Audio file conversion, FLAC to MP3 for mobile applications

[kamikaziechameleon]

I had a friend rip my halo soundtracks in FLAC a while back. In moving I've lost my CDs and want to convert the FLAC files to MP3 so I can put them on my phone or on a MP3 player. All the conversion software I've seen is trial based. I was wondering if there was a free open source style converter out there I could plant on my computer and not worry about for future use without paying since i don't do this often enough. google only seems to turn up the same 3 pay for apps.

Any thoughts or recommendations???

[arsenhazzard]

Foobar + LAME does the trick for me

[kamikaziechameleon]

ok how do I get lame to work with foobar??

EDIT, I have them both I have the files in foobar ready to convert but it can't figure where the command-line encoder is in the lame file. I've extracted it out so that I can see all the inner file directories but I'm at a loss here.

[kamikaziechameleon]

issue resolved, the version I had downloaded was missing the exe for whatever reason.

EIDT:

THANKS SO MUCH, my only problem now is media player thinks I have two copies, I decided to delete the flac files so as to get rid of the doubles and now I still see doubles. Is there a way to make media player rebuild its library???

[kamikaziechameleon]

Ok sorta figured the goofiness of media player out it sometimes rebuilds it often doesn't just gotta be patient.

[just brew it!]

I hope you at least kept a copy of the FLACs somewhere...? MP3 is lossy; if you ever want to transcode to another format (like OGG), you'll want to start from the original FLACs instead of the MP3s for optimal fidelity.

[Captain Ned]

I hope you at least kept a copy of the FLACs somewhere...? MP3 is lossy; if you ever want to transcode to another format (like OGG), you'll want to start from the original FLACs instead of the MP3s for optimal fidelity.

Somewhere recently in the land of audiophilia nervosa (most likely Stereophile) I read an article claiming to hear a difference between a WAV and a FLAC played from the same server. Somehow the 'decryption overhead" means that stream-decrypted FLAC still doesn't sound as good as original WAV.

Of course, these are the same people who will tell you that some random bits of mystery wood and a Rat Shack alarm clock with "special circuitry" will bring on audio nirvana. As for me, I was able to get the college-era turntable running and at the right speed this week, so I'm in a vinyl haze. There's a new turntable/arm/cartridge combo in my future and the only question is will it come in above or below the new TV.

[just brew it!]

Somewhere recently in the land of audiophilia nervosa (most likely Stereophile) I read an article claiming to hear a difference between a WAV and a FLAC played from the same server. Somehow the 'decryption overhead" means that stream-decrypted FLAC still doesn't sound as good as original WAV.

Let's not confuse the OP...

(It is probably just a matter of time before someone claims that coloring the outside of your hard drive with a green Sharpie will improve the fidelity of audio files stored on it...)

[bthylafh]

Naw, you have to open the hard drive and write on the platters with the green Sharpie.

[kamikaziechameleon]

Naw, you have to open the hard drive and write on the platters with the green Sharpie.

LMFAO! thanks guys.

[wiak]

if you have an android and have installed cyanogenmod then you can just copy flacs over
if you need a application check out dBpoweramp http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm

[moriz]

you can also look into streaming services like audiogalaxy and subsonic. both require you to run a server on your machine, and your phone streams it over the network/internet. flac files will be transcoded to mp3 on the fly for both.

[bthylafh]

Och aye, Subsonic is wonderful. It's free for everything but streaming to mobile devices, and for that you've got a 30-day evaluation period followed by a suggested donation of 20 euros.

[kvndoom]

Bit of a necro, but I just wanted to throw this program into the mix for anyone looking to do the same thing.

http://www.flac-mp3.org/flac-to-mp3.html

It's pretty fast even on my S939 A64, and it actually uses multiple cores! Really simple and user friendly interface.

That's all.