Format conversion ?

dwh_11 · 3rd June 2005, 19:35

Hello,

I am thinking about converting my entire CD library to FLAC. I would then convert the FLAC to mp3 for everyday use. Here is my sticky point, I want to keep my ratings for the songs so that I can create smart playlists and such. So is there a way to maintain the ratings bewteen conversions? Would I have to rate songs in the FLAC format? Can it do that? Is there an interface for doing that? I am also assuming that if I buy the pro version of winamp I can setup a batch that will convert all my FLAC to mp3 over the weekend so I don't have to convert the songs 1 at a time, is that a valid assumption?

thanks,
david

mikm · 3rd June 2005, 20:36

1. What format are they in now? If they aren't in a lossless format, then there is no point of converting to flac.
2. Ratings are kept by Winamp based on filename. They aren't stored in metadata.
3. If the filenames/paths stay the same, you can manually edit the data files for the media library
4. Winamp cannot convert. Use dbpoweramp to convert between formats and use EAC or CDex to rip to FLAC.

dwh_11 · 3rd June 2005, 20:41

I am going to rip them from the CD. I downloaded the FLAC plugin for winamp so I am thinking I was going to use that to rip all the CD's.

If I did not have to manually edit files that would be better, easy in the long run. I am sure I am not the first person to run into this problem but maybe there is not a good solution.

gaekwad2 · 3rd June 2005, 20:45

If you use another ripper like EAC or CDex you can use MAREO or Wack to rip to flac and mp3 in one go.

ScorLibran · 3rd June 2005, 23:19

Below is my favorite ripping tool and my favorite transcoding tool, respectively.

http://exactaudiocopy.de/

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm

gaekwad2 · 3rd June 2005, 23:25

You do know that dmc's mp3 encoder isn't free anymore?

ScorLibran · 3rd June 2005, 23:41

Really? No, I didn't know. That's a shame. It's been years since I downloaded it, though (along with almost all the dMC codecs in fact).

k_rock923 · 4th June 2005, 01:34

actually the best ripper is cdparanoia

5th June 2005, 13:41

Quote:

Originally posted by gaekwad2
You do know that dmc's mp3 encoder isn't free anymore?

So? Take lame_enc.dll from winamp's plugin folder. Everybody has it.

gaekwad2 · 5th June 2005, 15:29

And it's locked in Winamp as well.
(means: dMC also includes it and also locks the plugin that interfaces with the dll)

You could probably set up lame.exe as external CLI encoder, but I haven't tried that.

ScorLibran · 5th June 2005, 17:36

In which version (and later) of dMC is the LAME encoder locked (in the free version of dMC, anyway)?

(I'm using r10 but I also bought Power Pack, so my LAME encoder would be unlocked in any version, I presume.)

gaekwad2 · 5th June 2005, 18:18

In the current free basic version, don't know since when.

It is unlocked in Power Pack, actually that's what you have to buy to unlock it.

5th June 2005, 18:20

Can I do something, in addition to replacing the locked version of lame_enc.dll by an unlocked version, to be able to rip in mp3 with winamp? (that would probably still be at 2× but anyway?)

gaekwad2 · 5th June 2005, 18:32

You can always rip to wav and use an mp3 plugin to convert them.

Or use the ACM codec (select .wav output, uncheck write wav header, check convert to format, extension: .mp3). To get decent quality you have to have either Radium or LameACM or if you have WiMP10 you can somehow make its mp3 codec usable.

But both ways it's really not worth the effort since there are much better and faster free alternatives.

dwh_11 · 6th June 2005, 16:07

Thanks for the replies about rippers, but I still have the ratings problem. Does anyone have their music collection in FLAC and move them to mp3's or is it just more a theory than a practice? If someone does that how do you keep your ratings stored?

Twilightseer · 7th June 2005, 09:12

1) I don't think you can preserve the ratings.

2) Don't use Winamp to convert your CD collection to FLAC. The easiest, most secure way of doing it is to use the EAC Bundle with the preconfigured FLAC profile. This way, you can be sure to get the best extraction.
If you want to convert your CDs to multiple formats in one go, you will indeed have to use a program like Mareo.

will · 14th June 2005, 19:59

Quote:

Originally posted by ScorLibran
Below is my favorite ripping tool and my favorite transcoding tool, respectively.

http://exactaudiocopy.de/

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm

Yeah?

My favorite transcoding tool is now Winamp.

http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~wdhf2/transcoder/

It will go from any format with a winamp input plugin, to any format with a winamp encoding plugin.

gaekwad2 · 14th June 2005, 20:11

Yummy!

Of course Winamp's still lacking a universal CLI encoder plugin.

And a replaygain scanner.

