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For a while now I was desperately searching for a way to bring to iPhone 3G all my favorite MP3 ringtones that I’ve used for years in my other cell phones.

Unfortunately, iTunes Store would not let you convert your own MP3s. It wouldn’t even let you use songs you already bought from Apple (unless you pay some extra for every track). That’s wrong! Any other device out there would happily accept any MP3 track you upload to it.

So, my search brought me to a web site called Audiko. In just 3 easy steps it would convert your MP3 track to iPhone’s ringtone format, which you can copy to your iTunes library and finally to iPhone.

Here’s how it works (you’ll need Flash plugin in your Browser):

1. Upload your MP3 to Audiko website (or type the URL to the file and they’ll download from that site);
2. Select the fragment you want to use as a ringtone and click Convert;
3. Type track info: Artist, Album, Genre, etc.;
4. Wait a few seconds while site crunches the data — the longer your fragment the longer it takes to process it;
5. Download resulting m4r file to your hard drive and import it to iTunes library;
6. Connect your iPhone with a USB cable to your computer, launch iTunes and select this ringtone for synchronisation (or select “All Ringtones” if you have just a few).
7. Click Sync to puyour iPhone as usual.
8. After the synchronisation is complete go to Settings in iPhone and select Sounds. Under Ringtone menu you can select your new track to use as a default ringtone (it should appear under Custom section) or go to Contacts from the Home page and assign this track to an individual.

Other things you can try:

Renaming m4a to m4r (instructional video):

This method works great for your existing ringtones. You cannot select a fragment with this method. If you want to select a fragment then cut MP3s in some other application and then follow these instructions.

1. In iTunes’ Preferences set Import Using to “AAC Encoder” (in different iTunes versions this setting is located in different places so look around);
2. In iTunes right-click the track you want to make the ringtone of and select “Create AAC version” in iTunes 8 or “Convert Selection to AAC” in iTunes 7.x;
3. Find created m4a track on your hard drive (you can use “Show in Windows Explorer” right-click menu on this track) and rename its extension to m4r.
4. Look under Ringtones in your iTunes Library for a new ringtone. Refresh your library if you don’t see the newly created ringtone there.

Get ringtones from official sources:

1. Subscribe to podcast iPhone Ringtones by RingtoneFeeder.com, listen to some great samples and get a couple of new ringtones each week for $1.98 per month.
2. Or subscribe to Joost Schuttelaar’s podcast called A Ringtone a Day and get tons of free instrumental ringtones.
3. Finally you can buy a ringtone from iTunes Store for $.99

There, now you know a few ways of creating your very own iPhone ringtones. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Respect the law and the hard work of your favorite artists. Don’t steal from them! Buy music on CDs.