note: the OS X version of this tutorial can be found here.
You’ve downloaded a concert 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 Microsoft Windows. Read on
First things first, make sure you’ve downloaded and installed Winamp, the Flac with library support plug-in for Winamp, and iTunes, all 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 Winamp
Encoding .wav files with iTunes
Decoding .flac files with Winamp
- Open Winamp and select Options and then Preferences… (note: if you’re using the “classic version” skin, open the Winamp Preferences by clicking the Control and p keys on your keyboard)
- Select Output from the Plug-ins section of the left window, and then select Nullsoft Disk Writer. Click Configure.
- Click the Directory: button so you can choose a location to save the .wav files
- Navigate to the folder you want to save the .wav files in. I usually save them in the same folder as the .flac files.
- Click OK to return to the Preferences window, and then Close to return to Winamp. Now select File -> Play file… and navigate to the folder with your .flac files. Select all of the .flac files by single-clicking the first file, holding down the Shift key on your keyboard, and then single-clicking the last file. When all of the files are selected, click Open
- Press the Play button. Winamp will now decode the .flac files and turn them into .wav files. It typically takes about 20 seconds to convert a 5 minute song, but this depends on how “fast” your PC is.
Once Winamp is done decoding the files, make sure to set the Plug-ins -> Output back to DirectSound output, or the next time you try to play a file using Winamp, it will decode that file instead.
Check to make sure all of the .wav files were created.
Encoding .wav files with iTunes
- First you need to make sure that iTunes will encode the songs to .mp3 (rather than the default, which is .aac). Start by selecting Edit and then Preferences…
- On the General tab click the Import Settings… button.
- Select MP3 Encoder from the Import Using: list, and then choose a quality from the Setting list. Click OK when you’re done.
- Back in the main iTunes window, select File and then Add Folder to Library…
- Navigate to the folder that you saved the .wav files in and select it. Click OK
- Find the newly imported .wav files in iTunes and select them all (single-click the first file, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard, and then single-click the last file). Right-click on any of the selected files and choose Create MP3 Version. You may want to get a cup of coffee right now, as this step will take a while (depending on the number of files you’re converting).
- iTunes will let you know it’s done converting the files by playing a little “beep”. Now is also a good time to remove the .wav files from your iTunes library so you don’t confuse them with the (identical looking) mp3 files. With the .wav files still highlighted, click the Delete key on your keyboard. If prompted, click the Remove button.
That’s it, you’re done! Rename the files in iTunes (if you wish), give them a listen or transfer them to your iPod/mp3 player. Don’t forget to delete the .wav files if you no longer need them - they’re pretty big and take up quite a bit of space on your hard drive.
The .mp3 files can be found by going to My Documents -> My Music -> iTunes -> iTunes Music -> Artist Name -> Album Name
If you’d like to speed up the conversion and encoding process, try out RegistryBooster 2009. Not only will it make speed up converting your flac files, your whole system will run faster.
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{ 518 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m having trouble with winamp, everthing you say is written perfectly, but when i follow th einstructions winamp doesn’t convert the files to wav, they open into winamp, but its like the program is waiting for something.
Brenna,
Did you click “play” in Winamp after you added the files? Winamp won’t actually “play” the files, but they’ll decode to .wav (pretty quickly). If you only loaded one song, and did click play, check the directory you set (see step 3 at the top) - the file might be there (and you may not have noticed it decode since it happened so quickly). Hope this helps -
Ross
Sort of a silly brute-force way of doing it, but helped me out!
Thanks!!
Just wanted to say thanks. Just spent 20 minutes trying to find a free trial with a converter program that would do more than 1 or 2 minutes.
This was really simple and easy to follow. Thank you.
This was easy to follow & understand. Clear, concise, coherent. Thank you so much for writing this so that I could understand it & not making me feel like a fool at the same time.
Thank goodness for you (whoever figured this out and wrote it in such easy-to-follow directions)!
After trying out several cryptic programs and websites i finally found this one and I’m all set!
Thanks again
~kenny
Yours was the clearest info I found.
Screen shots were reassuring. Worked well. End result just as I wanted ..a John Cale concert moved from downloaded FLAC format onto portable MP3 player (using 320 bitrate in deference to original quality)
Thank you so much. I, like others, was searching for a while to find a freeware application that could do this, and here was a simple procedure waiting in the wings. Your instructions were extremely clear and worked like a charm. Thanks again!
Thank you for the help it was very easy to understand
and to follow with all the screen shots You deserve a raise.
Just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to help out the computer challenged. I found some really great live recordings online, and being able to share those sounds with friends and family is such a treasure!!
Namaste
wow that was absolutely great
thank you so easy
Perfection.
Many thanks!
Excellent tutorial! Thank you very much!
Thank you so much. Saved me a lot of time. Greetings from Brazil.
Thanks for the guide but I have a problem towards the end. I successfully converted the FLAC files to WAV format, but iTunes would not recognize the WAV files when I tried to import them. Does anybody know why that happens and possibly any solutions? Any response would be greatly appreciated!
Never mind. I found out what I did wrong. Thanks again.
Thanks So much for the easy and simple instructions….After first Googleing FLAC to Mp3 I thought I was going to have to install yet another converter (GREAT), but thanks to you no way, I already had what I needed. You help was very much appreciated !!!!
Thanks a lot. Great way to convert. You helped me solve my problem in an easy-to-comprehend way. Wish everybody were this clear when explaning things.
Thanks for this, it’s a great and easy way to convert flac files without having to install a bunch of crappy programs that take up unnecessary space.
Although I used LAME to convert into mp3’s but it’s all the same.
Thanks.
thanks! worked perfectly.. good job!
Thanks for this, worded really well and easy to follow. Although if you do not want to use itunes to convert the .wav’s to mp3, Exact Audio Copy with Lame mp3 plug in works well to.
thanks the description is perfect
Sweet! Thank you!
I don’t really know what I’m doing wrong. I installed Winamp and the flac plug-in, but whenever I got to convert it into .wav file, the Nullsoft Disk Writer plug-in isn’t there. Can you tell me what I’m doing wrong, because I can’t seem to figure it out. I would really appreciate it.
Excellent guide
I also wanted to convert ape to mp3 and worked exactly the same way!
Thanks
hey thanks a lot. now i can listen to my MM show with ease.
Great HowTo
To skip the wav step, you can simply install the “out lame” plugin (http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=143606) in winamp.
Start winamp, Ctrl+P (i.e. Preferences), go to the “Plug-ins->Output”, select “Lame MP3 Writer plugin” and click on “Configure”… the configuration is pretty straight forward. I personally like VBR (Variable Bit Rate) min 128, max 192…
Enjoy
To Ximena, you do not need the “Nullsoft Disk Writer plug-in” if you install the out lame plugin (http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=143606). It will save you one step, by writing the songs directly in MP3. Let us know you still have problems…
Cheers,
It worked this time, thanks so much!
Great incstructions: saved me a lot of time and it is a simple help without downloading any crap.
Thanks a lot!
When I press open after selecting flac files in step 5 I get a FLAC PLUG IN ERROR saying there was an error processing metadata(FLAC_FILE_DECODER_SEEKABLE_STREAM_DECODER_ERROR)
Oh SNAP!
Check out comment #28 by Loic. THAT is as good of a tip as this whole tutorial, which is VERY good.
Thank you !) for this tutorial. I was scratching my head trying to figure out how to get the .flac files on my ipod!
i forgot to change the settings in winamp back and accidentaly changed an avi file to wav. can i change the file back?
thanks maaan…
Great work on the guide, but I have a different approach that will work with more OS’s (and is - dare I say - simpler?)
One time setup:
1. Download and install Audacity.
2. Run Audacity and go to Edit; Preferences; File Formats
3. In the MP3 box, click “Find Library” and find the lame-enc.dll file on your computer. (Go to this page for instructions on downloading it if you don’t already have one.)
To convert file:
1. Open the .flac file with Audacity.
2. File; Export as; MP3
Didn’t work for me…
Just like comment #1.
Any suggestions on what “crappy” programs to use?
WOW! WOW!
