FLAC to MP3...

[solomr2]

What do you use to convert your FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) to MP3 format?

Some time ago I decided that I would start archiving my CD collection to FLAC so I could have a lossless copy of my CDs readily available on my computer. I went with FLAC primarilly because it takes up less disk space than other lossless formats and it is available for free.

My strategy was to use these archive copies of my CDs as the source for all other portable music needs. Unfortunately, FLAC is not a widely used portable music format, but it seems to be getting more support over time.

When I bought my Cowon iAudio-7, the native support for FLAC was a key deciding factor, along with the size, audio quality and battery capacity. I use this 8GB device with 65-hour battery capacity for my short-term travel and exercising needs. But for other needs I decided to get an iPod Classic 160gb. The iPod doesn't support FLAC, it only supports AAC, MP3 and WAV. So, I decided I would store my files in MP3 format on the iPod.

So now, I want to make 320k MP3 copies of my FLAC files, without going back to the original CDs. What is the best way to accomplish that?

 

[TLS Guy]

FLAC is basically a system that compresses a wav. file somewhat analogous to zipping other files.

Now to encode a FLAC file you need to open it and get back to the wav file. Then you need a computer program that will convert it the wavs. Your problem is that if you are going to access the MP 3 often you are best off saving the MP 3 as well as FLAC.

I store the wavs. and then use the wavs. for what ever purpose I need.

The big problem with archiving classical music is the pauses between tracks. Unless you can make a cue file the pauses are all upset. Often the timing is crucial. Very often there is no pause. For instance the Bach Magnificat is in 22 sections, that need track markers. However there can be no pause between tracks. So your option is to make a cue file and keep it attached to the wav. files of the CD. The other option is to save it as one track. All this is not as easy as it seems. This part of the industry is pop geared, and preserving artistic integrity in other areas of music takes skill and is much easier if you invest in professional software.

Either way it all ends up taking a lot of digital storage space. If you archive a large collection you will be adding external hard drives.

 

[solomr2]

Hi TLS;

These are good points. I am using EAC (Exact Audio Copy beta 0.99 version) and it seems to have everything I need. It has different ways of handling gaps and indexes, and it is also possible to rip an entire CD as one file rather than a bunch of separate track files.

EAC also uses WAV format to create the copy of each disc, then it calls FLAC.exe to convert them to compressed WAV files. I haven't stored the original WAV files due to space limitations. I usually do a number of albums in one session and save them to my local C:\ drive, and then as time permits I copy them to my external 160GB archive drive. I haven't been creating the MP3s in one step, and I don't think it is possible with EAC to do that (although I will check that). I think it might be possible to create the WAV, then create MP3s from those and then compress them into FLAC files, but I think that would take 3 separate manual steps.

Either way, I have a lot of CDs already converted to FLAC, so I still need to find another option for converting FLAC to MP3 format.

 

[OttoMatic]

I use dBpoweramp to convert FLAC to mp3. I have done thousands of transcodes this way without problem. I store all my music in FLAC (on a server) and use mp3 for iPod and work. I have no problems with gaps, and dpPoweramp properly maintains my directory structure as well as all tags.

I usually poke around until I find something that's free and works well enough. dbPoweramp worked so well that I paid the license fee. Highly recommended.

 

[bandphan]

there are several players support flac(including mcintosh), dont convert them to MP3 unless you just want a good quality copy. I have 300+ gigs of flac files

http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi TLS;

These are good points. I am using EAC (Exact Audio Copy beta 0.99 version) and it seems to have everything I need. It has different ways of handling gaps and indexes, and it is also possible to rip an entire CD as one file rather than a bunch of separate track files.

EAC also uses WAV format to create the copy of each disc, then it calls FLAC.exe to convert them to compressed WAV files. I haven't stored the original WAV files due to space limitations. I usually do a number of albums in one session and save them to my local C:\ drive, and then as time permits I copy them to my external 160GB archive drive. I haven't been creating the MP3s in one step, and I don't think it is possible with EAC to do that (although I will check that). I think it might be possible to create the WAV, then create MP3s from those and then compress them into FLAC files, but I think that would take 3 separate manual steps.

Either way, I have a lot of CDs already converted to FLAC, so I still need to find another option for converting FLAC to MP3 format.

I use Steinberg WaveLab6. If a file is stored as a FLAC file, when I want to open it, I click on open with WaveLab 6. The wav. files then appear on my screen and I can work with them any way I want. I have EAC also, but I just use for ripping and then not very often. I use it mainly to put the cue file back with the wav. files for burning a CD.

If you download this CD from my blog and look at the contents of this file that will allow you to burn an exact copy of this CD I produced. It is predicated on having FLAC front end and EAC. I think however the file will give you a good idea of the elements you need.

http://www.drmarksays.com/

I'm not at Benedict this weekend, so I can't play, but I do have a copy of EAC on my laptop. It does have a wav editor. So if you have a FLAC file, and if you command a FLAC file to be opened in EAC you should be able to use EAC to code your mp3 file I think. I may not be the one to ask, as I do all my editing and processing within WaveLab, and I know I would have no trouble doing what you want in WaveLab.

 

[sparky77]

Download Cdex, its free, and it encodes all the major formats and includes a re-encode feature. Just configure it to encode in lame mp3 format to the level that you want and open a directory with the flac files and it should be able to re-encode them.

http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/?q=download

 

[fmw]

Another one that will do it is Media Monkey.

 

[sparky77]

I forgot you need the Cdex 1.70 beta 2 version for flac file support.

 

[EJ1]

I've used dbPowerAmp and it works great. Can't remember if it's freeware or not though.

 

[OttoMatic]

I've used dbPowerAmp and it works great. Can't remember if it's freeware or not though.

I think it was $20 or $30. Not much, and it works reliably.

 

[solomr2]

Another one that will do it is Media Monkey.

Yes, I currently use a registered copy Media Monkey for this task. However, I was hoping for something a little more streamlined and automated.

Today my process involves using the EAC solution to scan a CD and create the FLAC file (this actually involves 3 steps - Step-1: verifies album content with Freedb, etc. Step-2: create the wav files. Step:3 compress the wav files into a FLAC files and delete the wav files).

After the FLAC files are created, I have to add the files to the Media Monkey library, select the ones I want converted to MP3 and then perform the actual conversion.

After the MP3 files are created, I then go to iTunes and add the new MP3 files to the iTunes library. Then I can synch with the iPod to get them on my portable device.

Many times, the files created either by EAC or MM (especially CDs with multiple artists) don't end up tagged properly in iTunes, so the tags have to be edited manually before they are sorted or organized properly in iTunes.

As you can see, this is a long, time consuming, tedious and error prone process. When you start factoring in some 300-400 CDs, you get really overwhelmed and disenchanted with the whole mess.

And that doesn't even include finding album art and loading it into iTunes or MM to be associated with the files so it can be used for cover flow and so on.

 

[808htfan]

foobar2000 will also convert flac to mp3, along with a bunch of other types. It's free and it's great. Has a built-in tagger, too. To convert flacs just load up your files or playlist, right-click 'em, convert to, and it's pre-configured to use lame's V2 setting for VBR. You can also change the setting to whatever you want, though why would you want to. You may need to put lame.exe in foobar's Program File folder, I don't remember if I put it there or foobar did.

http://www.foobar2000.org/