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Topic: FLAC -> MP3 (Read 10339 times) previous topic - next topic
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FLAC -> MP3

I've seen a lot of posts requesting help with converting an entire music collection (encoded in FLAC) to MP3.  Most folks seem to want the same thing I want -- to take one directory structure (e.g., everything under "C:\FLAC") and duplicate it under a new tree structure (e.g., "C:\MP3").  I'm certain _someone_ must have answered this question in a clear, concise manner than any newbie can understand ... but I can't find that answer for the life of me.

So, how's it done?

Let's make it easy ... step by step ... using free products.  I've already downloaded the latest compiled LAME binaries (3.96.1).  I also have dBpowerAmp Music Converter (although it's "expired), and foobar2000.  I'm convinced that I have what I need to do this.  Can someone please just provide a pointer or some easy-to-follow instructions?  This really shouldn't be that hard.

Thanks a bunch!

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #1 –
Why, has the Search function failed?

Seriously, I just found this thread on the second page of this forum. How many more of these do we need?
"Facts do not cease to exist just because they are ignored."
—Aldous Huxley

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #2 –
Or if you are looking for an easy-to-use GUI based FLAC to MP3 converter program and don't need all the settings/options/configuration hassles, here are several that will automatically convert FLAC files to MP3 for you. Most use Lame for encoding:

JetAudio - http://www.jetaudio.com

One Click Audio Converter - http://www.streamware-dev.com/products.html

FairStars Audio Converter - http://www.fairstars.com

There are dBPowerAmp and Foobar2000, but depending on your skill level, if you want batch conversion you might opt for the above easier to use/configure programs.

Hope this helps.

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #3 –
Quote

Why, has the Search function failed?
[\quote]

No, the search function hasn't failed.  The answer doesn't exist.

Check out the link that you posted -- there are no step-by-step instructions provided.  What is CLI?  Where do I get it?  (not to mention that it took me about 30 minutes just to realize what fb2k was the first time I saw this link).

There are a lot of us who visit these boards only when we seek information ... we don't hang out here often enough to understand the "lingo" (e.g., fb2k = foobar2000).  I'm not trying to be a pain in the rear, but this information should be posted in a sticky ... my search yielded at least 4 threads with the same question ... and no solid, all-in-one-place, self-contained answers.

An answer to this question shouldn't be, "get foobar2000" because "fb2k" doesn't come pre-configured to convert FLAC to MP3 (at least it doesn't appear to).

A more appropriate answer to my question would contain the steps I need to follow in order to configure foobar2000.  Even if it's a collection of pointers to other threads, at least give me a lead...  All I'm asking for is a little help ... the sarcasm isn't very useful since I did indeed use the search feature before making my post.

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #4 –
get cases fb2k installer:

http://www.saunalahti.fi/cse/foobar2000/foobar2000.exe

do full install.

open fb2k, in the menu goto foobar2000 -> preferences -> diskwriter

navigate to Command line encoder: LAME (select preset you want), on encoder, navigate to your LAME.EXE file. 

Add your songs to the playlist, select what you want, right click, convert, run conversion, select the LAME option.

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #5 –
A better solution to a lack of documentation would be to start asking questions and actively taking part in writing new documents, rather than asking people to write your documents for you.

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #7 –
Hello AudioBeans.  Yes I'm new too, but you just have to be persistent and keep asking the questions.  For instance, I'm learning how to adjust the volume on my using WaveGain before I encode to Vorbis, at this thread since I didn't have a clue as to how to use WaveGain.  Now I have a pretty good idea thanks to a couple of people.

My skill level isn't all that great so I would probably opt for one of the options quest0101 listed, instead of fb2k.  Or hang out at the Foobar2000 forums and learn all about fb2k if you have the time.

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #8 –
Thanks for the feedback, thus far.

Let me rephrase my question so I can add some clarity.  First, I did do a search before posting.  It may not be common practice, but it should be.

Second, I have foobar2000 and, from what I've read, believe it is going to be the best (and most flexible) option for me to pursue.  The unanswered question is how do I take a basic foobar2000 installation and add the LAME binaries that I've downloaded from rarewares.com?

Also, will I need to change any configuration options to point to my FLAC 1.1.2a installation?

Once this is in place, I assume that the conversion should be relatively easy to do.  One thing that remains unclear is how CLI (command-line interpreter) is used?  Is it necessary for what I want to do?

Thanks!

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #9 –
- You can install flac/lame to whatever location you want, independent of foobar2000. In addition, since you are converting to mp3, you don't really need flac binaries.

- you configure foobar2000 so that it can locate the lame binary. In preference/components/diskwriter, select "output presets" "command line encoder: lame -.....". Then click edit and find your lame.exe.

