Download free ringtone

How to convert ANY song to a Sprint PCS ringtone

Converting regular music recordings to a ringtone is currently only possible with Sprint PCS phones, but I wouldn’t be surprised if other providers and phone manufacturers follow suit very shortly.  So, if your current phone and/or provider does not provide for actual real music ringtones, stay tuned because they probably will in the near future.

If you are currently a Sprint PCS customer you can convert any song at all to a ringtone.  You’ll need some free software to do this, and an account at a web site that will cost you a total of $6 bucks.  There are no other costs.  I’ll first run through the web site and how it works, then I’ll explain the tools you’ll need and the process of converting regular music to your own Sprint PCS ringtone.

First, you will want to go to www.3gupload.com and sign up for an account.

Note that you ONLY need to select a 6 month account for $6 if you wish to create your own custom ringtones and beam them to your phone.  If all you want to do is get free ringtones, you can create a free account and then send any free ringtones to your “locker.”  Once a ringtone is in your locker, using your cell phone’s web browser feature you can go to www.3gupload.com and retrieve the ringtone from your locker.  Note that in order to go to www.3gupload.com with your cell phone you need to press the #1 on your keypad to create a dot (.).  The main reason I use 3gupload.com is to create my own custom ringtones and beam them to my cell phone.  I will describe how this process works now.

This same information is available on the 3gupload web site under the HOWTOs section, but I’m going to explain it in a little more detail here because these steps can be a little confusing, especially if you’re not extremely well versed with using a computer.

Software you will need:

·        Winamp:  Download this free from www.winamp.com

·        Sound Recorder (or any program that can truncate wav files). This comes default on all Windows installations in Programs >> Accessories >> Entertainment in the Start menu

·        Qualcom "PureVoice Converter for Windows".  This program converts wav files to the qcp format, which is the format you need to have your music in for it to be recognized by your phone as a ringtone.  Note that you will need the Converter, not the Recorder/Player, athough it is a good to install the Player also to test your qcp files before downloading them to your phone.

Here's the link: http://www.3gupload.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=631
Again, when you go to the link above, make sure that you download the Converter!

When you download the converter, it will come down as a .zip file.  You will need to unzip this file (Use Winzip from www.winzip.com) before you can install it.  I created a folder on my computer called “PVC” where I unzipped the file to, but you can unzip it to whatever location you’d like as long as you remember it.

Once you have unzipped the file, remember that you can also install the Recorder/Player if you want from: http://www.3gupload.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=630

Now get the mp3 file you would like to have on your phone and load it in Winamp (don't hit Play just yet). Go to Winamp options and chage the output format to "Nullsoft DiskWriter". Then hit configure and change the output directory to "C:\PVC\" (or whatever the location was where your unzipped the install file) and change the format to " PCM 8.000 kHz, 16 Bit, Mono ". This is important, because PureVoice Converter won't work if its any other format.  If you don’t want to use Winamp and wish to use a different sound editor to convert your MP3 file to wav, go right ahead, but just be sure to select 8.00 kHz and 16 Bit Mono.  All sound editing software will have these same settings.

Hit OK and play your file.  When you do this, Winamp will create a wave file in C:\PVC. Note that there is a decrease in audio quality because in order to store regular music ringtones in your cell phone’s memory the file size must be very small.
 
Next, Open up Sound Recorder and load your new wave file. Chop up your audio to about 20 seconds using "Delete Before/After current position" on the Edit menu. The save your shorter wave file in the same folder (C:\PVC, or wherever you unzipped the Converter to). Note that your phone will not play more than 30 seconds of audio, so anything greater than 30 seconds is a waste of space, and might not even work at all.

Now, there are two ways to convert your wave file to .qcp format using the converter.

Simple technique: You can just drag and drop your wave file over the "PVConv.exe" file and it should output a file with that same name as your wav file but with a .qcp extension and should be significantly smaller.

Advanced technique:  Open a DOS window (Start, Programs, System Tools, Command Prompt), type "CD C:\PVC" then type "PVConv file.wav" (change file.wav) to whatever your wav's filename is (make sure you have a copy of the .wav file in the PVC directory!). Same results, it should output a .qcp file with the same name as your wav file. If PVConv.exe doesn't output a qcp file or outputs a 0byte file then your wave format is incorrect. Make sure you save it as "PCM 8.000 kHz, 16 Bit, Mono". If you installed the QCP Player you can listen to your file now to see what it sounds like, if it sounds like pure garbage then start over and make sure your wav format is correct.

Now that you have your .qcp file, time to put it on the web for download. Simply upload it to your private files.

Once you have downloaded your new custom ringtone to your cell phone, assign it to any person in your phone book using the directions provided earlier in this Guide.

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