This works perfectly! Its even easier to do that downloading a crappy trial flac-to-mp3 and having it not work, and then trying other software. I already had itunes, because I have an ipod, then I download the minimum version of winamp, and did it all. It took me about 3 minutes. REALLY, REALLY easy and it does not cost ANYTHING!! Thanks so much for putting this info up
!!!
thanx alot
almost too simple
Thanks alot worked a treat and was easy to do. I spent ages looking for a converter as mine didn’t support FLAC files. Glad I found this site and didn’t waste my money on one that did.
Thanks again
AWESOME, much appreciated!
cheers mate
the instructions were clear, concise and to the point
and more importantly, it works
thanks a lot
you are a star
Excellent! You are amazing, you are a saviour! Was about to resort to downloading one of those damn freewares which would be the worst thing to do for a simple task like that.. You rock!
When I go to Winamp preferences>output>Nullsoft..>configure>
I get the message “nothing to configure”
Thanks for the detailed instructions. Excellent details and pictures.
I easily completed the task. Great work!
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!! Ive never done that before and it was SO easy!!
Not daunting at all. Thank you so much, it was very clear.
Superb ! The man who wrote it is genius!
Superb ! The man who wrote it is genius!
This is absolutely great.
Fantastic.
The writer not only explains step by step simply how to do it, but it also provides the tools needed.
Simply superb as many said.
Cheers from Argentina.
Omg, Thanks alot! It worked, I had downloaded these files that no music player could play and now I can listen to them in Mp3 form ^^.
Three thumbs up.
Currently the stable build of Audacity won’t import FLAC in Windows, but the 1.3 beta release will. Using the method described by PeterE in comment 38 will now work perfectly. The only drawback is you can’t do batch processing, at least as far as I have been able to figure out.
Thanks a lot man. For almost a year now I’ve been wondering as to haw to convert some Bonnaroo 2006 shows into .mp3 format for my player. Now when I go to the fest this year even when people aren’t performing, I can have my own little show for my friends at my car. Thanks again.
hi, just to say thanks for making it so clear and useful! just converting some damien rice concert now..
thanks again
Much thanks for the tutorial!
Clear, well explained, and screenshots are invaluable.
i love this tutorial, however i dont use itunes, but i do use winamp.
i found that all i had to do was use winamp, and then convert my files to mp3 or mpr with nero, really easy! thanks again
Cheers dude - I wasn’t aware that Winamp was so multipurpose - TOP guide fella.
The instructions were clear and concise.It rocked !
Very nicely done. Thank you very much. Documentation was precise and flowed perfectly.
Well done and thanks.
thanks.. worked well.
just a quick question, how do i now get winamp back to playing music..?
it now starts converting everything.. elp!
Thank you for a clear, concise method - really appreciate it.
Cheers
Mungo
Much appreciated!
very cool! so straight forward, worked flawlessly
Cheers for that
omg thank you so much that helped me alot. love from aus…
later
I never leave comments at these pages, but I feel obligated here, because this is the most elegant set of instructions I have ever seen. Thanks so much, you saved me so much time.
Thank you very much for that! Well written and easy to follow- got all the songs converted in no time.
I had a problem with winamp, in the output section, I don’t have the Nullsoft Disk Writer option. I installed the plug-in that you recommende to Ximena, but it only plays the files, it doesn’t convert them. Can somebody please help?
Thank you very much
You are very clear and concise, Nice screen shots!
You cut out all the crap of looking for a “converter” which is now unnecessary.
I hope that you have written more help files on things i may need in the future!
Worked very well, clear instructions. It is a great add-in to winamp. Thank you very much.
man that was so helpful, very clear! thanks man!
everything worked out except that when i played the newly converted songs, it was really slow…the song kinda sounded like it was in “slow motion,” for lack of better words…any help would be greatly appreciated
Thank You!!!
Worked great!
thanks
i didn’t understand how to convert from wav. to mp3, so if anyone could give further instructions I would greatly appreciate it
BRILLIANT!!!!! Thank you so much. I have been searching for software to enable me to do this, for ages. So easy to follow guide, what more can I say BRILLIANT!!!!!
will thank you very much, i was searching for converter but your way is so easy, i used jetaduio to convert flac fils to wav format then i used another program to convert to mp3
your idea was helpful
thank you again
Ahmos
Thank you very much for this great tutorial.
It ws very helpful! 
Thank you very much for these clear directions! I searched for a converter for FLAC files, and couldn’t find anything useful until I stumbled upon this. Thank you again for writing these for the non-knowin’s of the internet.
REALLY good method, thanks a laod.
I forgot to download winamp patch but it worked after doing so.
Cheers! ^_^
I have to say this is by far the best and easiest guide to convert Flac to mp3. I would also like to add that if you go into the Itunes preferences and navigate to the advanced tab, then click on Importing, and then select the drop down “setting”. You can change the Bit rate to 320 kbps. Hope this helps all you music junkies out there!
It was very easy.
Thanks a lot.
Thanks. Simple and helpful. Cheers
Hey thanx alot!!!! Much appreciated!!!
Thanks a lot, this was super helpful!
Thank you SO much! Extremely helpful. Worked perfectly!
Great tutorial. But I am trying to burn Audiobook files and had 2 problems:
1. Unfortunately, I have Vista. So everything worked including the conversion, until I went to ‘Check to make sure all of the .wav files were created’ - I can’t see file extensions. Even so, I followed all instructions and burned a CD. But it doesn’t play in my CD player, even though I selected ‘Mastered’ version. Is there something else I do to ensure my burned CD will play on my CD player?
2. So as an alternative, I tried saving to iTunes. But when I tried to ‘Add Folder to Library’ in iTunes, I can’t see my files anywhere. Is there another way to get them into iTunes? Thanks!
Just wanted to say thanks for this as Ive been trying to figure out how to do this for ages now.
The easy step by steps are also a great help…. thanks loads my friend.
Steve O
Thank you
.flac sux
WOW. I just had to leave a comment. I never leave comments but your step by step was amazing.
It worked! Thanks so much!!
(And yes, flac SUCKS!)
There is a tool from SoftRM can rip flac file to mp3 files, http://www.softrm.com/english/product.htm.
Only 3 flac files can be ripped in trial version. The registration fee is $19.95.
Great help, thanks!
At # 94 Why would any sane person go to that site and pay for that converter when they can do it free this way?
i used the suggested winamp plugin and it worked fine. i originally tried converting using itunes only but itunes didn’t recognize the file format. i didn’t know winamp is the solution until i stumbled upon this how to article.
thanks! =)
You are a star
Thanks a lot!!!
Simple, easy and quick guide explained oh so clearly.
Many thanks!
Many, many thanks - clear concise and it works!
GREAT!!
It’s the best tutorial about this in the web!
Very short, clear and effective!
Hugs!!
Kiko
Way togo easiest guide i’ve used in a long time
Thanks very much for this well put together guide.
Great guide. Thanks for the effort.
Thanks a ton for putting this online. Was going nuts looking at other websites. Simple and easy to follow directions. Worked flawlessly.
well I found this easy enough, read everyone’s comments, sounded easy so I downloaded and installed winamp and flac with library support from the links here, but the next step - configuring the nullsoft disk writer - was my first stumbling block - it wasn’t in the list. repeated the steps, same results, please advise…. thx
Thanks!!!!
Excellent! Easy and clear tutorial. Afterwards, I converted from .wav to .mp3 using dBpower AMP Music Converter.
Dude You R Fuckin Brilliant
THANK YOU!
Awesome help. That was the easiest and most straightforward way of converting flac files to mp3 that I could have hoped for. Excellent. All the other converters that are free only convert 4 or so files at a time unless you purchase them so this was the best advice for flac conversion. GOOD WORK!
What a good walkthru…I have been wanting to change an album in flac format to a WAV or mp3 for a while and was expecting to pay a small fortune to do it…this is so simple, free, and effective! Well done…nice one!
Thanx man, great instructions and dead easy to follow! Superb!
Thx alot for the guide it was really useful in converting these songs
Great man!