And a masstagger.

travelinphan · 19th November 2006, 07:05

CAN SOMEONE HELP ME CONVERT MY FLAC TO MP3. I HAVE WINAMP PRO AND THE TRANSCODER BUT EVERYTIME I GO TO TRANSCODE THE FILES IT TELLS ME THAT IT CANT FIND THE DECODER?

THANKS
MIKE

General Geoff · 19th November 2006, 07:29

why bother transcoding flac to mp3?

S-uper_T-oast · 19th November 2006, 07:57

Save filespace? He seems to have a capitol issue there anyways, so I guess that would make sense.

General Geoff · 19th November 2006, 08:33

well I guess that makes sense, if you're going to delete the original flac files after transcoding. Seems like so much effort for minimal gain, however, when you consider that you can get a 320GB hard drive for under a hundred bucks anyway.

gaekwad2 · 19th November 2006, 10:45

Or maybe for a portable?

@travelinphan: Do you have Winamp 5.31 and the latest transcoder version (included in Winamp Essentials, see the second post of thread I linked to)?

CraigF · 19th November 2006, 11:56

Almost certainly, he has a version less than 5.31. no decoder means no new flac plugin.

rockouthippie · 19th November 2006, 17:01

I've been using flac with linux "grip" ( a front end for cdrecord). I rencode those to mp3 if I want to fill a flash card.

As far as I tell, there are no track tags with flac....

Am I wrong?.

travelinphan · 19th November 2006, 17:15

i have winamp 5.31 i dont know if i'm clicking the wrong tab under the transcoder but it wont work

gaekwad2 · 19th November 2006, 17:28

Quote:

Originally posted by rockouthippie
I've been using flac with linux "grip" ( a front end for cdrecord). I rencode those to mp3 if I want to fill a flash card.

As far as I tell, there are no track tags with flac....

Am I wrong?.

Flac has a full flexible tagging system

Quote:

-T, --tag=FIELD=VALUE   Add a Vorbis comment; may appear multiple times

Quote:

Originally posted by travelinphan
i have winamp 5.31 i dont know if i'm clicking the wrong tab under the transcoder but it wont work

Did you install any 3rd party decoder/input plugin?
Does it still happen after a full un/reinstall (don't worry, you won't lose your pro key)?

travelinphan · 19th November 2006, 23:30

thanks i figured out wat was wrong its working i appreciate the feedback!!

3rd June 2005, 19:35	#1
dwh_11 Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 3	Format conversion ? Hello, I am thinking about converting my entire CD library to FLAC. I would then convert the FLAC to mp3 for everyday use. Here is my sticky point, I want to keep my ratings for the songs so that I can create smart playlists and such. So is there a way to maintain the ratings bewteen conversions? Would I have to rate songs in the FLAC format? Can it do that? Is there an interface for doing that? I am also assuming that if I buy the pro version of winamp I can setup a batch that will convert all my FLAC to mp3 over the weekend so I don't have to convert the songs 1 at a time, is that a valid assumption? thanks, david

3rd June 2005, 20:36	#2
mikm Major Dude Join Date: May 2001 Location: somewhere else Posts: 1,287	1. What format are they in now? If they aren't in a lossless format, then there is no point of converting to flac. 2. Ratings are kept by Winamp based on filename. They aren't stored in metadata. 3. If the filenames/paths stay the same, you can manually edit the data files for the media library 4. Winamp cannot convert. Use dbpoweramp to convert between formats and use EAC or CDex to rip to FLAC. powered by C₈H₁₀N₄O₂

3rd June 2005, 23:19	#5
ScorLibran Resident Floydian Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 6,222	Below is my favorite ripping tool and my favorite transcoding tool, respectively. http://exactaudiocopy.de/ http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm I'm a psychosomatic sister running around without a leash.

3rd June 2005, 23:41	#7
ScorLibran Resident Floydian Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 6,222	Really? No, I didn't know. That's a shame. It's been years since I downloaded it, though (along with almost all the dMC codecs in fact). I'm a psychosomatic sister running around without a leash.

4th June 2005, 01:34	#8
k_rock923 \m/ (Forum King) Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: /bin/bash Posts: 7,850	actually the best ripper is cdparanoia Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway.

3rd June 2005, 20:41	#3
dwh_11 Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 3	I am going to rip them from the CD. I downloaded the FLAC plugin for winamp so I am thinking I was going to use that to rip all the CD's. If I did not have to manually edit files that would be better, easy in the long run. I am sure I am not the first person to run into this problem but maybe there is not a good solution.

3rd June 2005, 20:45	#4
gaekwad2 Foorum King Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: bar2000 Posts: 11,457	If you use another ripper like EAC or CDex you can use MAREO or Wack to rip to flac and mp3 in one go.

