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How to convert .flac files to .mp3 using OS X

Mac iPod

You’ve downloaded a show or two from http://bt.etree.org and now you want to convert the .flac files to .mp3 to take with you on your iPod or MP3 player. This tutorial will walk you through the steps to do just that, using OS X. Read on ..

First things first, make sure you’ve downloaded and installed xACT and iTunes, both of which are free.

There are two steps in converting your .flac files to .mp3. The first is to decode the .flac’s into .wav files. After that’s done, you’ll encode the .wav files into .mp3’s.

Decoding .flac files with xACT
Encoding .wav files with iTunes

Decoding .flac files with xACT

  1. Launch xACT and select the decode tab
  2. Click the add button
  3. Navigate to the .flac files you want to decode, select them all, and then click Add files

  4. Click to enlarge

  5. Now you’ll need to select the output – I use and suggest .wav. Click Decode when you’re ready

  6. Click to enlarge

  7. You’ll be prompted to choose a location to save the output files. Select the same folder where the .flac files are located and then click Choose

  8. Click to enlarge

  9. Go put on a pot of coffee. The decoding process only takes a few minutes.
  10. When it’s completed you’ll be back at the decode screen but there won’t be any files in the decode list. Feel free to close xACT now.

Encoding .wav files with iTunes

  1. Open up iTunes and select iTunes from the top menu, and then Preferences… from the drop-down list
  2. Select the Advanced tab from the top menu, and then Importing from the lower menu

  3. Click to enlarge

  4. From the Import Using: list, select MP3 Encoder
  5. From the Setting: list, select your quality preference. I happen to have a lot of space on my portable MP3 player, so I opt for Higher Quality (192 kbps)
  6. It also annoys me to have songs playing while they’re importing, so I disable that feature by removing the check from the box labeled Play songs while importing. This is entirely optional. Click OK to return to iTunes.
  7. Now select File from the top menu, and then Add to Library… from the drop-down list
  8. Navigate to the folder where you saved all of the .wav files from xACT, select that folder, and then click Choose

  9. Click to enlarge

  10. iTunes will now import all of the .wav’s into iTunes. Find all of the newly added files (usually at the bottom of your iTunes list, but it depends on how you sort your music) and select them all. Once they’re all highlighted, right-click (ctrl-click for you one-button folks) on any of the selected songs and choose Convert Selection to MP3 from the pop-up menu.
  11. Remember that pot of coffee you put on while the .flac files were decoding? Now’s the time to get a cup. While iTunes is encoding your MP3s, a status indicator will appear in the left window (see image below). Depending on how “fast” your mac is (processor speed, memory etc) and how many files you’re encoding, this step can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour.
  12. Once all of the files have been encoded, iTunes will probably beep to get your attention. Before you start listening to your music, now’s a good time to get rid of the .wav files, since they’re no longer needed. You should notice that ever other track in iTunes is highlighted. These are the .wav files – get them out of iTunes by clicking the delete key on your keyboard. If iTunes asks if you want to delete the files as well as remove them from iTunes, feel free to do so (you should still have the source .flac files if you ever need an uncompressed version again)
  13. That’s it! You’re done. You can now tag the files in iTunes, transfer them to your iPod etc. If you need to get at the MP3s, they will likely be located in Mac Hard Drive:Users:you:Music:iTunes:iTunes Music:

Related content: How to convert .shn files to .mp3 using OSX

Posted in Mac, iPod.

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158 Responses

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  1. Siouxsie says

    THANK YOU!!!!!! :D

  2. J. says

    I accidently followed a link here from a “how to play .ape files” thread to this, and I can’t believe people are still using this method. It’s a very nicely made tutorial, but so out of date. There are plenty of free applications can convert from flac to mp3 in like 1 click. I use X Lossless Decoder but if you google it there are many others.

    Also doing all this with wave files means you loose the metadata as wave doesn’t support it. Which means typing out all the track names all over again.

  3. A. says

    Don’t forget that you can always convert to aplle lossless if you don’t want to loose the lossless-ness of your files :)

  4. John Galt says

    Amazingly easy.

  5. Michael says

    If only everything on the internet was this well written and helpful. Thank you so much!

  6. Daryl says

    Thanks a lot!

  7. Lloyd says

    Amazing. Ive tried and faild to do so for months. if only i found you sooner!!

    Cheers!!

  8. brian z says

    To whoever wrote this page, you are the Socrates of the schools of the cyberage, and I pay tribute to a sage.

  9. Carlos says

    All you have to do is add the tracks in WAV format or AIFF format to itunes. Then go to preferences, GENERAL-> IMPORT SETTING-> CHOOSE MP3 OR which ever you like. Then go back to the playlist, select all tracks and control click to show get info,rating, reset play count…. ect. Then click on convert or create mp3. This will do it with the tracks you have selected.

  10. Bob says

    I got bad news. There have been some updates to iTunes and since I haven’t converted a flac in a while, I noticed that the Advanced screen in iTune preferences has changed; it no longer has the sub menu for ‘importing.’ So, I can’t continue after this step. Any ideas?

  11. Steph says

    Thank you for your very thorough and helpful description of how to convert FLAC files to MP3s on Macs! Very very helpful!

  12. T says

    Wouldn’t it be easier just to go straight from .flac to .mp3 with the LAME encoder using xACT (under “lossy” tab if LAME is installed)?

  13. cisco metal says

    Thanks !!

  14. Parn says

    Thank You. Good.

  15. jay says

    I am trying to convert a DMB show (.flac format), and keep getting this error –

    Can’t get «class view» id 15 of «class tabV» id 5 of window id 1. (-1728)”

    Any thoughts? I am using a mac….

  16. Ben says

    Wouldn’t it be easier just to go straight from .flac to .mp3 with the LAME encoder using xACT (under “lossy” tab if LAME is installed)?

    Agreed. This option worked fine for me.

  17. marxz says

    looks like this artical needs to updated to include the flac to mp3 (via LAME) button that exists on the newer version.
    drage drop, change your bit rate (encode MP3 at the 128 default? I think not) click the button. done

  18. Chris says

    Thank you so much. I was glad to hear i wan’t in a dirt hole after finding out .flac files were compatible for conversion. This guide/ tutorial was smooth and used graphics we needed to see. Thanks again for the .flac to .mp3 guide! 5 out of 5 stars!

  19. P.D. says

    These instructions were AWESOME! I’m a very happy reader! Thanks for your time.

  20. evan says

    thanks!

  21. RAC says

    ur a lifesaver. just got dave matthews’ live performance at Alpine converted to my iTunes today!

  22. Joao says

    thanks! very helpful!

  23. Numi says

    Hey guys
    i just find out. that you can decode, transform or convert .Flac Files in to mp3
    Download xACT, install the aplication, run it
    click on the tab LOSSY. select CBR Bitrate onto 128 kbps, drag the file you wanto to convert, and click Encode.
    finaly
    the flac file in to mp3
    Numi From Chile

  24. paddydaddy says

    …or you could use Audacity, a free app that will convert flac to mp3 with just one click. Audacity rocks!

  25. Joe Lamb says

    But this program does convert to mp3 as well … just click on the “lossy” tab and follow the same directions as above. Although I do agree – Audacity rocks!

  26. VampyreSonata says

    EXCELLENT! thank you so much!

  27. Randomz says

    you. are. awesome. ive been googling how to turn flac files into itunes files for like half an hour. thankyou :D :D :D

  28. Stefan says

    Thank yooooo

  29. Louis-Philippe says

    Perfect instructions! Thanks a lot!

  30. Mats says

    Thanks! awesome, good suggestion the cup of coffee

  31. Jaded says

    thank you so much, aside from the fact that the conversion tool was changed =took me awhile to figure that out xP= this tutorial was great. thank sagain

  32. Bahar says

    thank you!

  33. Durden says

    Perfect! Worked like a charm first time around.

  34. Mikhail says

    This is a great tutorial. Thanks!

  35. Karim Mohsen says

    THANKS! it WORKED!!!

  36. Emilie says

    thanks a lot! i converted my .flac to .mp3 smoothly :D

  37. Paul says

    Fantastic easy advice, well happy :)

  38. Bryan Gruneberg says

    Awesome. Thanks for the help

  39. fk says

    Thanks for the very easy to follow instructions! It works.

  40. ricavanessa says

    this works! thank you!

  41. L says

    Hello there, thank you so much for posting these steps.
    Why is that only a few of the .wav files get added to my library?
    I can’t seem to find an answer for this, please help.

    Thanks, L

  42. Luke says

    just sick to the .wav! if you have a big ipod i recommend to anyone to keep their FLAC files in wave

  43. Robert B says

    Tried converting some FLAC files to WAV using xAct and kept getting applescript error “The variable theStatusPanel is not defined. (-2753)” Had bettter luck with All2MP3 program

  44. Seedler says

    Thanks for your help!!

  45. Zeus says

    umm. How do I make the coffee?

  46. Mike P says

    Converting .flac files for me is very frustrating – I’ve tried All2mp3, and it simply spins the beach-ball forever, never converting anything even when left for over an hour to process a single 30 mb flac file (not that big for my iSight iMac running 10.5.8 with 2GB of RAM). And Xact, which is recommended by most, simply gives me an error instantly, like this for example: – 01 – Down.flac: flac: invalid option — / flac: invalid option — U. And another program, named Switch, returns a very similar error. I’d think that perhaps my flac files were bad except that I’ve tried with about 3 dozen different, separate, unrelated in any way downloads. It’s just not the files, I really don’t think it’s the computer limited in any way by hardware, but certainly could be a software problem somewhere, somehow. These programs work fine for me translating other audio files, just not any flacs. Anyone have any ideas? It’s been driving me crazy since I got this iMac about 8 months ago =/ Thanks in advance if you have any other programs or ideas in mind, I’m at the end of my rope, don’t know what else to do. I’ve spent dozens of hours working on this problem without any results.

1 2 3

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