A quick and easy way to do it yourself, I don’t think you could’ve explained it better xD
Thanks for making us all save time, (money, for some ppl =p), and all that stress in searching through crap software
Check out http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=234823 The 4th post down talks about a Transcoder plug-in for Winamp that makes it even easier. Just used it myself and it worked flawlessly. Thanks for your walkthrough though. I used your method and it worked fine for me, this is just faster and easier… no offense
Worked like a charm - thanks a bunch!
Anyone who is happy using the command-line might like to try my flac2mp3 script.
Details here: http://robinbowes.com/projects/flac2mp3
It’s free!!! (donations accepted though
)
Regarding this comment:
“Check out http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=234823 The 4th post down talks about a Transcoder plug-in for Winamp that makes it even easier. Just used it myself and it worked flawlessly. Thanks for your walkthrough though. I used your method and it worked fine for me, this is just faster and easierโฆ no offense”
It looks like you need Winamp Pro to do this - not the free version that the author of this page’s technique uses.
Thanks for sharing! Just downloaded a great Keller Williams set!
check out all the positive feedback, heres another, 1 album converted in under 2 minutes, and it saved me having to move files. Sweet thank you
Great Help. Thankx a lot
This is fantastic,it’s so cool to provide help like this,its really excellent,thanks a thousand times for your kindness.
So when I highlight the .flac files and click open to try to convert them to .wav it just gives me an error report and closes winamp. anybody know whats up with that? I tried uninstalling then reinstalling and it still does the same thing..
Quick & easy, thanks for the detailed info.
Many thanks - nice and easy!
After clicking Directory, I needed to find the Flac file folder, unfortunately I was unable to find it, as I looked in the wrong place, and I decided to save into what I thought to be an empty folder titled New Folder, it turned out to hold a regular music file. Now Winamp wonโt play any files! Clearly my error was to click on the wrong folder! I would surly appreciate your advice.
OMG you rock. Can you explain love?
Great, thanx :))
This tutorial is awesome, thanks so much!
Thank you! AWESOME!! Very, very helpful and this way I can still keep the high quality .mp3. Cheers
Thank you so much. It really helped a lot.
Thank you..This tutorial is awesome…. this is the best advice for flac conversion can you say SIMPLE…CHEERS
Works great! Just a word of warning, however: Make sure your play settings aren’t set to ‘Repeat’ or it will try to encode the same files over and over again!
Trust me on that one…
dude..your awesome
thanks!
I did all the steps and Winamp starts ddecoding the files then I get a pop up after a few songs already went through saying, Flac-File plug-in error, then error stopping decoding thread and when I check where I put the wav. files their not there.
Mike,
Do the flac files play ok when you try to just listen to them? (I ask because that’s the same error that you get with an incomplete/corrupt flac)
Why not use the actual Flac tools for windows (Flac frontend) to convert to wav, then use dbpoweramp to convert to mp3. Everything is free.
Just had to say thank you. I’ve had a billion flac files on my computer for months now that I couldn’t listen to because I had no idea how to convert them!!!! This site is a life saver and soooo easy to follow!!
wonderful. very easy. and it worked.
awesome.
Hey that works! WOW! so simple! LOL
Tanks. Muchly.
Thanks.
Great tip i need to convert an with this page result be very simple.
Thanks again.
BEst regards from Mexico.
Thanks so much! This was easy to follow and worked great.
Thanks!
I’ve follwed your instructions to the T and found the same instructions elsewhere but everytime I try to convert this way winamp encounters an error and has to shut down. Any ideas???
I’ve followed you instructions and found the same on other sites but every time I try this Winamp encounters an unknown error and shuts down. Any ideas???
Thanks!
This was very useful
OMG you rock. Thank you SO much.
It works great but now I can’t play the music normally anymore. Does anyone know a solution?
This is a really super duper helpful info
Thanks a million!
Thanks a huge lot!!!!! You made it sooooo simple compared to the rest that was offering downloading extra programs for doing it. It went smoothly from .flac to .wav with Winamp and from there on, Nero did the rest.
Thank you.
Thank’s
Explained beautifully! Thank you very much.
Wow, Awesome program and instructions I followed everything exactly as you stated and I added a few minor comments to my printed sheet in order to allow anyone who works with my system to figure out the specific paths next time…now if you can just figure out a way to get this in our hands when we first start looking (1 yr since the awesome Pearl Jam Gorge WA show that I downloaded in .flac instaed of the mp3 version since it “looked” better)you will be on your way to retirement sooner!
Worked perfectly for me. Thanks
Bah, not good enough for me to be honest… though thanks anyway. dbPowerAMP is a better solution for me since I’m always trying to convert some kind of format rather than downloading WinAMP and iTunes which I never ever use.
everything worked out for me except now that I have converted the flac files to mp3, I have them all in my itunes playlist, I cant burn them to an audio cd. I followed the instructions here, clicked on burning clicked audio cd then hit okay and it didnt do anything. Any help is appreciated…
WOW - you are the BEST. I love the way this is explained. You ROCK!!!
thanks ross, I figured it out, I had to take the files from my library and create an actual playlist on itunes, and then it lets me burn the actual disc. Im all good! thanks for this site, I followed the directions to a T and it couldnt have been any easier…especially for someone as computer challenged as myself! thanks again!
Thanx, that was really easy.
Ya this was awesome came up on google search right away and i was converting my flac files that i had never seen before to wav so i can play them in the car THANKS!!!!!!!!
The testimonials say it all……
solving peoples headaches for over a year with a simply perfect solution.
Many thanks, Ross
Best regards
Ian
Thanx for your support!!!
It was great your help!
Oh God. 100 testimonials and I can’t seem to get it working!! I already feel stupid, but have no idea what I’m doing wrong. I went to Preferences, chose to configure the Lame mp3 writer plugin, I choose the folder where I want the files to go, I load the flac files onto winamp, hit the play button and…nothing….It skips through the tracks (plays nothing) and there are no mp3 files in my chosen folder…..HELP pleeease…
Thanks for this site dude! Really helped especially since i am so comuputer illiterate.
Thank you very much. It worked great.
Thanks amillion! Lame didn’t work (winamp just stoped working) but the nullsoft disk writer works just fine. Glad I eventually found this guide I was lost without it! -G
Hmm for some reason, when i get to step 6 of decoding (I don’t even get time to press play, I just click on open) winamp stops working and vista finds the need to shut it down >_> Any ideas?
Ok I tried reinstalling winamp and the plugin…but it still won’t work. Perhaps the files are corrupt?
It’s been said before, but we all like a “thank you” when it’s due!
I also tried looking for a freebie converter and couldn’t find anything anywhere near as easy as this method. Clear, concise insrtuctions. Thank you so much for saving me so much time!
Ross, I know it’s been said many times but many thx for the instructs… worked like a champ!
Thanks so much for this! I was trying to get a Muse concert I received changed into mp3s and this helped loads!
Thank you for help!
thank you for this.
wonderful guide!
what if we dont have itunes. i just want them to get on Windows Media Player so i can burn them to a CD.
I can’t thank you enough. I did as you instructed and after the songs were converted I found it neccessary to create a new folder to place all the songs of the album. Then I was able to import into ITunes. The folder transfer would not work for me. Practice will make perfect. Thx again. Jon
To Bigal once the tunes are reformatted you don’t need ITunes just open the songs using Windows Media. Then if all ok just add to Windows Media library and burn away. subrosa
thx alot… brilliant
Dude you are too good.. this thing worked great .. thanks again
thanks dude that helped me so much just about to play new 50 album… it was heavy nearly 600mb in wmv but now in mp3 ~320 vbr should be less.
an good way to get wav files to mp3 also rip cds to mp3 is a program called audiograbber its a freeware
this is awesome, thanks so much! i’ve been looking for a solution like this for ages!
I use FreeRIP which can convert from/to FLAC, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WMA and Wav. And it also is a CD ripper.
It is very easy to use and has a Basic version which is free.
http://www.freerip.com
just did it. worked perfect thanks for the info very detailed and helpful
Thank you SO MUCH for this discover man..
two thumbs up.
this was EXTREMELY helpful.
