Convert Flac, Ape, M4a To Mp3

[vagabond48]

I have a lot of FLAC, APE, OGG and other very high quality classical music on my drives. Right now, I don't have speakers but I am using good headphones and I can't hear the difference between lossless and MP3 music and these files are taking a lot of unnecessary disk space.

I am looking for the best free software that will do the best job to convert these files to mp3.

I also wanted to know what highest quality format mp3 I should convert to, that would take advantage of 1000 to 1500 baht speakers, 192, 256, 320 and do I go with CBR or VBR?

I do have all my music files properly backed up so I could always return the lossless files if I got high end speakers.

Thanks for any advice.

[Supernova]

dBpoweramp Music Converter - not free but worth it.

Variable bit rate (VBR) encoding gives the best quality. For more information about encoding MP3s, visit Hydrogenaudio -- the best audio forum on the web.

[fantuzi]

dBpoweramp Music Converter - not free but worth it.

Variable bit rate (VBR) encoding gives the best quality. For more information about encoding MP3s, visit Hydrogenaudio -- the best audio forum on the web.

I know people,who can hear diff between VBR and 320CBR and they say - 320CBR is better;VBR save space.

So,they listen to 320CBR on their mobile music devices.

I do not hear that diff however.But I dont claim to have golden ears.I would call my ears - silver - to match my hair!

[Supernova]

I know people,who can hear diff between VBR and 320CBR and they say - 320CBR is better;VBR save space.

So,they listen to 320CBR on their mobile music devices.

I do not hear that diff however.But I dont claim to have golden ears.I would call my ears - silver - to match my hair!

I don't have 'golden ears' either, but there's a difference. Given a choice between 320 CBR or VBR, I'd go for VBR without a doubt. I don't know how else to explain it. I've also done side-by-side comparisons, VBR definitely sounds better (to me). But then again, audio perception will vary from person to person.

[vagabond48]

Thanks for the information.

I just downloaded this free software called Switch Audio Converter. Has anyone heard or used it? Is it a reliable encoder.

It has encoder options which includes of course VBR.

The VBR has a minimum bitrate and a maximum bitrate.

A quality setting where "0" is the highest.

It doesn't use pre-set VBR settings, so can someone suggest what min/max setting I should use to get "alt-preset extreme (~250 kbit/s, typical 220 ... 270)". For best quality, should I use Joint or Stereo in the channel mode setting?

I have experimented with different min/max with "0" highest quality and with my headsets, I can barely hear a minor difference ( possibly imaged) in the music at the same places.

Again, thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[bendejo]

It's been more than a year since I tried, but I had some APE files that I desperately wanted to convert and was never able to. I had wasted so much time trying that I avoid the format. Let us know if you succeed at it.

[vagabond48]

It's been more than a year since I tried, but I had some APE files that I desperately wanted to convert and was never able to. I had wasted so much time trying that I avoid the format. Let us know if you succeed at it.

Using the software previously listed, I was able to convert ape files to mp3.

[vagabond48]

Perhaps someone can clarify VBR for me.

Using "Switch Audio Converter" I used a flac file size 41,172 KB and converted to VBR using min/max bit rate of,

032 320 I got 10,466 KB final bit rate 152

128 320 I got 10,909 KB final bit rate 154

160 320 I got 11,798 KB final bit rate 171

192 320 I got 13,330 KB final bit rate 194

224 320 I got 15,383 KB final bit rate 224

Before I guess why the 192 and 224 is using 30+% more space, I was hoping someone might be able to explain it to me.

[MKAsok]

Just use the LAME V0 preset. This will give you optimum quality for lossy. 320 CBR is a waste of disk space. Make sure you have the latest stable version of the encoder from here. There are many free front-ends you can use for the encoder. I would recommend MediaMonkey. dBpoweramp is also excellent as someone already mentioned, but not free. The front-end isn't important anyway, it's the encoder that matters. Make sure it's LAME.

[rgs2001uk]

Perhaps someone can clarify VBR for me.

Using "Switch Audio Converter" I used a flac file size 41,172 KB and converted to VBR using min/max bit rate of,

032 320 I got 10,466 KB final bit rate 152

128 320 I got 10,909 KB final bit rate 154

160 320 I got 11,798 KB final bit rate 171

192 320 I got 13,330 KB final bit rate 194

224 320 I got 15,383 KB final bit rate 224

Before I guess why the 192 and 224 is using 30+% more space, I was hoping someone might be able to explain it to me.

Because you have more data, you have a wider range of frequencies, the lower bit rate you go the more frequencies you get rid of, therefore a smaller file size.

[Supernova]

Just use the LAME V0 preset. This will give you optimum quality for lossy. 320 CBR is a waste of disk space. Make sure you have the latest stable version of the encoder from here. There are many free front-ends you can use for the encoder. I would recommend MediaMonkey. dBpoweramp is also excellent as someone already mentioned, but not free. The front-end isn't important anyway, it's the encoder that matters. Make sure it's LAME.

Spot on.

[vagabond48]

Perhaps someone can clarify VBR for me.

Using "Switch Audio Converter" I used a flac file size 41,172 KB and converted to VBR using min/max bit rate of,

032 320 I got 10,466 KB final bit rate 152

128 320 I got 10,909 KB final bit rate 154

160 320 I got 11,798 KB final bit rate 171

192 320 I got 13,330 KB final bit rate 194

224 320 I got 15,383 KB final bit rate 224

Before I guess why the 192 and 224 is using 30+% more space, I was hoping someone might be able to explain it to me.

Because you have more data, you have a wider range of frequencies, the lower bit rate you go the more frequencies you get rid of, therefore a smaller file size.

I guess I don't understand how VBR works.

My wild guess why the file with a min/max of 32/320 was smaller than 192/320 was that many frame sizes could use a lower bit rate while at 192/320 the same frame size would be forced to use the minimum 192 bit rate which made the file larger. I thought that was the reason why one shouldn't use 320 CBR because all frames would use the constant 320 bit rate whether it needed it or not but I guess I am wrong because using either preset extreme VBR 256 or VBR V0 245 gives you a much larger file.

[vagabond48]

Just use the LAME V0 preset. This will give you optimum quality for lossy. 320 CBR is a waste of disk space. Make sure you have the latest stable version of the encoder from here. There are many free front-ends you can use for the encoder. I would recommend MediaMonkey.Make sure it's LAME.

I am currently using the free version of MediaMonkey 3.2.0.1294 . I uninstalled and re-installed it to access the 30 day free audio conversion option. Does MM already come with the Lame encoder or do I have to install it?

[vagabond48]

Just use the LAME V0 preset. This will give you optimum quality for lossy. 320 CBR is a waste of disk space. Make sure you have the latest stable version of the encoder from here. There are many free front-ends you can use for the encoder. I would recommend MediaMonkey.Make sure it's LAME.

I am currently using the free version of MediaMonkey 3.2.0.1294 . I uninstalled and re-installed it to access the 30 day free audio conversion option. Does MM already come with the Lame encoder or do I have to install it?

Ignore the above message.

I just did some research and found that it does