InsanityOne
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Posts
- 517
- Likes
- 74
Hello Head-Fi,
I just wanted to jump in here and make a quick write-up about an annoying problem that I ran into recently and couldn't find a solution to anywhere on the internet. This will be a quick write-up so please feel free to ask questions.
Intro: (.TAK? What in the World is .TAK?)
Honestly I had no idea what a .TAK file even was until I found THIS PAGE from the Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase. It is an interesting read but you do not need to understand what a .TAK file is to complete this guide.
Long story short, I ended up with a four-disc album (109 total tracks) that was ripped (using a very nice setup) to FOUR lossless .TAK files and not all 109 individual tracks. It included four .cue files, one for each .TAK file, and four .log files detailing the entire process. When all was said and done though, I ended up with 109 16-bit/44.1kHz tracks that all sound amazing!
Manual Process: (Four Easy Steps!)
1.) Checking to see if the files are working / not corrupted:
If you don't already have it, get Foobar2000 audio player and install it. Then go ahead and grab the Foobar2000 TAK Decoder component and install that. After this is complete you should be able to load your .TAK files into Foobar2000 and give them a listen, as well as edit their .tags or anything else you want to do.
Note that this content applies to foobar2000 versions 1.1 and newer. If you're using an older version, please upgrade now to utilize the new interface.
2.) Converting the .TAK files to .FLAC using Foobar2000:
To do this you will need the Foobar2000 Free Encoder Pack component. To install it just follow the instructions just like when you installed the TAK Decoder component in the previous step.
After installing the Free Encoder Pack just "right-click" on the track you wish to convert, choose "quick convert" and then choose .FLAC from the list. (Note: Leave the compression level at its default of Level 5, this is the most common choice and changing the levels only affects file-size.) Depending on the size / length of the song / track you are converting and the specs. of your computer this could take some time. When it asks where you want to save the newly converted file, be sure to save it to the same directory as the .TAK file you converted it from.
Now all of your .TAK files should be converted to .FLAC files.
3.) Editing the .CUE file to point to the newly converted .FLAC file:
To be able to "split" our newly converted .FLAC music files into their respective songs we need to edit the original .CUE files to point to our new .FLAC files and not the old .TAK files. To do this:
Navigate to the directory where you stored your album with the .TAK files and their associated .CUE files. (You should have stored your newly converted .FLAC files to this directory as well.)
Once you are there, simply "right-click" your .CUE file and open it with any text editing software. (I just used notepad) Look for the line that says something like "file: songname.TAK". You will want to change this line to the name of the NEW file that you just converted like, "file: convertedfile.FLAC" so that the .CUE file now associates with the .FLAC file and NOT the .TAK file. After doing this save and exit the .CUE file. Do this for all the .CUE files that are associated with the old .TAK files.
Now your .CUE files are successfully "converted" as well!
(Note: I cannot stress this enough, ALL of these files (the .TAK, converted . FLAC, and original .CUE that came with the .TAK MUST be in the same directory for this to work!)
4.) Splitting the single, large .FLAC file into it's original tracks:
To do this, I used a simple and free program called CUETools. To complete the split using CUETools I always reference this Hydrogen Audio Thread.
You did it! You successfully took a .TAK album that was ripped into one large file, converted it to .FLAC, and then split the file into all of it's original songs! Good work!
(Note: Unfortunately, if you do not have a .cue sheet then none of this will work and you will have to either create a .cue sheet using CUETools or split the .FLAC file manually.)
Conclusion: (You Made It!)
I hope this guide was helpful to anyone who needs to use it. I know that I was very frustrated when I received this .TAK album and had no idea what to do with it and couldn't find out anything helpful from the internet after searching for multiple hours either. But from now on that should no longer be a problem!
Also, if you have any feedback or issues with the guide, PLEASE let me know! I would be more than happy to update it / elaborate more on certain points so that it can be easier for everyone to use.
Thanks!
(Edit: It has come to my attention that this guide could be used to convert and split any lossless music format to .FLAC as long as it has a .cue sheet with it. Just be sure that you have the correct conversion pack installed to Foobar2000 when attempting this.)
- InsanityOne
I just wanted to jump in here and make a quick write-up about an annoying problem that I ran into recently and couldn't find a solution to anywhere on the internet. This will be a quick write-up so please feel free to ask questions.