You can convert directly to mp3 in winamp with the lame encoder plugin.
http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details/143606
This info is a life saver! Many thanks
cheers buddy
I had installed and used this with an older version of Winamp which mistakenly was uninstalled. I downloaded the current version 5.5 and after following all of your instructions again, the Writer is not an option in output.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank You for your time,
Jim
@Jim:
I’d try uninstalling Winamp again, then make sure the C:\Program Files\Winamp\ folder is totally gone, then re-install it. Hope this helps..
Ross, thanks for the perfect instructions. Worked flawlessly.
Cheers…
C
You can also use audacity to directly convert flac to mp3 but it can take time. Just each flac file and then export it as an mp3. You’ll need the lame.dll encoder file off the internet first to decode to mp3. Just download the .dll file, extract and ‘find’ through audicity options.
This was awesome. Worked fast and easy. Thanks
What a legend! Thank you very much for this; I’ve spent hours going through search engine lists for information and freeware to convert these files.
Again, thanks for the info - the step by step is spot on and the entire process has taken me less than 20 minutes, including downloading and installing the needed applications!
thanks. your advice was very clear. and i got to convert my files. thank you so much!!!
wow that’s neat, i didn’t know you could do that with winamp. thank you
Hey Ross,
Amazingly lucid instructions and very neatly ordered.Thanks a lot for the time you took and introducing us to this conversion technique which is commonly available yet unknown to many.
I suggest you have a troubleshooting space of your own on the web.If you do already,kindly paste the link here.
Absolutely flawless, incredibly easy conversion. I’d expected it to be so much more difficult, but little did I know, I already had all the tools I needed. Thanks so much, Ross, and now I shall no longer fear FLAC torrents.
dis website is tite
Thanks a ton buddy
ive never even heard of flac files but your wee guide sorted it for me anyway mate! nice one!
your rock… great job I would have never done it without you.
thanks a bunch, this was a simple and easy guide.
EXTREMELY HELPFUL, thanks alot for all the help, this made everything so much easier. Appreciate the help.
Peace love and chicken grease
Just what I was looking for. Thanks
far too easy to believe
i’m able to burn audio cd’s after conversion
i shall never be fearfull of downloading FLAC files ever
just like the man and the fish story
thx ross
FLAC files…no bother now!! Thanx for the tutorial. First class without crappy programmes bein installed!!
Thank you so much. I can finally listen to the flac files I downloaded on my ipod.
The instructions were so clear and simple. Cheers.
Eric!
I am having the same problem… Whatg did you do??? My converted WAV files are not showing up in iTunes even though it shows that it is “Getting ” them… thanks.
Easy and well explained, thanks a bunch
Thank you, thank you. Wish everyone could explain stuff this clearly.
Worked great, except for some reason Winamp changed the track numbers at the beginning of my file names. E.g. 01_Track1name.flac was converted to 02_Track1name.wav . Last track always got 01_LastTrackname.wav . Happened for 3 albums. Not a big deal, I just renamed the wav files before importing them to iTunes.
amazing instructions. thank you so much!
Thank you so much, you made something that I have been trying to figure out an easy way to do VERY easy!! I am bowing at your awesomeness!!
Thank you very much!!!
It worked perfectly and fast!
Congratulations!
Cripes you got a lot of props for this little garden path matie!
Well done, it’s a nice little trick.
Arrggghhhh me heartie.
Thank you very much for the info. This was the first time I had ever heard about .flac files!? Apparently I was not alone my Windows XP Pro was too..
So I googled it and got here. The instructions you give are fool proof a very novice person can also follow and get resultsGerat Job!
Regards;
matey
thanks a lot for the info.more power
Great job. Really helped me out. Thanks a lot man
thanks guys!! big help
Thanks pal, worked perfect.
Perfect instructions. Worked beautifully!
Absolutely love you. Now I can listen to my Last Exile CD…On the go =D.
Cheers.
Thankyou very much for all the time spent on this information. Really helped a lot.
B Dooley
Thank you! This was very helpful.
Thank you so much for a straightforward and easy to follow guide. It worked perfectly for me first time.
thanks huever wrote this…
my flac woes are cured and i can get drunk and crump to my new cd xD
the sound quallity of the converted files is not as good as the flac files…did i do something wrong??
thnx for that leSSon tHat iVe LeaRneD
Meh, skip all the nonesense, download cdex, configure the directory you want the mp3 to go to and just drag and drop the flacs to the cdex window. best of all, cdex is opensource (free)
Thank you very much.
Easy but great!
Thanks mate! Much appreciated.
Tnx for the info! Finally someone who knows how to explain this in a good way!
Hi~
Ok, it seems that there are instructions on how to convert FLAC files to MP3, but can I please explain how to convert MP3 files to FLAC so that I can compress my audio library.
P.S.this would be from my iTunes library and of course, am on a mac.
Thanks!
Mp3s are a lossy format in that they are compressed from wavs and once they are compressed you can never get back what is lost in the compression process. and flac is a lossless format so you would not want to convert mp3s to flacs. It would be a waste of space. In other words Mp3s are already compressed. If you did convert the mp3s to wav and compress with flac the files would be much larger than mp3. So it would not make sense to convert from mp3 to flac. But if you want to further compress mp3s you could use winrar or some similar compression software.
Excellent - well written and easy to understand
Thank you SO much. I couldn’t get songs up on myspace without this. REALLY good instructions.
can use CDex instead of itunes. other than that great needed this.
It works. Great instructions. Enough said !
Thanks very much for the instructions. I did use RealPlayer plus however to do the final mp3 conversion but otherwise your instructions were spot on. Thanks again!
You do know you can just DL vlc player and that plays .flac files no problem
Thank you! Perfect conversion to .wav without a hitch.
Wish all files converted that fast.
Thank you! Really helpful!
Traders Little helper will do that by itself and a whole lot more taboot. Best prog ever.
Boy. Man. God. Shhhhhh…
http://tlh.easytree.org/
T R A D E R ‘ S L I T T L E H E L P E R
Description:
Traders of lossless compressed audio files (e.g. ape, flac, mkw, or shn files) have to handle a lot of different applications to decode, encode, create/verify checksums, fix sector boundary errors, or create torrent files. Moreover most of the tools used are command-line programs requiring a deeper knowledge of how to use various parameters. Trader’s Little Helper bundles the most important features of those applications in one single easy-to-use frontend.
Features:
- Encoding of wav files to ape, flac, shn, and mp3 format
- Re-encoding of flac files
- Decoding of ape, flac, mkw, shn, and mp3 files to wav format
- Direct conversion of ape, flac, mkw, and shn files to flac or mp3 format
- Test of audio files encoded in ape, flac, shn, and mkw format
- Verification of cfp, ffp, md5, sfv, and st5 checksum files
- Creation of cfp, ffp, md5, sfv, and st5 checksum files
- Display of audio file properties (ape, flac, shn, mkw, and wav files)
- Fixing of sector boundary errors that come with ape, flac, shn, mkw, wav, and mp3 files
- Creation of skt files for non-seekable shn files
- Test of wav files for mp3 source
- Creation of torrent files
- Display of the information encoded in torrent files
- Hashing of torrent files against local filesets or files
- Drag & Drop functionality for all supported file types
- Integration into Windows Explorer
- Check for update function
System requirements:
Windows 98/NT/Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista
Registration:
FREEware for non-commercial use
Author:
Robert Hoffmann
Thanks a lot. Easy and clear.
Thanks a lot for this!…I definitely used this method to make the conversion…until i found this…
http://www.programurl.com/switch.htm
multiple inputs, multiple outputs…i never need another roundabout method again…and its free!
Yeah, it work flawlessly. Takes a few the first time, but should take no more than 10 minutes to convert and have the files on your Ipod. Took me a while cause it was my first time and I sat there and redid all of the ID tags so it’s easier to find in my library.
Your instructions are flawless. Worked perfectly the first time. Have a Happy New Year.
This is well written and easy to follow.
It saved me the time of having to look for a program and figuring it out.
Thanks for your help.
I will recommend this website to anyone with the same issue.
Very good guide, I have Winamp Pro, so I totally skipped using the iCrap product, however I found that Trader’s Little Helper made the process that much more faster. Thanks @ Kid Forbin and you too Mr. Simple Help.
That is the best tip I’ve read yet. Downloaded the plug, perfect! Simply add the files i want to convert to the playlist, turn off random/repeat and wala. Instant conversion and it filled out the ID3 tags for me.
Thanks so much. This saved me a lot of time and effort.
wow your instructions a simply crystal clear im all done in 10mins!!
thanks very much man
that was really helpful, clear and parsimonious. thanks a lot!
nir
download xilisoft audio converter, by whatever means…
not a trial…
If you have Vista, be sure to set your output directory to something besides c:\
It’s a security thing, you need to be elevated to write to that directory. Just set it to c:\temp or something.
Perfect! Thanks very much!!
Ross,
Does winamp add the .flac Id tags to the .wav file when you convert from .flac to .wav? Normally .wav files don’t have ID tags, so how does iTunes get the tags from the .wav file when it converts to .mp3?
Thanks
You are a LIFESAVER. I am so grateful that you posted and that your instructions were so easy to follow, succinct, and yet at the same time not issued in a way as to make me feel like the world’s biggest idiot.
Thanks!!!
OMG OMG Wat else can I say. U my good sir are a life saver. stupid flac y oh y cant they jus go with a normal format
nothing new to say; just thanks! worked a treat!
Ok i have a Fla. file. but its video not music. so..how do i make it into a video file ._.; tell me at: Cmi1993@aol.com
thank you for the nice tip!
also, a helpful suggestion from me, please TURN OFF the repeat function in order to avoid Winamp doing needless infinite loop. Hope that helps
Good work by whoever put this page together. Thanks.
Thanks good tip, even the pictures ye added, fair play mate
Hi guys,
HELP…followed all instructions with no problems, except can’t seem to find them in itunes, where are they???
THIS WAS AWSOME WOOOOOOH YOU”RE AWSOME WOOOOOOOOOOOOH PARTAAAAAYYYYYYY
That was great so easy…
Wow!
That was really great, easy to follow and everything.
Thanks.
I tried this once, and it worked perfectly! However, each time I’ve tried it since, as soon as I try to ‘Play File’ in Winamp, it gives an error message and says Winamp has to close(it’ll convert the first track, but that’s it). I have tried restarting the computer and so forth, but it still does it. Any troubleshooting ideas?
This is a great help. Thank you very much.
This works Fine THANKS
I appreciate this very much. To think I’ve had Winamp all this time and never knew about this!
I just wanted to thank you for your extremely clear instructions. I buzzed right through the whole process without a hitch, and now have a lot of great new music that I can finally play on my MP3 player!
Wow thanks for the help! Worked perfect!
Great description! Worked perfectly! Thanks a bunch!
In the current version of winamp (Feb. 2008), once you have selected the files to convert, you can also choose the format you want to convert to (on the right), select Mpeg-Layer 3, and it does it all for you. No need to convert again in iTunes! just follow other steps to add to Folder once in iTunes.
Thank you - simple to follow, perfect instructions!
thank you soooo much I was about to give up. You rock!!
You’re the best!! ^^ Thanks for the help
Worked like a dream dude, as the rest said!
thank u sooooooooo much now i can listen to one of my favourate bands XD
Your a legend mate cheers
thanks a ton !, ‘t wrked perfect….
Quality tool. Brilliantly written instructions. I hope this is your permanent job - it should be!
Great job !! Thx a million.
best ‘how to do’ i have ever read. perfectly written, completely awesome! thanks!
this was amazing: clear, concise, and easy to follow. it really helped after a long long time of searching for a free converter and downloading a lot of useless programs… who knew it was actually so simple?
thank you so much!
Thanks a lot for the guide, much appreciated
Gosh this worked awesomely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :”D
Im having trouble finding the SHN files after they have downloaded. In Winamp when I click File->Play and go to the folder where the SHN files have been downloaded to, the files do not show up.
thanks, worked great for me
thanks for posting this because it was so easy to follow and will save me so much hassle converting files from now on. thanks.
Awesome write up. Thanks a million.
Songs sound incredible.
nice article, very nice. keep good work, very cookl hope to see it again
thank you very much..
it helps….
GBY
thanks i would have downloaded some dumb program to just be able to do this
Thank you so much,
Great tutorial, quick and helpful.
Worked perfectly thanks a ton
great help, thank you!
wow thanks for the blog post maaan!!
really helped with converting crazy FLACs and M4As to WAV
so thanks very much!!!
Many thanks. Crystal clear instructions that I found simple to follow- which work!
I adore webpages like this.
Get the newest version of winamp, it will work for sure
Right On Target. Man thanks for taking the time. I was sweating how to convert these “Flac”in files
I have never posted one of these responses, but I do have to say this was the clearest most helpful, free way of accomplishing this seemingly annoying task. This actually gives me a great deal of faith in humanity. I have mad a terrible past few days with money-grubbing people and this is a refreshingly kind thing someone has done. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Thanks, you’re a legend. Can now get the full Rachmaninov experience on my ipod.
Hi,
I’m really grateful for your instructions. However, I noticed that after step 2, once the ‘Nullsoft … Configuration’ window comes up, it’s possible to choose to convert directly into MP3 format. This saves the trouble of going via the WAV format. To do so:
After Step 3 of your instructions:
3a. on the right, tick the ‘Convert to format’ box.
3b. hit the big button just below that and choose ‘Format:’ and then choose the desired bit rate in ‘Attributes’.
3c. Hit ‘OK’ in both windows and resume at step 4.
Note: I had to have several goes at this, because WinAmp stubbornly reverted back to its original PCM format. But I got there in the end and so can you!
There is then no need to perform the section “Encoding .wav files with iTunes” apart from adding the music to your media player of choice.
Also, I did not have to get the ‘Flac with library support plug-in’ - having installed WinAmp, I just followe the (modified) instructions and everything worked fine.
Hope this helps!!!
@JaGo:
Interesting - which version of WinAMP are you using? This tutorial references an older one, it sounds like they’ve added some more ‘built-in’ stuff. Thanks for the heads up!
Ross
Worked perfectly! The directions were right on and every step worked great. Thanks so much.
this tutorial is awesome! thank you for posting this… i can now listen to les miserables TAC in my iPod…
i was on the brink of downloading one of “those” freeware…
thanks again!
You ROCK! Zeppelin Reunion and Clapton w/Winwood @ MSG here I come!
cheers mate. worked a treat and your efforts much appreciated.
Agree. Very easy to follow guide that debunks the world of FLAC for the uninitiated. Many thanks for the enlightenment!
hey there,
i downloaded some music and there are two huge flac files, about 80 minutes and more than 500 mbs each. Can I seperate these files into songs? If yes, how?
thanks in advance
p.s. i’m gonna burn in hell
kudos to john. worked perfectly.
wow! tnx. this was a great help!!
this was pretty darn easy ^_^
I didn’t press ”Play in WinAmp”, I pressed ”Enque-something in WinAmp”, and it worked perfect!
Thanks very much for this - didn’t know that winamp would do this - I used dbpoweramp to convert from wav to mp3 as I dislike itunes
cheers
Hi I recently downloaded a musics album in .flac and I already converted it into MP# successfully. Only one trouble is the guy who upload the album online put all the tracks together into one big file. So do anyone here know who to split that big file into individual track? Thanks
Thank you!
This was clear and concise and exactly what I was looking for.
Much appreciation.
Thanks!!
I was trying to find a free program which would do this, couldnt find any though. Then you came and saved my day!
Thanks to VERY VERY MUCH!!;D:D
Halfdan - Know my name is weird;P Norwegians….
thank you so so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the help!
hey thanks all free programs and siple clear web / screenshots
Thank you for your help. Perfect instructions.
Hi and thanks for this fool proof guide. I’ve been playing with mp3’s since the days of taking a night to encode a whole cd in dos using l3enc.exe. I’ve only recently come across FLAC files. BTW I use Music Match to convert wav’s to mp3’s @ 320kbps CBR. I’ve used many programs over the years and find it simple, even more so if you want to use them on a small capacity mp3 player, because it will convert mp3’s down to an average 112kbps VBR without much noticible loose of quality.