- The way foobar2000 conversion works, and I don't see this mentioned anywhere, is that it "plays back" the music file (flac, wavpack, whatever) to a wav file, and then call the executable you specified in CLI interface to convert the resulting wave file to whatever format you desire. The advantage of this approach is that you can convert from any format that foobar2000 understands without relying on some external utility to convert it to wave format first. Foobar2000 does the decoding from the source format, utility you specify does the encoding to the target format.

- You trigger the conversion by adding all files to the playlist, select them all, and convert in the context menu.

- The tricky part is to convert them to a specific location, such as c:\mp3, and retaining the directory structure you had in c:\flac\.... I posted a question on this in the other thread but haven't had the chance to try out the solution suggested there yet...

- I believe foobar will add tags after the conversion to the resulting mp3 file. It is configured under preference/playback/input/standard inputs. You can select the mp3 tags to write. I use ID3v2. It is kind of strange that it is configured here. Does it mean foobar2000 will update your mp3 files automatically when it opens them?

- If you are not converting to mp3, you need to specify tag information in the command line to the encoding program....

I agree with you 100%, there should be some documentation on this. I write programs for a living and it took me a while to figure this out.  Maybe one of these days I'll add something to the Wiki when I have figured everything out...

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #10 –
Quote
- You can install flac/lame to whatever location you want, independent of foobar2000. In addition, since you are converting to mp3, you don't really need flac binaries.

- you configure foobar2000 so that it can locate the lame binary. In preference/components/diskwriter, select "output presets" "command line encoder: lame -.....". Then click edit and find your lame.exe.

- The way foobar2000 conversion works, and I don't see this mentioned anywhere, is that it "plays back" the music file (flac, wavpack, whatever) to a wav file, and then call the executable you specified in CLI interface to convert the resulting wave file to whatever format you desire. The advantage of this approach is that you can convert from any format that foobar2000 understands without relying on some external utility to convert it to wave format first. Foobar2000 does the decoding from the source format, utility you specify does the encoding to the target format.

- You trigger the conversion by adding all files to the playlist, select them all, and convert in the context menu.

- The tricky part is to convert them to a specific location, such as c:\mp3, and retaining the directory structure you had in c:\flac\.... I posted a question on this in the other thread but haven't had the chance to try out the solution suggested there yet...

- I believe foobar will add tags after the conversion to the resulting mp3 file. It is configured under preference/playback/input/standard inputs. You can select the mp3 tags to write. I use ID3v2. It is kind of strange that it is configured here. Does it mean foobar2000 will update your mp3 files automatically when it opens them?

- If you are not converting to mp3, you need to specify tag information in the command line to the encoding program....

I agree with you 100%, there should be some documentation on this. I write programs for a living and it took me a while to figure this out.   Maybe one of these days I'll add something to the Wiki when I have figured everything out...
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Fantastic response, wildgoose ... just what I was looking for.  Thanks!

For future reference, here's what I've learned from this thread:

1) foobar2000 (0.8.3) does not install CLI by default -- you need to select it as a special install option.  I found this out by chance.  The CLI is needed to add "new" encoders to foobar.

2) Replies to this thread are useful in helping with directory structures of the output:
[a href="http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=32807&hl=cli]http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ic=32807&hl=cli[/url]

To include the important parts:
Code: [Select]
$if2(%artist%,)\$if2(%album%,)\$if(%tracknumber%,$num(%tracknumber%,2),$num(%_diskwriter_index%,3)) - $if2(%title%,%_filename%)


And:
Code: [Select]
$directory(%_path%,3)\$directory(%_path%,2)\$directory(%_path%,1)\$if(%tracknumber%,$num(%tracknumber%,2),$num(%_diskwriter_index%,2)) - $if2(%title%,%_filename%)


See the full thread for details.

3) I'm still not done.  The directory structure isn't exactly what I would like.  And I'm having problems with my conversion to MP3 -- way too much bass distortion.  But I'll follow up on that in the appropriate boards.  I'll post any additional findings back here so this is all in one place for future reference...

Thanks again for the help.

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #11 –
foobar2000 is your mp3 friend.  I've seen quite a few reports lately on HA about people reporting problem with winamp playing back mp3 files.

Maybe someone should donate some better audio gear to the people writing winamp.

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #12 –
I have nothing against fb2k, but is there really something easier than converting your lossless library (WavPack in my case) with dMC File Selector/dbPowerAMP?
I can't imagine and I love fb2k ... however always nice to see alternative routes!

