CD to FLAC to MP3
I’ve started using FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) when I rip my CDs. FLAC compresses the audio, but no data is lost. Converting from one lossy music format to another isn’t a good idea, but there’s no problem going from lossless to lossy. So when, in 2020, I decide I want my music in mp9 format for my new portable player, I won’t need to dig out all my CDs and rip then again. On the down side, the files are pretty big, but space is cheap these days.
Ripping CDs to FLAC
I use CDex . In the configuration dialogue, choose the Encoder tab. Choose External Encoder and browse for flac.exe in the encoder path. Enter the following in the Parameter string box:
--force-raw-format --endian=little --channels=2 --sign=signed --sample-rate=44100 --bps=16 -8 -V -A tukey(0,5) -o %2 -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%b" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%tn" -T "genre=%g" -The bitrate option is irrelevant, the file extension is flac. Check Hide DOS box window and On-the-fly encoding. Make sure Send WAV header to stdin is not checked. On the Generic tab, set ID3 tag version to None.
Converting to MP3
FLAC is great, but I still want MP3s for my portable player.
To convert FLAC to MP3, use Frontah. Download and unzip it to a folder. Track flac.exe down and copy it into the Frontah folder. Also download lame.exe and put it into the Frontah folder.
Hat-tips
- Using CDex with Flac hints – pfarrell.com
- How to use CDex and FLAC together – Lee.org
- How to Convert FLAC Audio Files to MP3 for Free – PhilSaunders.com
- CDex-Flac —> incorrect file length and bitrate – Hydrogen Audio