Intro: (.TAK? What in the World is .TAK?)
Honestly I had no idea what a .TAK file even was until I found THIS PAGE from the Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase. It is an interesting read but you do not need to understand what a .TAK file is to complete this guide.
Long story short, I ended up with a four-disc album (109 total tracks) that was ripped (using a very nice setup) to FOUR lossless .TAK files and not all 109 individual tracks. It included four .cue files, one for each .TAK file, and four .log files detailing the entire process. When all was said and done though, I ended up with 109 16-bit/44.1kHz tracks that all sound amazing!
Manual Process: (Four Easy Steps!)
1.) Checking to see if the files are working / not corrupted:
If you don't already have it, get Foobar2000 audio player and install it. Then go ahead and grab the Foobar2000 TAK Decoder component and install that. After this is complete you should be able to load your .TAK files into Foobar2000 and give them a listen, as well as edit their .tags or anything else you want to do.
[size=19.2px]How do I install additional components?[/size]
To install components from the foobar2000 installer that you did not choose to install during the initial installation, just rerun the installer and select them; your settings will be kept intact. Please read on to learn about installing other components.Note that this content applies to foobar2000 versions 1.1 and newer. If you're using an older version, please upgrade now to utilize the new interface.
- Step 1: Open the foobar2000 preferences dialog.
- Step 2: Go to the Components page.
- Step 3: Click the “Install…” button and select the component archive, or simply drag it to the list.
- Step 4: Press “OK”, you will be prompted to restart foobar2000 in order to load the newly installed component.
2.) Converting the .TAK files to .FLAC using Foobar2000:
To do this you will need the Foobar2000 Free Encoder Pack component. To install it just follow the instructions just like when you installed the TAK Decoder component in the previous step.
After installing the Free Encoder Pack just "right-click" on the track you wish to convert, choose "quick convert" and then choose .FLAC from the list. (Note: Leave the compression level at its default of Level 5, this is the most common choice and changing the levels only affects file-size.) Depending on the size / length of the song / track you are converting and the specs. of your computer this could take some time. When it asks where you want to save the newly converted file, be sure to save it to the same directory as the .TAK file you converted it from.
Now all of your .TAK files should be converted to .FLAC files.
3.) Editing the .CUE file to point to the newly converted .FLAC file:
To be able to "split" our newly converted .FLAC music files into their respective songs we need to edit the original .CUE files to point to our new .FLAC files and not the old .TAK files. To do this:
Navigate to the directory where you stored your album with the .TAK files and their associated .CUE files. (You should have stored your newly converted .FLAC files to this directory as well.)
Once you are there, simply "right-click" your .CUE file and open it with any text editing software. (I just used notepad) Look for the line that says something like "file: songname.TAK". You will want to change this line to the name of the NEW file that you just converted like, "file: convertedfile.FLAC" so that the .CUE file now associates with the .FLAC file and NOT the .TAK file. After doing this save and exit the .CUE file. Do this for all the .CUE files that are associated with the old .TAK files.
Now your .CUE files are successfully "converted" as well!
(Note: I cannot stress this enough, ALL of these files (the .TAK, converted . FLAC, and original .CUE that came with the .TAK MUST be in the same directory for this to work!)
4.) Splitting the single, large .FLAC file into it's original tracks:
To do this, I used a simple and free program called CUETools. To complete the split using CUETools I always reference this Hydrogen Audio Thread.
You did it! You successfully took a .TAK album that was ripped into one large file, converted it to .FLAC, and then split the file into all of it's original songs! Good work!
(Note: Unfortunately, if you do not have a .cue sheet then none of this will work and you will have to either create a .cue sheet using CUETools or split the .FLAC file manually.)
Conclusion: (You Made It!)
I hope this guide was helpful to anyone who needs to use it. I know that I was very frustrated when I received this .TAK album and had no idea what to do with it and couldn't find out anything helpful from the internet after searching for multiple hours either. But from now on that should no longer be a problem!
Also, if you have any feedback or issues with the guide, PLEASE let me know! I would be more than happy to update it / elaborate more on certain points so that it can be easier for everyone to use.
Thanks!
(Edit: It has come to my attention that this guide could be used to convert and split any lossless music format to .FLAC as long as it has a .cue sheet with it. Just be sure that you have the correct conversion pack installed to Foobar2000 when attempting this.)
- InsanityOne
