Skip to main content ↑ ↓

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: How to deal with single flac files and not to lose audio quality (Read 3465 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

How to deal with single flac files and not to lose audio quality

Hi everybody.
I'm used to use SINGLE FLAC files. Sometimes though I find Cds ripped FLAC track by track. How can I mount these kind of files? How can I convert them to AAC 256kbps having the least loss of quality? (I mean the same loss of quality I have when I rip from a normal cd or a SINGLE FLAC file)

My second question is this one: usually I deal with single flac files. I mount them with WinMount and rip in AAC 256kbps with iTunes. Is this the best way to preserve a high audio quality by ripping from FLAC?

Thanks for the attention...

Alberto

How to deal with single flac files and not to lose audio quality

Reply #1 –
You could always just use foobar2000 to convert the FLAC files using Nero's AAC encoder.  That would be the same as directly ripping your audio CDs using Nero's AAC encoder.  foobar2000 can convert multiple FLAC files or single FLAC files using cue sheets (or not using cue sheets but I don't know anyone who has one large FLAC file without cue sheets).

You can also use foobar2000 to determine the proper Nero AAC setting for you to use.  Unlike the iTunes AAC encoder, Nero AAC is full VBR.  You pick different -q values in order to match up with different quality values.  Many perceive that either -q0.50 (170-190kbps) or -q0.55 (190-220kbps) are more than transparent for them.  foobar2000 has an ABX plug-in that will allow you to conduct a proper ABX test to determine what Nero -q value produces transparent results for you.

I don't know anything about merging multiple FLAC files into one large file (with cue sheets or without, your folly/choice).

How to deal with single flac files and not to lose audio quality

Reply #2 –
Quote from: kornchild2002 on
You could always just use foobar2000 to convert the FLAC files using Nero's AAC encoder.  That would be the same as directly ripping your audio CDs using Nero's AAC encoder.  foobar2000 can convert multiple FLAC files or single FLAC files using cue sheets (or not using cue sheets but I don't know anyone who has one large FLAC file without cue sheets).

You can also use foobar2000 to determine the proper Nero AAC setting for you to use.  Unlike the iTunes AAC encoder, Nero AAC is full VBR.  You pick different -q values in order to match up with different quality values.  Many perceive that either -q0.50 (170-190kbps) or -q0.55 (190-220kbps) are more than transparent for them.  foobar2000 has an ABX plug-in that will allow you to conduct a proper ABX test to determine what Nero -q value produces transparent results for you.

I don't know anything about merging multiple FLAC files into one large file (with cue sheets or without, your folly/choice).



So Nero's AAC encoder provides a slightly higher quality than iTunes? Could you post the link for Nero's AAC? and by the way, does Nero AAC convert flac to aac better than Easy Cd Da Extractor?
Thank you so much

How to deal with single flac files and not to lose audio quality

Reply #3 –
Nero's AAC encoder is just that, an encoder.  You must use an applications (such as foobar2000 or dBpowerAMP) that can use Nero AAC to convert the FLAC files.  Nero's AAC encoder is just a simple exe file.  I am not sure how Easy CD-DA operates.  I suggest that you look into using foobar2000, EAC, or dBpowerAMP (not free but it might be easier to use) for your CD ripping and converting needs.  It appears that the Nero Digital website is down so I can't link you to the place to download Nero's AAC encoder.

I believe that Nero produces quality on par (or slightly better than) with the iTunes AAC encoder.  I have conducted blind ABX tests and found that Nero at -q0.5 is transparent for me.  I find that -q0.45 is transparent for most of my samples but I have a few that require -q0.5 for my needs.  The iTunes AAC encoder is similar for me.  I find that 192kbps VBR in iTunes is transparent.  I use Nero for multiple reasons but the main one is because -q0.5 produces files that are smaller than 192kbps VBR AAC in iTunes.  My lossy library was decreased by about 3GB when switching from iTunes AAC at 192kbps VBR to -q0.5 with Nero.  That may not sound like much and it isn't on a 120GB iPod classic.  However, that extra 3GB allows me to carry around all of my music videos.

How to deal with single flac files and not to lose audio quality

Reply #4 –
Quote from: kornchild2002 on
Nero's AAC encoder is just that, an encoder.  You must use an applications (such as foobar2000 or dBpowerAMP) that can use Nero AAC to convert the FLAC files.  Nero's AAC encoder is just a simple exe file.  I am not sure how Easy CD-DA operates.  I suggest that you look into using foobar2000, EAC, or dBpowerAMP (not free but it might be easier to use) for your CD ripping and converting needs.  It appears that the Nero Digital website is down so I can't link you to the place to download Nero's AAC encoder.

I believe that Nero produces quality on par (or slightly better than) with the iTunes AAC encoder.  I have conducted blind ABX tests and found that Nero at -q0.5 is transparent for me.  I find that -q0.45 is transparent for most of my samples but I have a few that require -q0.5 for my needs.  The iTunes AAC encoder is similar for me.  I find that 192kbps VBR in iTunes is transparent.  I use Nero for multiple reasons but the main one is because -q0.5 produces files that are smaller than 192kbps VBR AAC in iTunes.  My lossy library was decreased by about 3GB when switching from iTunes AAC at 192kbps VBR to -q0.5 with Nero.  That may not sound like much and it isn't on a 120GB iPod classic.  However, that extra 3GB allows me to carry around all of my music videos.



I just converted FLAC cd into NERO AAC 220kbps VBR with Foobar... The thing is that sometimes (for example when I edit a tag in iTunes) the song skips! Same for when I plug in my iPod. Which do you think could be the reason? Thanks for your replies by the way