It worked great for me. Thanks! I can help people if they need it ^^
Thank you.
I’m having troubles.
I follow all the procedures you said, but when i put the files in winanmp it pops an error saying: “Error while processing metadata FLAC_FILE_DECODER_SEEKABLE_STREAM DECODER_ERROR).
I really would apreciate if u help me out here, i have lots of files in flac wich i want to convert to mp3.
Please help!!!
Thanks
Thank you!
very helpfull
Hi Ross! Thanks for the info on converting flac files to mp3. I did have a problem with converting to wav because all the song/album info got lost. Fortunately, I found a fix in some of the comments above on using LAME mp3 out. The procedure is much simpler and faster since the flac files are converted directly by LAME in Winamp. One-step only instead of the two-step procedure you outlined above. Plus, all the song/album info is still there! I guess you have to come out with an updated procedure for converting flac to mp3…
Hi
Thanks for this….was bamboozled when these flac files suddenly appeared in my downloads.
Great help
Thanks again
Wow! really helpful and easily explained! Thanks a lot!
Halleluia! Merci, merci, merci! Greatly appreciated, scary easy to follow, efficient and… dear god, it works! Long life to you!
Thanks for a great tut on how to do this…I got bad info that iTunes readily accepted .flac files. Been itchin’ to play a CD I got that’s encrypted in .flac (so the CD proudly states).
Thanks again!
Very helpful and much better than shelling out money to get some silly converter program
Thank you very much for posting this
Good info, was quick, worked well. Nice clear instructions. Well done!
Figured out to how to get it right?
What I do is convert track-2 to track-last (so that track-2 to track-last-minus-1 all get the rigkt track numbers) and then convert track-1 individually at the end and rename only track-1 and tract-last. Saves time.
Or do you have a way to changes names of multiple files at teh same time? I never found that in Windows…
My remark on numbers was for “bluespiral on Nov 10, 2007″!
I found a file with FLAC files of an album I had thought I would never find again… this was easy and worked great!!!! Now I’m listening to songs I hadn’t heard in 30 years! Thank you!!!!
F****ing amazing , cheers
Didn’t try yet, but what is puzzling - nobody brings the question of multi-tracks in one flac album. Does this method account for this? Will the result be a single mp3 file or can it be splitted to tracks according to .cue automatically?
Most helpful bit of info I’ve read all day.
Thank you so much! I can now listen to my Radiohead’s concert on my ipode!
thank you ! worked perfectly and i use vista! go figure!
thanks so much man. just started on torrents and i accidentally got flac files, this helped so much.
Perfect! You’re a star, thanks!
salamat kaau ani ^_^
worked PERFECTLY first time….
Why do you not want to convert to .aac?
My hat goes off to you! Thanks for the valued, precise and coherent input. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou.
I am having a problem getting itunes to recognize the .wav files. I am probably just doing something wrong, but does anyone have any ideas?
Your instructions were easy to follow and didn’t make me feel like a moron.
Thank you!
thank you so much I have no idea how you figured that all out but it worked! I thought i was good with this kind of stuff but I hit a wall on this one thank you so much!
i cannot get past step 2 all i get is “direct sound output settings” nothing else works what am i doing wrong ?
Easy to follow instructions! I’m so thankfull to have found this site! I’d have been lost without your help! Thanks so much!
A great walk through!!! Concise and clear….thanks!
Thank YOU THANK YOU!!!
Now I have my Jerry and Ani with Dave and Bono!!!!
Nullsoft Disk Writer v2.14 &Vista
I was required to:
In the Configuration screen CHECK OFF the “Output to directory Containing Source files”
Then i followed the steps as presented and successfully converted the .flac files to .wav
Thanks for your help
Will
My mistake - i was to quick to ‘correct’ Originally, I did not check the correct ‘output’ folder - The instructions as originally presented worked perfectly.
Thanks,
Will
Thanks dude; helped me out.
Iโm having troubles.
I follow all the procedures you said, but when i put the files in winanmp it pops an error saying: โError while processing metadata FLAC_FILE_DECODER_SEEKABLE_STREAM DECODER_ERROR).
I really would apreciate if u help me out here, i have lots of files in flac wich i want to convert to mp3.
Thanks
Thank you. I have used this dozens of times. FLAC is a dead format in my opinion as it has no advantages over WAV. Yet everyone seems to use it. There’s barely even an advantage over 128kbps AAC (.m4a). But anyway this is by far the easiest way to convert them, so thanks again.
Thanks so very much that was too simple! So long not using flac because I could not find an easy convert & then you come along. “I am not worthy.”
BTW - if you have a lot of files to do at once in different folders (like I did), I do it folder by folder & just CNTL-A, right click & select PLAY in WINAMP - that’s in WINXP Media Player 11
thanks! very concise…great job!
Thanks much. It was explain very good and when I did it it work perfectly.
Dude, you’re the frieken man!!! Thanks so much for this. Ross for President!!
Brilliant instructions. Easy to follow easy to read. Thanks from Canada
thx 4 the help, it’s easy guys but just download the required pulg-in
;D thx anyway
Thanks for that, use Lame to encode the .wav files rather than iTunes & it worked perfectly.
Awesome walkthrough, thanks so much! Had a bunch of files I was dying to put on my iPod and now I can!!
Dude U rock……..U made a task a piece of cake….Thanks man
Thanks a ton, your guide was quite simple to follow and worked like a charm. I now have the vinyl version of the White Stripes album Icky Thump on my iPod (the vinyl version, of course, is of superior quality). Impeccable work.
Wow, thanks for the instructions! They were very easy to understand and now I can remember this for the future. Thanks again. ^_^
I’d been using this tutorial successfully until recently when I realized it could be done more simply. Maybe this is a recent addition with iTunes updates, but when I have .flac files I just add them by going to iTunes, clicking “file” and “add folder”, and selecting the folder with .flac files. Then I go into “recently added music” and highlight all the .flac files, right click and select “convert to mp3.” Cake.
Thank you
thanks so much for the tut! i just downloaded some classical music written in Flac and I had no idea how to play it, until i read this. Thanks again! Cheerios!
Excellent post, very very clearly written. Ross McKillop = Legend.
spot on bro!
I am having the file decode problem…….can anyone help???
Thanks a bunch for this tutorial! It was super clear and easy to follow and didn’t require me downloading any additional programs!! Now any Flac files I DL can easily be put onto my iPod, thanks again for the help!!!
Thanks, it worked 4 me!!!
it’s like… magic LOL
Excellent tutorial. Thanks a bunch! <3
Very helpful. Thank you.
OK THAKS THIS WORKED WELL BUT NOW WHEN I TRY ADDING .MP3 FILES I CANT ! PLEASE HELP ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY
very easy method but i met the same problem as brenna. after loading the flac files in the winamp playlist and clicking the play button nothing happened-i mean that there was no wav file appearing in the folder where it should be created. it seems that winamp did something because after clicking play it went trough all the flac files that were in the playlist. and about step 3; there are a lot of options/settings in that window. all we have to do is to clik the directory button? many thanks.
Thanks so much for the simple instructions. Worked a treat!
Thank you so much, this was exactly what I wanted.
One of the best and easiest sites i have ever come across. Thanks
This was very helpful and easy to follow along with. Thank you!
I had done this once before but had to reinstall my OS since then. I had used a different method before than involved a small utility program to which you drag and drop the flac files onto an icon on the desktop. I could not for the life of me remember what that utility was called and decided to check out this link of yours. Great job. Easy to follow. I use winamp for its amazing visualizations but need iTunes to load my iPod. A great help for hundreds more than have taken the time to comment!
this worked perfectly, thank you!
Everything has been smooth sailing, but now I’m in iTunes and when I go to right click and convert to mp3, I don’t have the option. Help? Anyone?
It works perfectly. Never thought to use winamp again (now i use iTunes).
I recommend using the Lame plugin since it keeps id3 tags during convertion (if FLAC had id3 tags).
