About MMF ringtones
MMF files use SMAF, a format Yamaha designed for the sound chips of mobile phones in the early 2000s. Samsung and many other makers of feature phones supported it, especially for phones sold in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. MMF ringtones are mono and very small, and they play instantly and loudly through a phone speaker. If you use such a phone, MMF is often more reliable as a ringtone than MP3.
From a DVD or TV recording to a ringtone
Perhaps the perfect ringtone is on a disc: the song from your wedding DVD, the theme of a TV programme you recorded, a cheer from a match, or your choir's best moment. When you convert MPEG to MMF, the MP2, Dolby Digital or PCM sound of the recording is decoded by the built-in converter engine, mixed down to mono and saved as an MMF file in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
Getting a good result
- Choose a short part. 15 to 30 seconds is plenty, and old phones may reject long files.
- Start strong. Begin at the chorus or a loud moment, not a slow intro, so the phone is heard from the first second.
- Expect mono. Stereo and surround effects of a DVD disappear in MMF. Music with a clear melody works best.
- Check the volume. Quiet recordings stay quiet. A track with a strong, steady level makes a better ringtone.
Installing the ringtone
Connect the phone to the computer with a USB cable, or put its memory card into a card reader. Copy the .mmf file into the Sounds, Audio or Ringtones folder. Many feature phones also accept files sent by Bluetooth. Then open the sound settings on the phone and choose the new tone for calls or messages.
Using a smartphone instead? Create an M4R ringtone for iPhone or an MP3 for Android from the same recording.