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.
No Sweat!
Great! Thanks
Thank you so much for this, all the other websites i went to i couldnt understand not being computer literate, you’ve totally made my day!!!
or.. just download the VLC player and convert the .flac file directly to mp3.
Or, download and use the free Audacity audio editing program, open the FLAC files and export them directly to MP3 – using any of the preset options, or tweak its settings to suit your needs – at zero cost.
awesome!!!!! thanks so much!
I downloaded a two CD album in .flac format. After the conversion, which I followed precisely, I ended up with two .WAV files, the numerous songs were not segmented. They must have been encoded, at some point, separately, how can I re-convert them so I can listen to individual songs?
this is just great. simple, no sweat instructions!
Thanks!
Just wanted to say thank you very much for this post. Very helpful
great tut, everthing worked and flow perfectly.
I love step by step instructions – thanks so much for doing this!
Wow tnx so much!
I don’t use Itunes and it’s too much trouble to download for just this purpose. Other programs?
Thank you so much
I don’t need Xilisoft to do this 
Flac url is broken
new url
http://www.winamp.com/plugin/flac-plugin-with-library-support/143614
very nice site
thank
Thankyou soooo much!
Thanks a lot…that really helped…easiest tutorial ever…
Thank you, very, very VERY much
WOW! ty so much!!!! my music supplier recently changed to.flac files and didnt kno what to do, until i found this. THANK U!!!
Good tut. I want to play a list of SELECTED .flac files. I put a list of them in a file C:\PlayList.txt as follows.
C:\My Music\Album 1\Number 5.flac
C:\My Music\Album 3\Number 2.flac
etc. – one file per line.
Then I write in biterscripting, the following script in file C:/PlayScript.txt.
echo “DEBUG – Starting winamp”
system -s “C:\path\to\winamp\winamp.exe” “/START”
var str list, file
cat “C:\PlayList.txt” > $list
lex “1″ $list > $file
while ($file “”)
do
echo “DEBUG – Playing ” $file
system -s “C:\path\to\winamp\winamp.exe” “/ADD ” (”\”"+$file+”\”")
lex “1″ $list > $file
done
Then I execute this script in biterscripting ( http://www.biterscripting.com ) as follows.
script “C:\PlayScript.txt”
This should play the songs I have specifically selected.
Thank you so much for the tutorial. It worked great!!!!
You are great! Thanks a lot…
Thanks!!! Very helpful and easy to understand.
Thank you so much! What a comprehensive walkthrough
thanks:)
I think iTunes is overkill for converting .wav files to .mp3 files. EAC is a good alternative. (See “Compress WAVs” on the Tools menu.) CDex will also do it. Both of those programs are free. iTunes may be less confusing because it makes many of the configuration choices for you; but that also means that you have less control over the results.
Thank you so much for this guide!
This is perfect, exactly what I needed. Thank you!
Very clear, concise, and easy instructions thank you for an excellent posting, probably the very best I’ve ever used!
Simple! Thanks a million for the easy to follow instructions
Thank you for the flawless explanation and diagrams, I didn’t need to understand a thing just follow the easy instructions
Thanks a million!
thank you so much for this, now I can relive my concert experiences on my ipod!
thank you so much…. the directions were really clear and precise i had no issues
http://www.iommo.com
Great Tut! Thanks!