Thank you very much. Fantastic job.
Hi … thanks for sharing this ! Helpful and works but …….. i have a rar file containing a big file flac and also in it there is a .cue file.
This tutorial only makes a big wav of it with all the Elvis song I am desperately trying to separate.
Suggestions ?
Thanks anyway !
Thanks mate, this helped me a lot. But I’m just wondering, is it OK for me to delete my downloaded FLAC and then the transfered WAP files from my C drive? I’m guessing I can but you didn’t say anything about it, all you said was to delete the WAP files from itunes, but even then they’re still on my computer.
Thanks.
Thanks
This is a great explanation, but my winamp is taking at least 20 minutes on each song, maybe longer. I have a brand new computer… could this be a vista problem?
This is an excellent tutorial, great visuals and very clear to understand and simple. Well done. But wouldn’t it be in better interest to erase the .flac files instead of the .wav? Or even both since mp3 is more versatile?
Thank you for great tip and tutorial!
*skip away while listening fav music on phone*
Thank you for sharing the tips.
Thank you.
Thanks a lot for great instructions.
salamat as in thank you very much!!!
Some observations
I have some 170 flac files, all but 3 were single tracks. I tried converting them to mp3 with winamp and audacity. Bith did the job, but with some differences.
I set winamp to output to lame, I then imported all the single tracks into a laylist and played the lot. I had first set sensible file names and the embedded artist/rackname info was a little flaky. I left the machine to it, and a couple of hours later it had converted the lot. As someone mentioned there was no option (even after making sure I was using a know copy of lame rather than the default one) to increase recording quality. Most tracks sounded OK but there were a few that had drop-out that wasn’t there in the flac.
I ten did the same in audacity, using the same version of lame. I was able to set it to high quality. This time, I dragged all the tracks into Audacity; that took a LONG time. I set output to lame, and exported all tracks. Yes I got my mp3 files, but that took a LONGER time. Namely overnight and some more.
When I compared, Audacity mp3s were approx 50% the size of the flacs with no discernable loss in quality. The winamp mp3 files were 25% or less the size of the flac and a lot of the high pitch detail had gone, and as I said there was some drop-out as well in a few tracks.
I then took my three flacs which were multiple track (in fact each was a CD recorded as one file). Audacity has a ‘detect silence’ option which did a pretty good job of detecting the starts of the various tracks. I had to change a few, remove some spurious ones, and add one right at the start in two cases. I then told audacity to export, splitting at markers. I now have individual tracks in mp3 format.
I then used mp3tag to look at all the resulting tracks - and a pile of mp3 files I had as well. It presented me with a tabular list of tracks and allowed me to change tags so my recordings had correct composers track names and album titles. Neat.
What do I think of flac? It’s nice to have a zero loss format, and it’s nice that a few products like VLC support it. However I’m using streaming to deliver tracks round my home - and the number of formats that will successfully stream is low. Mp3 is still IMO the most ‘compatible’ way of recording music - even Microsoft’s streaming server supports it!
I will continue to use CDEX even though it’s no longer being developed, to record from CD direct to mp3. Its easy and again you can set Mp3 quality as you like.
Winamp comes into its own when playing things back. Its ability to organise playlists or present just the info you want from its catalogue is superb.
Conclusion: if time is not pressing, use Audacity to change from flac format. You’ll get better results. Record new stuff using CDEX straight to mp3. Tidy things up using mp3tag. Play using winamp.
No animals were harmed during these experiments.
It worked just perfect!!!! Thanks for the tip!
Whoever wrote this did a really great job. One of the best written how-to’s I’ve found. Would love to chat with this guy sometime.
Thanks for posting this….since the post the FLAC plug-in has been upgraded and you can now convert directly to MP3 saving you the extra step of WAV.
Again…thanks!
hi.. ive done all the instructions but i cant find the files that i have saved thank you
Thank you so much! Made the whole converting process so easy without downloading any unnecessary trial program. Worked like a charm!
i’m having trouble doing this. lots of trouble. i keep getting decoding errors, script errors, etc. i can’t even open the flac files in the player. any suggestions?
Hey, I did the instructions as they were put up at the top. Works great. The only problem I have is in step 6.
Step 6 -
“Once Winamp is done decoding the files, make sure to set the Plug-ins -> Output back to DirectSound output.”
How do I do this, other than re-installing Winamp?
Very easy-t0-follow instructions. It was worth using your guide, and I thank you for that.
For Simon, step 6 means you will have to reassign the settings of the plugin back to nullsoft directsound instead of it set to nullsoft disk writer
Thanks so much, saved me a ton of time.
Oh, really thanks!!! I could hug you! Thanks to you a big failure on the new Suga Shikao’s album turned into a victory!!! You’re so clear and it’s easy! I tought i’d to download some converter but the key was already in my computer, Arigatou!!!!
Thank you so much for this guide, it’s just what I needed!!
great help, thank you
I get the same error as LEE.
LEE 03.12.07 at 1:46 am
When I press open after selecting flac files in step 5 I get a FLAC PLUG IN ERROR saying there was an error processing metadata(FLAC_FILE_DECODER_SEEKABLE_STREAM_DECODER_ERROR)
I followed the directions and everything worked out for me. It was fast and easy. WinAmp is one of the best file converter and I will be using it in the future.
Thank you so much. It worked perfectly and saved a lot of time. Thanks again.
thanks really thanks!!
I have followed all your instructions to convert a flac file to MP3, but as soon as I get to ‘play file’ right at the end, I get a window saying winamp has to close.. sorry for inconvenience, etc. How can I overcome this please?
Thanx Viv
Just wanted to say thanks! I’ve been using much more complicated methods in the past, with somewhat shady ‘trial’ software sometimes, this guide is great
Thanks, very helpful for converting a large number of files.
Thank You! I don’t even have to install additional software!
I did everything but when I went to do the importing part on iTunes, I couldn’t find my importing folder like it said. I checked all the individual tabs in that section and I still couldn’t find it. Where would it be?
Thank you for the tutorial. However, having Itums 8, I found impossible to follow that part of the instructions, and thus had to resort to download a converter. Is there a step I am missing, or is the new Itunes without that function?
thaks very much it s really easy and stuff
Yes - it worked for - easy yo follow - thanks
this was really helpful. thanks a lot, i really appreciate it.
I just wanted to thank you so very much for putting this up. I had so many flac files from all the dave concerts that I have gone to and had no way of putting them on my ipod until now. You have no idea how much this made my year ha.thanks this is awesome. I will be sure using this again in the future
hey man! thanks a lot for your help! it worked perfectly!
Thank you so much! Great how to, clear and very easy to follow.
Thanks man, lifechanging! i can now listen to the blues on my MP3
Worked like a charm thanks!
Very Helpful
but I found there was no need to convert the files on Itunes at all
Just dragged from location straight into my playlist then located it through the file not found process…thanks for an excellent solution to a frustrating and time consuming problem
well done
xx
Thanks Winamp works.. thanks a lot..Very helpful
Cheers
Dharshana
Excellent resources tutorial on how to do this. Thanks for the help.
Thanks a lot this guide was perfect!
always love this sort of post. straight to the point. well deserved ranking on google!
So, I did everything correctly except when I try to change the settings in the first steps of the iTunes part, I don’t see the same thing as the screen shot above.
What happened?
nvm. I figured it out. Thankss.
This was fantastic. <3
Excellent tutorial,
usually there is some magic step missing that we have to try to figure out for ourselves but in this case I found none.
Thanks a lot.
Hey i was wondering if the .Flac files could lose quality when being converted to .Wav files, liek how you can adjust the conversion quality in the Itunes Mp3 part of the tutorial.. im worried about it because the music im trying to convert has subliminal messages and its very complex
So, I did everything correctly except when I try to change the settings in the first steps of the iTunes part, I donโt see the same thing as the screen shot above. what do i do????
hey thanks a million for this post like many of the other user i found your instructions easy to use, thanks again clive
Amazingly โuser friendlyโ!!
Thank you so much!!!
DUDE!! fixed everything…easy to do…thanx so much
THANK YOU! This works AMAZINGLY and sooo easy <3
mann ,you are the best!thank you very much!
