Redbook --> FLAC --> MP3 batch conversion

[RyanM]

I've been trying like hell for some time to find a good way to archive all my music. I'd ripped a good 60% of it to AVBR MP3 via CDex about 2 years ago, but never got around to finishing the job, and now that FLAC encoding takes much less time than it used to with newer components, I've considered archiving my entire collection in that format and then re-encoding the whole shebang to mid-bitrate MP3 for portable playing.

The problem I'm running into is finding a GOOD freeware proggie that offers CDex's configurability and ease of use that supports batch encoding and translation of FLAC to ID3v2 tags.

Most of the programs I've found for ripping FLAC do a crappy job on the tags, then the MP3 encoders do an even crappier job on the tag conversion.

I sure as sh!t don't want to have to go through and manually tag and reorganize my files. That's another thing, the programs I've come across didn't copy the directory tree to a T, so I'd have to reorgnize the files when I'm done, too.

All I need to do is go from CD to FLAC for each disk, with proper tagging and custom directory structure, and then point the MP3 encoder to the FLAC archive directory and have it go to town.

Any suggestions of proggies (or a single proggie) that could manage this feat?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Exact Audio Copy lets you specify any command line you want for FLAC, settings tags and choosing the fille naming format you want. It worked very well to rip my 1,000+ CD collection.

dbPowerAmp has a mass conversion utility that can convert your entire folder tree at once, using the FLAC tags or tagging based on folder tree + filename, your choice. It costs $14 (partly to keep MP3 patent holders at bay). If you're too cheap to pay $14 for a well-written tool to transcode your entire collection in one step, I guess you can keep looking.

 

[RyanM]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Exact Audio Copy lets you specify any command line you want for FLAC, settings tags and choosing the fille naming format you want. It worked very well to rip my 1,000+ CD collection.

dbPowerAmp has a mass conversion utility that can convert your entire folder tree at once, using the FLAC tags or tagging based on folder tree + filename, your choice. It costs $14 (partly to keep MP3 patent holders at bay). If you're too cheap to pay $14 for a well-written tool to transcode your entire collection in one step, I guess you can keep looking.

So dBPowerAmp will maintain the exact directory structure, file names, and converts the tags properly? Hot hell, sounds good to me. Definitely gonna check it out.

What's the verdict these days on MP3 codecs? Last I heard, LameMP3 was still the best quality encoder, but that was at least a year or so ago.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Yep, point the dbPowerAmp mass select tool (whatever they call it) at a folder tree like \FLAC, give it a new root folder like \MP3, and it will re-create your entire folder tree during the mass conversion.

LAME is still king, and that's what dbPowerAmp will use for the conversion.

 

[RyanM]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Yep, point the dbPowerAmp mass select tool (whatever they call it) at a folder tree like \FLAC, give it a new root folder like \MP3, and it will re-create your entire folder tree during the mass conversion.

LAME is still king, and that's what dbPowerAmp will use for the conversion.

I'm browsing the dBpoweramp site, and it looks like it'll handle LAME encoding and CD ripping too - Any particular reason to bring EAC into this? Is it that much better of a proggie as far as DAE goes?

 

[sandeep108]

Yes, EAC gives you accurate rips of your CDs, once configured correctly. It does not extrapolate audio data and does multiple reads, compares and then rips. I believe that EAC/flac also apparently support cue sheets and such so that you can actually always get your original CD back. (Note that I am not much conversant with this aspect). You can also try foobar2000 as a player/converter. It plays flac/ogg/mp3/aac all out of the box. While mass conversion may not be easy with it, it is a very small neat player.

So I simply use flac on my PC for archiving/playing and whenever I need to make mp3s for portable/car players, I simply select the playlist, and hit convert.