HydrogenAudio

Hello Everyone.  :)
I'm just curious to know, what software most people use to convert their files.
Please vote which one you use.
(If possible, please tell us why you choose that one over the others)  :)

and if the name is not there. Please post a quick reply with the software name.

I most often use Frontah with command-line encoders. It is an old front-end that is adaptable to new programs. I don't need to update to a new version (and there aren't any), and can use it on any Windows install. Because the program simply connects decoder to an encoder using standard input, I can't accidentally leave a DSP enabled or add unwanted dithering. For splitting cue images, I use Foobar2000.

This is a fb2k-friendly place ... I use that. But quite often also:

* Reference command-line applications: Official FLAC - and WavPack, for those files I need WavPack for. (32-bit float, and the odd DSD I keep for testing purposes - for those, better use command-line anyway.)
* CUETools for manipulating cuesheets and the like. (Repairs ain't a "lossless" operation, but ... since I need to have CUETools around, I sometimes use it also for tasks where I could have done without.)
* And I have used ffmpeg on ALAC, but nowadays I think Apple users on lossless are back to rather uploading their stuff as AIFF than ALAC? Probably because they get AIFFs out of their audio workstations?

Oh, and another warning against at least some versions of the FLAC GUI front-end (https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php?topic=99803.msg921798#msg921798).

Foobar2000 ; it's just the all around best for general audio conversion/playback. it's got a simple interface that works without the bloat and works with all of the best encoders. it seems many use it (especially around here) and gets program updates here and there and has been around many years now.

like FLAC to MP3/AAC(Apple* or FhG*)/Opus etc. even on the occasion I go lossy-to-lossy(this is best avoided if possible), or even FLAC (older version) to FLAC (newer version), or converting from "HD" FLAC to standard CD AUDIO(44.1/16) FLAC etc to save storage space since "HD" audio is basically a gimmick as all one really needs is standard 44.1/16 and with that you can always count on it working and is more efficient for storage to. or even those occasions in the past where I got a hold of non-standard lossless files (i.e. ".APE" etc) ill convert them back to FLAC and then dump the non-standard lossless files. I even have the 'SoX' resampler plugin installed which can be good for converting lossless HD to lossless standard.

* = one needs to manually setup FhG (from WinAMP) or Apple to get the best AAC (standard AAC-LC) encoding available as it seems Apple is considered the best, with FhG being a good alternative (FhG might be better if you playing with REALLY low bit rates (which people generally won't use) etc). I would generally avoid other AAC encoders since they are not quite up to the standards of those two.

so one installs Foobar2000 along with the Encoder Pack (i.e. https://www.foobar2000.org/encoderpack ) and your pretty much set besides Apple/FhG AAC audio conversion which one has to manually setup separately. or in other words... if your not going to use standard AAC (AAC-LC) files then you can just install Foobar2000 along with the Encoders Pack and your good since it works great with FLAC/MP3/Opus etc.

p.s. hell, Foobar2000 is a major reason I got WINE installed on Linux Mint. because it's just superior for general audio playback/conversion which I doubt there is a native Linux program that comes close.

foobar2000, for all the reasons given above and below in my message.

foobar2000 for the vast majority conversions, including FLAC and WavPack > lossy. BatchEncoder for DSD to WavPack.

EZ audio because it's easy.

foobar2000, for all the reasons given above and below in my message.

+1
foobar2000, for all seasons

foobar2000 of course, because it is my main player for music playback, library organization, tagging, so why not to do convert too. It is fast, simple to use and pretty reliable too.

On macOS, I use XLD, especially for ripping, or I use command line tools directly for one-off conversions.

If I need to convert something out of VGMStream, I use foobar2000 in CrossOver, which is easier to deal with than running a native copy of vgmstream123.

I use mainly the CLI reference encoders/decoders and FFmpeg.

Other tools:
- Foobar2000 (Wine/Linux) for playback, analysis and sometimes some conversions.
- EAC for ripping (Wine/Linux)
- CUETools / CUERipper for ripping, repairing and verifying (Wine/Linux)
- Incidently I use Fre:ac for ripping.

oggdropXPd for Vorbis/OGG and lamedropXPd for MP3.
Exact Audio Copy for ripping and encoding CDs.
foobar2000 for fancy encoders.

99% [Foobar2000 (would nice to share foo_converter.dll.cfg , the files with all convert settings )

BatchEncoder 5.1 x64 (full portable ) when i'm very lazy and don't want to use the foobar2000 custom and command line , very nice program with all encoder settings ,it can download the encoders from safe sites like rarewares

99% [Foobar2000 (would nice to share foo_converter.dll.cfg , the files with all convert settings )

BatchEncoder 5.1 x64 (full portable ) when i'm very lazy and don't want to use the foobar2000 custom and command line , very nice program with all encoder settings ,it can download the encoders from safe sites like rarewares

Batch Encoder doesn't transfer metadata. Which is very important for me.