Tnx!!
Easy and clear!!
got it! great, thanks for the help!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks very simple to use guide much appreciated
Thanks a lot for the help! M.
Could you update the iTunes steps for the latest version? Clicking on the advanced tab does not bring up a tab called “Import”. It must be located elsewhere, but I sure can’t find it - thanks!
So straight-forward and easy to understand! Thanks heaps, much appreciated. Cheers!
Hallo,
Hoe kan ik cass bestanden omzetten naar mp3?
Regarding “Step 2″ of “Encoding .wav files with iTunes”:
It says “Select the Advanced tab”, and then the Importing tab.
I’ve selected “Advanced” like it says but there is no “Importing” option, therefore I cannot select “MP3 Encoder” from the “Import Using” list.
I have installed the latest version of iTunes whereas the original post was posted 2 and a half years ago, hence it was probably a different version.
Can somebody put me back on the right path please as everything up to this stage went okay.
Regards,
Chester.
Chester,
I’ve updated the tutorial for the new version of iTunes (all the steps should be correct now). Cheers,
Ross
sooo easy to follow! thank you soo much!!!
I have windows XP, but I don’t seem to have this “winamp” that you’re talking about.
worked great for me. thanks.
Thank you!! didn’t know that it was this simple:) better than all those stupid trial programms, that only convert 30 % of a song!
verry nice, should be at the top of hits on google.
the instructions were really easy to follow
thanks so much!
i’m listening to my newly converted music now!
Wow Ross,
Thanks so much for this. I downloaded some .flac files and was breaking my brain trying to find converters or methods to convert them, especially for free. I had to download winamp and the .flac addon and install the newest version of iTunes but converter the .flacs to mp3 files worked perfectly. Great instructions! As my payment I did the survey at the end, the least I can do.
Thanks again, so much!
Kris
I just saved over a gigabyte of space by converting some huge .flac concerts to .mp3. The only problem I had was iTunes clipping names of the final mp3s but everything else worked out great.
Thanks.
Really appreciate this. Certainly a long process…but it’s free! Gotta like that!
I followed the steps detailed above and was able to convert from flac to mp3 successfully but unfortunetly all my file names have been changed by winamp to 03_Track 2, 04_Track 8 etc., does anyone how I can preserve my file names when I do the conversion
thanks
Audacity is the way to go with this. It will do a whole load of other things as well. I was wondering about converting FLAC files, then remembered that I already had a copy of Audacity and decided to try it. It was easy.
Just imported the FLAC file and exported it as MP3. It even asked you to add the tags (title, artist, etc) when you save it. Brilliant.
I have to admit that I don’t know if it’s any good for a lot of files in one go. Easy just for one or two though…
Thanks a lot pal…
I was going to buy some stupid software to get the job done…..you really saved me. The tutorial was very helpful(Not to mention simple and very eay to understand)
That was hella helpful. First website I found on the subject and it worked perfectly exactly as explained. Much appreciated!
Thank you so much for these instructions. They worked great. I was really frustated trying to figure out how to use a converter until I tried this and it worked right away. Thanks again
tnx
Hey, I can’t set it back to direct sound output. I don’t know how to do that. When I open the output tap in preferences, direct sound is highlighted, but whenever I try to play a song, it decodes it and won’t play it. wtf.
Since this was written there are a few other progs that accomplish the same thing such as Magical Jelly Bean SHN Shortener, but I just tried this one and it still works very well but not so simple.
thanks a lot
flac had become a headake to me
WOW…. what more is there to say…works like a dream and solved a huge problem i have……had….lol
thx man. u`ve really helped me. nice and clean explanations. cheers :>
Gosh…. thanks a million, I never thought It’d work this great and easy I’ ve spent hours trying to convert and now, within minutes It was easily done.
Thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks
Thanks a lot this was really helpful. Its great you take the time to post such clear directions.
Thank You so much for the effort and time you put into making this tutorial happen. It helped me out a bunch and saved me a load of time without having the crappy music converter programs clogging my space. The instructions were clear and concise. Amazing job pal and keep up the great work!!
thanks a lot very useful.
One comment: before you convert, disable the “playback” feature of winamp, otherwise it’ll go on converting your files forever, asking you each time if you wish to overwrite the previous job. If you do this accidentally, you can of course kill the process with CTRL+ALT+DEL
Thank You, the pictures are very clear and they helped me a lot.
appreciate it, thanks a ton
it wont let me add lyrics… to it..
Instructions all worked fine and ive imported the flac files into winamp, but they aren’t saved anywhere as wav files now…. not sure what im doing wrong!?
Extremely helpful! Thank you SO much!
many thanks, big big help. The step by step instruction guide me through. Never thought that winamp is the solution. so simple, no sweat. Brilliant! Thanks a lot.
Thanks a bunch
i though this was very easy & simple.. great to follow trough 
Simple, fantastic, economical, helpful, clear and effective.
In short, everything that help should be.
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
simplest way possible. fantastic!
thanks!
Great instructions! I did not encounter a single problem.
AWESOME!! Very easy to follow and most importantly, successful.
When trying to decode the files I get:
Error While Processing Frame
(FLAC_FILE_DECODER_SEEKABLE_STREAM_DECODER_ERROR).
After this I can play about 5 seconds of the wav files and then it stops and then it repeats the same error message as above.
PLEASE HELP!
After looking through the tutorial here and started to follow it when I realised something in the configure window in Step 2.
Winamp version 5.5 and higher can directly convert flac files to mp3 without having to decode to wave then re-encode to mp3. The quality is almost the same but considering your are converting to mp3 there is a little bit of loss quality.
When you do step 2, ( clicking on the Configure button), in the configuration window on the right side middle is a Conversion section. Check the Convert to Format box and then click on the large button under that and change Format to Lame MP3 and Attributes to 48000 Hz, 320 kps CBR, Stereo 39 kb/sec (This is the highest quality available for winamp). Then click on the ok button. Click on ok button on next screen as well. Click close button to close the preferences window. Now Simply Enqueue your flac file(s) into winamp and click on Play. Winamp will now convert the flac to mp3 in the folder you set and your all done.
Moldavia
A million thanks for sharing your knowledge!
i have made all of the flacs into wavs without any trouble and they are saved in the same folder. when i select that folder in itunes under add a folder to library, nothing happens. i cant get the wavs imported into itunes even after selecting mp3 encoder on the preferences page. please help! thanks!
Thanks, worked great. Now I have to figure out how I can use Winamp.
Why do simple if we can do it complicated…
There is a simple and fast way, using only iTunes (for the wma to mp3 conversion) and Movie Maker (for the flac to wma conversion)…
Write me if you want me to do a tutorial!
Cheers
Fred: your post implies your doing it the complicated way still. winamp does the conversion in 1 step anyways so its still the easiest way.
Thanks for the help… much appreciated
Thanks very much. Very helpful.
Thanks a ton..very helpful!
So everything goes great for the first part. Using Winamp is all good.
When I get to iTunes I change all the right setting, but when I go to add the folder, the top of the iTunes window (where it normally shows the progress of downloads/music playing/ etc) has a brief flash, and then nothing happens.
Any ideas? =/
Thanks !!! IT worked like a charm !!
Cheers for the clear and concise walk through - everything worked perfectly!
Thanks again!
This was an excellent guide; thankyou very much!
I installed the plug-in, but it is listed as an input for winamp, and so I cannot rewrite the .flac files. Can anyone help me with this?
Thanks, if you were here right now I would buy you a beer. Granted it is only 8:45 in the morning but what the hell.
Thank you so much! You made it very clear and easy!
very useful, thanks
A most excellent approach, explanation and solution.
Worked like a charm.
May the force be with you!
thanks a whole bunch!
Thanks so much , this was SO easy and clear direction. Awesome!
Thank you very much! This guide is the best, very simple and easy to follow…thanks again! //KingPin of Sweden
good!! thanks
Can someone please help me? The winamp plug-in is becoming an input, instead of being in the output folder. How can I make this into an output so that I can write out the file, instead of just playing it?
Thank you a lot
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