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #13 –
Quote
I have nothing against fb2k, but is there really something easier than converting your lossless library (WavPack in my case) with dMC File Selector/dbPowerAMP?
I can't imagine and I love fb2k ... however always nice to see alternative routes!
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=290628"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I agree ... dbPowerAmp is a great software package.  And the interface couldn't be easier to learn.  But the LAME encoder craps out after a few days (maybe a month?) if you do not register.  They do include a command-line driven LAME encoder, but if I'm going to use that, I want it to be 3.96.1 and they do not allow you to easily drop in your own encoder (at least not to my knowledge).  Given these constraints, I decided that foobar2000 was a better choice for me ... more flexibility and no cost (except, of course, for my time

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #14 –
Quote
I have nothing against fb2k, but is there really something easier than converting your lossless library (WavPack in my case) with dMC File Selector/dbPowerAMP?
I can't imagine and I love fb2k ... however always nice to see alternative routes!
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

You might want to investigate [a href="http://www.vuplayer.com]http://www.vuplayer.com[/url] as it just got refreshed with WavPack 4.2 support. It can't make MP3s, but it can convert to WavPack from other formats (such as MP3). It is a nice multi-format audio player!

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #15 –
Quote
They do include a command-line driven LAME encoder, but if I'm going to use that, I want it to be 3.96.1 and they do not allow you to easily drop in your own encoder (at least not to my knowledge).

When using CLI-LAME with dbPowerAMP you may freely choose the encoder!! (it must be on your HD and you know where)

BTW, how can I avoid the trackcounting while transcoding with foobar?
Thanks ...

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #16 –
Another way of converting is just using the Windows command line interface. I've been using the following to mass convert FLAC files in a single directory to MP3 files in another directory.

for %i in (c:\flac\*.flac) do flac -d "%i" -c | lame --preset standard --priority - "c:\mp3\%~ni.mp3"

Or for WAVPACK:
for %i in (c:\wv\*.wv) do wvunpack "%i" - | lame --preset standard --priority - "c:\mp3\%~ni.mp3"

(I just tack on --priority to make the encoding happen in the background, you don't need it)

Limitations:
- for a batch file, use %%i instead of %i (or %%~ni instead of %~ni)
- doesn't do tags (I add them later)
- doesn't recurse subdirectories (but I could probably figure this out if someone really wanted to know)

I've been wanting to post this for a while since I've not seen anyone else offer a Windows command-line solution.  Maybe because it's way too geeky. 

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #17 –
As a nice exercise for using the python programming language, I was already concerned with converting flac to mp3. The idea of mass converting seemed to me quite usefull. With a little tweaking I changed my original script to do this. I just simply named it flac2mp3. You can download it here

What it does:
- convert flac directories to mp3 to any given location while retaining the directory names (including subdirectories!)
- optionally give the source directory (where the flac files live, by default the working (active) directory)
- optionally pass lame parameters (by default -V 2 --id3v2-only)
- copy the most common tags
- It doesn't do things twice. If there already exists a directory in the mp3-folder with the same name, it will skip the flac file. This allows for updating the mp3-folder when there are new flac folders since last execution.

What you need:
- Python (www.python.org). Execute the file with: python flac2mp3.py (parameters)
-  it relies on the following external commands: metaflac, flac, lame. Make sure they're executable from the working directory.

python flac2mp3.py --help will show how to use the program

Sidenote:
I don't know if it works in windows. It works at least for Archlinux. Python should be cross-platform though. I have not tested it very well, but know it at least works for a few flac folders. If there are any problems I'd be glad to work them out.
A secure audio ripper for linux: code.google.com/p/rubyripper

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #18 –
Quote
Quote
I have nothing against fb2k, but is there really something easier than converting your lossless library (WavPack in my case) with dMC File Selector/dbPowerAMP?
I can't imagine and I love fb2k ... however always nice to see alternative routes!
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=290628"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I agree ... dbPowerAmp is a great software package.  And the interface couldn't be easier to learn.  But the LAME encoder craps out after a few days (maybe a month?) if you do not register.  They do include a command-line driven LAME encoder, but if I'm going to use that, I want it to be 3.96.1 and they do not allow you to easily drop in your own encoder (at least not to my knowledge).  Given these constraints, I decided that foobar2000 was a better choice for me ... more flexibility and no cost (except, of course, for my time
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=291100"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]



Not to dig up an old thread...

But I use dbPowerAMP music converter to convert from FLAC to mp3 using lame 3.96.1. Becuase I had the same concerns about wanting to use the lame encoder of my choice.  What I did was after installing dbPowerAMP I went to the directory C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpowerAMP\Compression\Lame and dropped in the lame_enc.dll file from 3.96.1 and then went to C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpowerAMP\Compression\mp3 (Lame.exe) and dropped in lame.exe from 3.96.1 so now whenever I convert to mp3 im using 3.96.1. Hope this helps someone.

FLAC -> MP3

Reply #19 –
edit: removed because links are dead