[Flac] flac conversion

[Brian Willoughby]

You could also try SoX. It looks like that program could convert directly from FLAC to MP3, but I haven't tried it.

I have a Sound Devices recorder that supports FLAC, but it doesn't play all files from external sources. It's great for recording to FLAC, but not so good for playing files purchased online in FLAC format.

Brian Willoughby
Sound Consulting


On Jun 5, 2016, at 5:28 PM, Frank Esposito <fpesposito at gmail.com> wrote:
> thanks for the info -- for the most part I have been using  the LAME encoder ---  generally I rip my files to flac from  CD's then  via a  series of batch files convert  flac -> wav -> mp3  --  it seems to work OK for me --  
> 
> I guess if I get a high end player like the FiiO or PONY  I might just use the FLAC files 
> directly 
> 
> thanks again 
> 
> fpe  
> 
> On Sun, Jun 5, 2016 at 6:14 PM, Brian Willoughby <brianw at audiobanshee.com> wrote:
>> Hi Frank,
>> 
>> On Jun 5, 2016, at 12:34 PM, Frank Esposito <fpesposito at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > I have a flac file encode  92/24bit -- what tools are available to  convert these files
>> > to wave  44.1/16 bit so then I can convert to mp3?  Thanks
>> 
>> MP3 does not encode any frequencies above 20 kHz. Therefore, you can convert directly from 96 kHz without intermediate Sample Rate Conversion. A good MP3 encoder will simply handle the SRC for you. iTunes is one example.
>> 
>> You absolutely do not want to convert from 24-bit to 16-bit, because you will add quantization noise. MP3 is equivalent to a variable bit depth / quantization, so it's always better to start with 24-bit. If you read about Apple's "Mastered for iTunes" initiative, you'll understand more. See http://www.apple.com/itunes/mastered-for-itunes/
>> 
>> Going from 96 kHz / 24-bit to MP3 involves two adjustments: quantization and sample rate considerations. Of the two, you should always retain the 24-bit quantization, but there are some options about frequency.
>> 
>> I'm not really sure whether all platforms play 48 kHz MP3 as well as 44.1 kHz MP3. Therefore, you might gain some sonic advantage by converting from 96 kHz to 88.2 kHz before converting to MP3. That way, your MP3 should be 44.1 kHz instead of 48 kHz (but I haven't tested every MP3 encoder on this aspect).
>> 
>> Personally, I recommend that you leave the file as 96/24 and look for a better MP3 encoder if the one you're using doesn't support that. All you really need is to use flac to decode to WAVE or AIFF  at 96/24 and then go direct to MP3.
>> 
>> Brian Willoughby
>> Sound Consulting
> -- 
> Frank Esposito 
>