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Hello, everyone! I have a question about converting hi-res audio files.

post #1 of 10
2/4/11 at 3:41pm
Thread Starter 

Basically I have a bunch of hi-res FLAC files that I'd like to convert to WAV or MP4 (ALAC) in order to gain more playback abilities. What can I do in order to convert the FLAC files without downsampling them?

Thank you in advance.

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post #2 of 10
2/4/11 at 4:03pm

 

Mac or PC?

 

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post #3 of 10
2/5/11 at 8:39am
Thread Starter 

PC.

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post #4 of 10
2/5/11 at 3:50pm

 

Sorry, can't help you. I'm a Mac guy.
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post #5 of 10
2/5/11 at 10:01pm

WAV doesn't support metadata, so you will lose all that.  ALAC does have metadata of course, but many of the PC packages (lie FB2K) that convert FLAC to ALAC lose the album art.

 

Try XRECODE II -- not free, but worth every penny.  Fast batch operation.  Easy to understand -- it is meant as a converter, not a full-featured player, so there is less to navigate.  And the author responds instantly to emails.  I give it 4 stars!

 

http://xrecode.com/

 

BTW, ALAC for an iPod has a max res of 48000, so you will need to half-sample your 96000 FLACs.  XRECODE does this automatically -- I hear no audible difference.

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post #6 of 10
2/6/11 at 5:16am

Flac is already a compressed format, without downsampling, there's no means to diminish file size.

You can convert to ALAC without downsampling (using dBPowerAmp), file size will be very similar.

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post #7 of 10
2/6/11 at 6:47am
Thread Starter 

Yeah, I was thinking of converting FLAC into ALAC.

I would appreciate help with doing that!

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post #8 of 10
2/6/11 at 7:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kreisleriana View Post

Yeah, I was thinking of converting FLAC into ALAC.

I would appreciate help with doing that!

Quote:
Originally Posted by khaos974 View Post

Flac is already a compressed format, without downsampling, there's no means to diminish file size.

You can convert to ALAC without downsampling (using dBPowerAmp), file size will be very similar.

 

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

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post #9 of 10
2/6/11 at 9:00am

But why bother if the target is not an iPod?  ALAC offers nothing else over FLAC.  Both are lossless compressions, with full metadata.  Both are well-supported.  Compression ratios about the same, which is why the file sizes are not really different.

 

ALAC however is the only lossless compressed format that an iPod without modifying the software will play, and that only at 48000.  Since 96000 --> 48000 is an exact half-sample (technically this is a decimation, actually should be called a binamation, but that's not a word), the loss will most likely be unaudible on most tracks, which you can easily test by playing the 48000 file (even a FLAC 48000) on your PC.

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post #10 of 10
2/6/11 at 2:13pm
Thread Starter 

I'd like to play ALAC or WAV files without fighting with my friends. They have made it clear that they don't want to install any other softwares.

Also, that program looks very promising, albeit branching out... which version should I use?

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