3rd June 2005, 23:25	#6
gaekwad2 Foorum King Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: bar2000 Posts: 11,457	You do know that dmc's mp3 encoder isn't free anymore?

5th June 2005, 15:29	#10
gaekwad2 Foorum King Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: bar2000 Posts: 11,457	And it's locked in Winamp as well. (means: dMC also includes it and also locks the plugin that interfaces with the dll) You could probably set up lame.exe as external CLI encoder, but I haven't tried that.

5th June 2005, 17:36	#11
ScorLibran Resident Floydian Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 6,222	In which version (and later) of dMC is the LAME encoder locked (in the free version of dMC, anyway)? (I'm using r10 but I also bought Power Pack, so my LAME encoder would be unlocked in any version, I presume.) I'm a psychosomatic sister running around without a leash.

5th June 2005, 18:18	#12
gaekwad2 Foorum King Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: bar2000 Posts: 11,457	In the current free basic version, don't know since when. It is unlocked in Power Pack, actually that's what you have to buy to unlock it.

5th June 2005, 18:20	#13
Guest232 Guest Posts: n/a	Can I do something, in addition to replacing the locked version of lame_enc.dll by an unlocked version, to be able to rip in mp3 with winamp? (that would probably still be at 2× but anyway?)

5th June 2005, 18:32	#14
gaekwad2 Foorum King Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: bar2000 Posts: 11,457	You can always rip to wav and use an mp3 plugin to convert them. Or use the ACM codec (select .wav output, uncheck write wav header, check convert to format, extension: .mp3). To get decent quality you have to have either Radium or LameACM or if you have WiMP10 you can somehow make its mp3 codec usable. But both ways it's really not worth the effort since there are much better and faster free alternatives.

6th June 2005, 16:07	#15
dwh_11 Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 3	Thanks for the replies about rippers, but I still have the ratings problem. Does anyone have their music collection in FLAC and move them to mp3's or is it just more a theory than a practice? If someone does that how do you keep your ratings stored?

7th June 2005, 09:12	#16
Twilightseer Frenchoderator Join Date: May 2000 Location: Lavabo, fond du couloir, 3è porte à droite Posts: 6,309	1) I don't think you can preserve the ratings. 2) Don't use Winamp to convert your CD collection to FLAC. The easiest, most secure way of doing it is to use the EAC Bundle with the preconfigured FLAC profile. This way, you can be sure to get the best extraction. If you want to convert your CDs to multiple formats in one go, you will indeed have to use a program like Mareo.

14th June 2005, 20:11	#18
gaekwad2 Foorum King Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: bar2000 Posts: 11,457	Yummy! Of course Winamp's still lacking a universal CLI encoder plugin. And a replaygain scanner. And a masstagger.

19th November 2006, 07:05	#19
travelinphan Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4	FLAC TO MP3 CAN SOMEONE HELP ME CONVERT MY FLAC TO MP3. I HAVE WINAMP PRO AND THE TRANSCODER BUT EVERYTIME I GO TO TRANSCODE THE FILES IT TELLS ME THAT IT CANT FIND THE DECODER? THANKS MIKE

19th November 2006, 07:29	#20
General Geoff Major Dude Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania Posts: 1,254	why bother transcoding flac to mp3?

19th November 2006, 07:57	#21
S-uper_T-oast Forum King Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fnord?! Posts: 2,657	Save filespace? He seems to have a capitol issue there anyways, so I guess that would make sense.

19th November 2006, 08:33	#22
General Geoff Major Dude Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania Posts: 1,254	well I guess that makes sense, if you're going to delete the original flac files after transcoding. Seems like so much effort for minimal gain, however, when you consider that you can get a 320GB hard drive for under a hundred bucks anyway.

19th November 2006, 10:45	#23
gaekwad2 Foorum King Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: bar2000 Posts: 11,457	Or maybe for a portable? @travelinphan: Do you have Winamp 5.31 and the latest transcoder version (included in Winamp Essentials, see the second post of thread I linked to)?

19th November 2006, 11:56	#24
CraigF Passionately Apathetic Administrator Join Date: May 2000 Location: Hell Posts: 5,435	Almost certainly, he has a version less than 5.31. no decoder means no new flac plugin.

19th November 2006, 17:01	#25
rockouthippie Banned Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Oregon Posts: 11,002	I've been using flac with linux "grip" ( a front end for cdrecord). I rencode those to mp3 if I want to fill a flash card. As far as I tell, there are no track tags with flac.... Am I wrong?.

19th November 2006, 17:15	#26
travelinphan Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4	to gaek i have winamp 5.31 i dont know if i'm clicking the wrong tab under the transcoder but it wont work

19th November 2006, 23:30	#28
travelinphan Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4	gaek thanks i figured out wat was wrong its working i appreciate the feedback!!

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode