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Topic: FLAC software (Read 5494 times) previous topic - next topic
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FLAC software

I am about to compress my wave files to FLAC. Which software is best for doing this? I have tried FLAC Frontend and it seems pretty good. But before I commit to it I would like to make sure there isn't something else that might be better.

                                                  -Darin
:alien:
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

FLAC software

Reply #1
My love has fallen on frontah as a frontend for FLAC.

FLAC software

Reply #2
Hows the Frontah v.0.0.0.3 *** UNSTABLE BETA ***? Is that one good to use or would you recommend a different version?

                                                                    -Darin

:alien:
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

FLAC software

Reply #3
U could use Speek's multi frontend.
Wanna buy a monkey?

FLAC software

Reply #4
I prefer FlacDrop.
Easy to use, and have all the features I need. Just drag and drop 

FLAC software

Reply #5
I haven't found it for linux yet.  In windows I use dbpoweramp.
Select your files, right click and choose "convert" and pick
your format (wave,  vorbis, flac, mp3, ape, ...)
The ripping and record tools can save straight to flac.

FLAC software

Reply #6
Is one actually better than the other or are they all the same for encoding quality and utilizeing FLAC's features?
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

FLAC software

Reply #7
If you haven't ripped yet, it's easy to have Exact Audio Copy do the FLAC-ing for you as a user-defined type.  The only drawback is if storing ReplayGain info it's track-by-track not based on the CD as a whole.

Do frontah or flacdrop do tagging and album replaygain?

FLAC software

Reply #8
I am using FLAC Front End and there is a box to check for Replaygain. Do I have to check it if I plan on using Replaygain later? The reason that I don't want to check it is because I read where it's best to use the Replaygain as a sperate job, not while encodeing. I can't figure out what exactly it means to check that box since replaygain isn't configured in FLAC Front End.

                                                            -Darin
:alien:
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

FLAC software

Reply #9
Quote
If you haven't ripped yet, it's easy to have Exact Audio Copy do the FLAC-ing for you as a user-defined type.  The only drawback is if storing ReplayGain info it's track-by-track not based on the CD as a whole.

Do frontah or flacdrop do tagging and album replaygain?

how does one replay-gain or re-replay-gain his FLAC files?  And doesn't album-gain or track-gain depend on the program playing the FLAC files and not FLAC's replay-gain process itself, or is there really a different setting and there is different gain info saved depending on the replay-gain options one chooses in FLAC?
WARNING:  Changing of advanced parameters might degrade sound quality.  Modify them only if you are expirienced in audio compression!

FLAC software

Reply #10
From my limited experience working with FLAC's replay gain, it appears that to properly add replay-gain (both album and track gains) to a set of files (say all the files in a directory) you would do a
Code: [Select]
metaflac --add-replay-gain *.flac
after all your files are encoded.  To get the album gain calculated correctly, metaflac needs to know it's dealing with more than one file.  When I tried doing an --add-replay-gain with flac at the initial rip and encoding time, it only considered one song at a time, so my track gain was the same as my album gain for each song (which is generally not what you want).

I'm not sure how this works with various frontends...I tried a few early on, but eventually decided that it would all just be a lot easier if I stuck with running commands directly (and since I use Linux primarily the command line is usually my only choice).  If you need a way to remove the replay gain information, the best way I've figured out so far is to remove each one like any other comment.  Try
Code: [Select]
metaflac --remove-vc-field=REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_PEAK --remove-vc-field=REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_GAIN --remove-vc-field=REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_PEAK --remove-vc-field=REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_GAIN *.flac
  You could also export the comments to a file, edit the file, then import the comments back into the file, but you'd have to do that for every song.

Maybe Josh will implement a "--remove-replay-gain" in a future version of FLAC...seems like a logical thing to do...

FLAC software

Reply #11
Quote
Hows the Frontah v.0.0.0.3 *** UNSTABLE BETA ***? Is that one good to use or would you recommend a different version?

                                                                     -Darin

:alien:

Dunno why the author hasn't removed that. Perhaps because its relatively new. But I haven't had any problem with it...

FLAC software

Reply #12
Quote
Quote
Hows the Frontah v.0.0.0.3 *** UNSTABLE BETA ***? Is that one good to use or would you recommend a different version?

                                                                     -Darin

:alien:

Dunno why the author hasn't removed that. Perhaps because its relatively new. But I haven't had any problem with it...

Oh I know, I will release a new version soon and call it v.0.9.  It will have some new icons (thanks to SacRat!) and some bugfixes. At the moment I'm very busy finishing other projects in school, but the new version shouldn't take more than 1-2 weeks!

Frontah v.0.0.0.3 *** UNSTABLE BETA *** should be safe to use though, as there hasn't been any major bugs reported (yet)!

FLAC software

Reply #13
Man...I don't know...maybe it's just in my head....but(and don't get me wrong, the flac file sounds good) I think the wave file might have a tad bit better calarity and crisper highs. But...maybe it's just in my head because I know the flac is a compressed file. Hey also, when my waves are compressed they are only 10 MB smaller. Shouldn't the size be better than that?

                                                      -Darin

              :alien:
Cowon Iaudio X5 30 gig. It rocks!

FLAC software

Reply #14
Quote
Man...I don't know...maybe it's just in my head....but(and don't get me wrong, the flac file sounds good) I think the wave file might have a tad bit better calarity and crisper highs.  But...maybe it's just in my head because I know the flac is a compressed file.

Yep, it's all in your head.  FLAC is lossless, so you're guaranteed that it's exactly the same as the original wave file.  But don't feel bad...paranoia about one's own hearing is nothing new around here. 

Quote
Hey also, when my waves are compressed they are only 10 MB smaller. Shouldn't the size be better than that?

Probably not.  Some lossless formats are a little better than others, but most compress music to 50% to 75% the size of the original wave.  "Complicated" music compresses less, "simple" music compresses more.  If you're wav file was around 40 MB, then a flac only 10 MB smaller would be reasonable for many kinds of music.  Sure, it's a lot larger than what would be produced by any of the lossy formats, but that's the price you pay for perfection.

FLAC software

Reply #15
http://mikewren.com/flac/

I think it is basically what Case did...

Mike has written a how-to (the link is in unreadable blue below the red installer link)