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Topic: Quick conversion from 24bit to 16bit (Read 3236 times) previous topic - next topic
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Quick conversion from 24bit to 16bit

Hello -

What method do people recommend?  Is it possible to use Foobar to convert from say 24/96
to 16/48 ?

I've been using Soundforge but it takes forever (nearly).

Also, I'm using an old DAC at the moment which will only play 16bit but it does supposedly support
a sample rate of 96hz.  Is there any reason why I shouldn't be able to play a file of 16/96 ??
(a bit unusual I know).

I ask because I converted a file to this but I get error: unsupported format, and I can't figure it out.

Many thanks for your thoughts.

( P.S. I don't want to down sample as I'm playing the track, I'd like to do it in advance ).

Re: Quick conversion from 24bit to 16bit

Reply #1 –
foobar2000 can do this on the fly, so you don't have to convert to new files.

Preferences -> Playback, then there is an "Output format". If it is greyed out, you need to choose a different device. Here you can set it at 16. Try that first.
Also if it doesn't support 96, you can also resample on-the-fly. Preferences -> Playback -> DSP manager. Resampler sox is known to be good even if it is light on the CPU.

Re: Quick conversion from 24bit to 16bit

Reply #3 –
FLAC default compression level is 5, not 6. And 6 is not good - if you are willing to wait for -6, then go directly to -7, it is only-so-slightly slower and compreses better. (See https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,123025.msg1016327.html#msg1016327 #16 and #17 and the link in #16 to ktf's visuals.) Or -7 -l 11 if you insist that -7 is too slow.

Myself I keep the original so if I would have to transcode I would do something that clearly marks the files as "disposable". Like, a different format (WavPack? TAK? Monkey's?) not used for anything else. Actually, since downconverting is lossy, then consider even a lossy codec. Musepack? If you don't have any Musepack files from elsewhere, you will know that an .mpc is a downconvert.

(Why keep the original you say? I don't claim to be able to hear the difference, except if I should happen to make a major f**kup in the conversion - but I also keep the CD booklet even if it isn't audible; that is part of the work I am buying.)

Re: Quick conversion from 24bit to 16bit

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Porcus on
FLAC default compression level is 5, not 6.
Sorry, not sure what I was thinking. I knew that part of my original instructions was in error and still got it wrong
 

Re: Quick conversion from 24bit to 16bit

Reply #5 –
Many thanks.

Now I can do a quick convert, just what I wanted.  It was especially that SoX needs to be loaded
into the actual DSP chain that I didn't understand at first.

I wonder, does that mean that anything in the DSP chain ( eg, EQ ) gets applied when "quick convert"
is used on a file ???

Thanks again

Re: Quick conversion from 24bit to 16bit

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Tony Hubcaps on
I wonder, does that mean that anything in the DSP chain ( eg, EQ ) gets applied when "quick convert" is used on a file ???
Had to test it since I rarely use "quick convert" and the answer is: Yes. Wasn't expecting that behaviour tbh, but maybe makes sense.
When I used "quick convert" I usually created a wav file for a wave editor. I must say I expected a raw conversion without application of DSP. So thanks for pointing me to this.

Re: Quick conversion from 24bit to 16bit

Reply #7 –
I think others have already summed it up with the SoX resampler. but... if you just need to go from 24 to 16, I think Foobar2000 will do that without any additional stuff needing to be installed. but if your FLAC files are higher than 44.1Hz, then you need that SoX resampler to convert it back to standard 16bit/44.1Hz.

p.s. I always convert any "HD" FLAC files I stumble into occasionally back to standard audio CD format since anything higher than 44.1/16 is just a waste of storage space anyways.
For music I suggest (using Foobar2000)... MP3 (LAME) @ V5 (130kbps). NOTE: using on AGPTEK-U3 as of Mar 18th 2021. I use 'fatsort' (on Linux) so MP3's are listed in proper order on AGPTEK-U3.