rendered MIDI content within the Microsoft ecosystem while transforming it from an obsolete format (RMI) to one that remains functional on modern Windows (WMA). Windows 10 and 11 still play WMA natively through Windows Media Player and the Windows Media Foundation pipeline, unlike RMI which requires the legacy MIDI mapper subsystem.

Common Use Cases

  • Creating Windows Media Player library entries from legacy Windows RMI compositions
  • Preparing rendered RMI audio for Windows-based corporate media servers and intranets
  • Converting DirectMusic game soundtracks from RMI to WMA for Windows gaming nostalgia playlists
  • Migrating Windows kiosk RMI background music to WMA for modern Windows-based digital signage
  • Generating WMA audio from Windows CE device RMI sounds for archival in Windows media libraries

How It Works

FFmpeg reads the RIFF container, extracts the MIDI data chunk from the RMID form, and synthesizes audio using a SoundFont-based engine. The rendered stereo PCM is encoded using the wmav2 (Windows Media Audio v2) codec at the target bitrate. The encoded stream is wrapped in an ASF container with proper header objects (file properties, stream properties, content description, extended content description) and data packets. WMA metadata atoms support the same attribution fields as RMI's RIFF INFO chunks, enabling metadata preservation.

Quality & Performance

WMA Standard at 192 kbps provides good quality for synthesized MIDI content, though AAC and Vorbis generally outperform WMA in blind listening tests at equivalent bitrates. WMA Pro offers improved quality but has limited player support. The SoundFont used for synthesis determines the musical character — the conversion merely preserves what the synthesizer produces. At 192+ kbps, WMA encoding is transparent for synthesized material.

FFMPEG EngineFastMinimal Quality Loss

Device Compatibility

DeviceRMIWMA
Windows PCPartialNative
macOSPartialPartial
iPhone/iPadPartialPartial
AndroidPartialPartial
LinuxPartialPartial
Web BrowserNoNo

Recommended Settings by Platform

Spotify

Resolution: N/A

Bitrate: 320 kbps

OGG Vorbis preferred

Apple Music

Resolution: N/A

Bitrate: 256 kbps

AAC format required

SoundCloud

Resolution: N/A

Bitrate: 128 kbps

Lossless FLAC/WAV for best quality

Podcast

Resolution: N/A

Bitrate: 128 kbps

MP3 mono for spoken word

Tips for Best Results

  • 1Use 192 kbps WMA Standard (wmav2) for the best quality-to-compatibility balance within Windows ecosystems
  • 2Manually transfer metadata from RMI's RIFF INFO chunks to WMA's ASF content description for proper attribution in Windows Media Player
  • 3Consider MP3 or AAC instead of WMA unless your target systems are exclusively Windows-based
  • 4Test WMA playback in Windows Media Player before distributing to verify codec and metadata correctness
  • 5Avoid WMA for cross-platform distribution — macOS, iOS, and Linux users need third-party players like VLC to open WMA files

RMI to WMA keeps rendered MIDI content within Microsoft's audio ecosystem, transforming legacy RIFF MIDI into the modern Windows audio standard. This conversion serves Windows-centric media workflows.

Frequently Asked Questions

WMA's usage has declined significantly, but it remains embedded in Windows infrastructure. Windows 10/11 play WMA natively. For new projects, AAC or MP3 are generally preferred for broader compatibility.
VLC plays WMA on all platforms. macOS and Linux do not natively support WMA in their default media players. This limits WMA's usefulness for cross-platform distribution.
Yes, conceptually — both RIFF INFO chunks and ASF content description objects support title, artist, and copyright fields. However, FFmpeg does not automatically transfer RIFF metadata to ASF metadata. Manual tagging is required.
At very low bitrates (below 96 kbps), WMA tends to outperform MP3. At 192 kbps and above, the difference is negligible for synthesized MIDI content. AAC outperforms both.
WAV is uncompressed and produces large files. WMA compresses audio to a fraction of WAV size while maintaining good quality. Choose WAV for master-quality archival; choose WMA for compressed Windows-native distribution.

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