SoX mostly, sometimes ffmpeg or official flac.

I use only command line tools with or without shell script.

flac, wavpack, ffmpeg or SoX command line tools

ffmpeg, oggenc, opusenc, sox, flac, and a pleathora of other command line tools.
I consider the shell itself to be part of the tools, as I use it for one liners to convert entire libraries of files, etc.

Oh, and I also use them for recording, etc.

I have "Path" folder on my C drive where I store all my CLI tools.
I added this folder to Windows' system variables so I can access it from anywhere.
I have lots of tools there but I mostly use ffmpeg, flac, lame, mp3packer and qaac.

I mainly use foobar2000 but i use CUETools pretty much also.

ffmpeg command line.

Reposting because my methodology sort of changes with time. I occasionally use command line tools, at least on macOS and Linux, to do simple conversions or decoding to WAV, when working with the odd file now and then. I've also used command line tools such as exhale and afconvert to turn these into lossy files, also for testing.

But mostly, if I want to batch convert an album, or batch rip an album from a CD, I'll use XLD.

I use console utilities (flac, ffmpeg, qaac, lame, etc.)

Was using sounkonverter for while but had issue with a few characters like # and I think ? as well. I currently use ffaudioconverter because of it.

foobar2000 of course, because it is my main player for music playback, library organization, tagging, so why not to do convert too. It is fast, simple to use and pretty reliable too.

I loved foobar2000 for it's modular interface on Windows. Sadly, the closest alternative to it I could find on Linux was a program called Deadbeef. One time, the latter literally played noise when playing an audio file [ that worked well with everything else ] and that was the straw for me. I had overlooked it's deficiencies over time but that was the time when I finally decided to remove it and be content with the fact that foorbar2000 doesn't really have a proper Linux counterpart.

I use shell scripts of my own.

Python scripts of my own.

Quote from: Vicas on 2021-12-03 00:03:10

foobar2000 of course, because it is my main player for music playback, library organization, tagging, so why not to do convert too. It is fast, simple to use and pretty reliable too.

I loved foobar2000 for it's modular interface on Windows. Sadly, the closest alternative to it I could find on Linux was a program called Deadbeef. One time, the latter literally played noise when playing an audio file [ that worked well with everything else ] and that was the straw for me. I had overlooked it's deficiencies over time but that was the time when I finally decided to remove it and be content with the fact that foorbar2000 doesn't really have a proper Linux counterpart.

I use Foobar2000 on a Windows VM under Linux when I need to do certain conversions, mostly because it handles the tags well but also for splitting on cuesheets, etc.

However, I have read that Foobar2000 works great on Wine too, which I haven't tried. I would prefer that because every time I fire up my Windows VM I'm afraid it's going to break and I use it for other more important things (like doing my taxes).

Can anyone confirm that Foobar2000 and Wine really play well together (at least for conversions...don't need a player)?

Quote from: kirk781 on 2024-01-04 06:11:45

Quote from: Vicas on 2021-12-03 00:03:10

foobar2000 of course, because it is my main player for music playback, library organization, tagging, so why not to do convert too. It is fast, simple to use and pretty reliable too.

I loved foobar2000 for it's modular interface on Windows. Sadly, the closest alternative to it I could find on Linux was a program called Deadbeef. One time, the latter literally played noise when playing an audio file [ that worked well with everything else ] and that was the straw for me. I had overlooked it's deficiencies over time but that was the time when I finally decided to remove it and be content with the fact that foorbar2000 doesn't really have a proper Linux counterpart.

I use Foobar2000 on a Windows VM under Linux when I need to do certain conversions, mostly because it handles the tags well but also for splitting on cuesheets, etc.

However, I have read that Foobar2000 works great on Wine too, which I haven't tried. I would prefer that because every time I fire up my Windows VM I'm afraid it's going to break and I use it for other more important things (like doing my taxes).

Can anyone confirm that Foobar2000 and Wine really play well together (at least for conversions...don't need a player)?

Can confirm, I use foobar2000 under wine all the time. It even registers the component handler, so when I download components I can just click them and they open up right in foobar2000 to install.

For 99% of conversions I just use ffmpeg on Linux. I bust out foobar2000 when I'm converting from chiptune formats and such, mostly.

Can anyone confirm that Foobar2000 and Wine really play well together (at least for conversions...don't need a player)?

I can also confirm. foobar2000 working on Wine without issues. (Fedora 39 and Mint 21.2)
I've tested it alot recently. Conversions, replay gain scanning and it is stable. ;)

Can confirm, I use foobar2000 under wine all the time. It even registers the component handler, so when I download components I can just click them and they open up right in foobar2000 to install.
For 99% of conversions I just use ffmpeg on Linux. I bust out foobar2000 when I'm converting from chiptune formats and such, mostly.

I can also confirm. foobar2000 working on Wine without issues. (Fedora 39 and Mint 21.2)
I've tested it alot recently. Conversions, replay gain scanning and it is stable. ;)

Thanks guys, that's good to know!

Another nice thing about switching to Wine is not having to move stuff in and out of shared folders for the VM. Definitely looking forward to this!

fre:ac (in the poll) is also available for Linux and now also supports .wv+.wvc .  Should add that I hardly use it - fb2k user and think I got my needs covered, so it never made its way into my workflow.
For splitting by cuesheet, refalac is reported to be able to do that under Wine too (with the WavPack/TAK .dll's) - but it doesn't transfer tags.

@jprjr : You probably know, but beware that ffmpeg doesn't default to lossless operation. ffmpeg -i infile outfile.wav will give you a 16-bit file no matter what the input was.

Depends on my mood and what seems to work.  Sometimes it's foobar2000, other times it's the actual encoder software itself if there's a front end to use.  Yet other times it's been FFMPEG with the FFE front end.

I voted for foobar, but i also use scripts. For example i have a script that uses Sox to make audio mono (takes the left channel of a wav) then converts to flac and adds a replagain tag.

Scripts, with whatever cli tool development is happening on. Looks like scripts should have been an option :P

Can anyone confirm that Foobar2000 and Wine really play well together (at least for conversions...don't need a player)?

The last time, during last year, I used it in WINE I noticed no issues with my workflow.

64-bit fb2k and Wine: Issues with the 64-bit installer reported.
https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,125191.msg1037599.html#msg1037599

64-bit fb2k and Wine: Issues with the 64-bit installer reported.
https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,125191.msg1037599.html#msg1037599

Ah, thanks, that's good to know!

I always have difficulty deciding whether to download the 32-bit or 64-bit versions...this makes it easier!

I use XLD

Hallo.
I use xRecode: it is necessary to buy it but it is absolutely the better: it can read the .iso files, can read and convert well the SACD disk with 6 or much channels.

I tried all the apps mentioned here and settled on Foobar2000.

It predictably transfers tags, merges and splits files, creates demos, and has a rich, extensible audio processor that enables you, among other things, to resample, dither, fade boundaries (https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,115009.msg1040572.html#msg1040572) for gapless playback when it's not supported or unsatisfactory, and even to use VST plugins. I'm looking forward to @Peter polishing the latter to avoid extra samples (https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,123342.msg1040616.html#msg1040616) being added. However, sometimes I fall back to the command-line shell when I need to make sure that the original file is not affected by anything other than the chosen encoder, because Foobar2000 sends for encoding not the original file, but the signal taken from it, effectively discarding some data (https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,113324.msg1041193.html#msg1041193).

There are little things that I'd like to set up more flexibly (like scanning RG as tracks rather than albums after encoding) or that I don't fully understand (https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,122402.msg1040524.html#msg1040524) yet, but nothing that immediately puts me off. Plus, there is a place (Hydrogen, this very forum) where you can talk about your use case, find a workaround (https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,71241.msg1041180.html#msg1041180), or even negotiate a solution (https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,125475.0.html) with the developer(s).

However, sometimes I fall back to the command-line shell when I need to make sure that the original file is not affected by anything other than the chosen encoder, because Foobar2000 sends for encoding not the original file, but the signal taken from it, effectively discarding some data (https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,113324.msg1041193.html#msg1041193).

Let me correct you here, the output from foobar2000 was 100% correct. The encoding you created on commandline included some nonsensical metadata encoded as audio that should not have been there.

Hallo.
I use xRecode: it is necessary to buy it but it is absolutely the better: it can read the .iso files, can read and convert well the SACD disk with 6 or much channels.

Another vote for XRECODE (Specifically, XRECODE3).  This tool does everything and has replaced at least three other utilities I purchased licenses to use.  Namely -- DTS audio decoding, DVD Audio ripping, multi-channel audio conversion, and much more.

@Dryst
Hi
great software but it's not free

Hi
i use foobar but i don't know if I have to check on /off this options
for exaple to flac to aac or mp3, the only information is for deconding DTS ,HDCD ,etc
in short could I keep only On?
thanks

(https://i.imgur.com/c5tleBt.png)

Gstreamer pipelines for individual files and ffmpeg for whole albums.
No _handy_ gui tools anymore. Been there done that.
Just cli and loops now. No scripts, just everything from the shell history.
Except for mass exporting a huge m3u file to android, that is easier using a home grown script.
And except for tagging, that is better using a gui through kid3, and maybe checking the lossless files first with spek.
Replaygain afterwards using tne r128gain cli tool.