Converting Lossless Music To Other Formats

Some quick notes on ways to convert your lossless (eg. FLAC) files into other audio formats.

Using Foobar - FLAC To MP3

Note that Foobar doesn't ship with encoders, so you'll have to go download extras to handle the formats you want to use.

1. Get Foobar
2. Launch Foobar
3. Open/drag FLAC files in
4. Select all, right-click and do a "convert", for output format pick MP3 - might want to set up an entry with chosen bitrate, constant/variable preference
5. Pick a folder to dump the converted files into
6. The first time you do this, you might have to tell Foobar where your lame.exe encoder is (see below)
7. Watch the progress bar, go collect your files when done

Options

Foobar lets you set up a number of converter options, so if the defaults aren't enough, do an edit/add new.

My settings for MP3 are
Encoder type: "custom"
Encoder: lame.exe
Extension: mp3
Parameters: -S --noreplaygain -b 192 - %d
Format: lossy
Highest BPS: 24
Encoder name: "MP3 (LAME), 192kbps CBR"
Bitrate: 192
Settings: CBR

Apple Lossless

Foobar doesn't ship with the apple lossless decoding, I had to grab an extra plugin (try the Foobar website for download).

Getting LAME

LAME is the encoder engine that actually converts to MP3. If you don't have the LAME encoder (lame.exe), get latest from Rarewares. Download the zip (it should contain an exe, a DLL, and a bunch of HTML and CSS) and unpack all the files into somewhere like "C:\Program Files\Lame" (just create a new folder).

Ripping And Rocking With EAC

OK, I go on and on about using a decent ripping package for turning all those CDs into digital files for your music library, streamer, portable player etc, and I'm sure that just about everyone takes one look, gets scared and runs back to the safety of using iTunes to turn CDs into MP3s. So here's the thing: using a decent ripper isn't hard. Or it shouldn't be. So here's my quick guide to setting up and using EAC for ripping CDs.

Quick note: this post was mostly written with EAC version 0.99. I'll update for new features in 1.0beta1, such as the new artwork downloader, when I have time.

Setup

First thing, go get EAC from http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/. Install it (make sure you install the FLAC component too, do a full install and you should be fine), run it, go through the setup wizard - accepting the defaults should be fine, although when it asks you for formats, pick FLAC rather than MP3/WMA. Some of the FLAC encoding level and filename options, we'll set later, but for now defaults will do (it's lossless, you can always re-convert, and post-rip tagging is a doddle). You also need to give your email address in return for access to the tagging database.

Options

Some of the settings you'll want to tweak...

Tools: "Do not open external compressor" - do you want a DOS window showing the FLAC compression happening?

Filename: use naming scheme "%D\%C\%N - %T"

Directories: set directory to whatever space you've set aside for your FLAC files eg. "music\flacTunes".

Ripping

The process of ripping a CD is quite simple. Fire up EAC, bung in a CD, hit ALT-G to query the freedb database and get the tagging info - if you get multiple entries, select one, you can always re-query if it looks wrong. You'll also get prompted for an album cover art search (medium sizes are probably fine) - hover over to preview, select/highlight the best and hit the big "save with EAC" button. Images are saved as "folder.jpg" in the album folder.

If the CD wasn't found, or there are tagging errors, enter/fix the info (double-click on a track title to edit), but you can always fix the tags later. Also note the "first track number" option, very useful for binding two-disc sets together into a single album (you'll also want to hack the "disc two" out of the album title).

Hit SHIFT-F5 to start ripping (if no directory set in options, it'll prompt you for one). This can take a while, EAC is pretty persistent and will try its best to get an accurate rip. When it's all done, you'll get a success/error report.

You can even watch the progress as the files get converted and written - temporary WAV and FLAC files get written along the way.

The Next Step

With your CD now in FLAC, you have options. Save it to your library for streaming. Convert to some other format (eg. MP3).

And then you can start really playing with EAC...

More Options

EAC has tons of options, this post just covers the basics.

For advanced drive configuration, you'll need a good, unscratched CD for EAC to do a test rip with (yes, this software actually tweaks itself for your CD/DVD drive), probably best to pick a nice long 70-minute CD (don't worry, it won't take nearly that long to do the test rip).

External Compression Options

Under EAC->Compression Options->External Compression, I have the following set:
Use external program for compression
Use file extension ".flac"
Program "C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE"
Additional command line options: -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=%e" %s -o %d
Bitrate: 768kbps, high quality
Delete wav after compression
Check for external programs return code

Copy Range Feature

When the CD doesn't allocate the tracks exactly as you need, whether it's those pesky hidden tracks or strangely-placed index markers, you can fix things using the "Copy Range" feature to move where the CD tracks start/end or split tracks up.

The first thing to find out where your tracks start and end. If you can get exact CD block positions from a ripping log, great, otherwise at least note the times. Do "Action->Copy Range->Compressed" to start a partial track rip. In the dialogue, use the sliders and "snap track" to get a rough start/end position, fine tune with cursor left/right, or enter the block position directly. Once you've set the start and end positions, hit "OK" and the track rips.

Note that the file is saved outside of the normal album folder (defaults to the root of your music ripping directory) so you'll have to do some file moving afterwards. Name the file with standard "01 - Trackname.flac" scheme, and correct the tags afterwards (track number and name may default to whatever track was selected when you started the partial ripping.

For more in-depth details, see this guide.

Digital Music: Building A Library From CDs

OK, these days, most people don't buy CDs. Hell, most people can't even spell "CDs" (there's no apostrophe, kids). But CDs are still almost always the only way to get high-quality lossless music.

So this guide assumes you want to build a flexible digital music library from existing and continued CD purchases. Of course, you'll want all that music to be correctly "tagged" so you can find things later.

These notes deal with ripping high-quality lossless - I'm also going to assume that you'll want not only the lossless version to listen to in the house, but the option of a compressed copy on your MP3 player. Any library is going to contain stuff from a few different sources, so improvise for any non-CD formats - if you're starting with MP3 (eg. iTunes store purchases), skip right to the last section. Likewise, skip the CD ripping part for anything you can get in a lossless format. And if you want to go straight from CD to MP3, remember that choice is final and can only be reversed by re-ripping the CD.

I've noted the tools I use, but the process is the important thing here (and some of these stages are optional). Other posts may expand on setting up the various bits of software listed (look for the links), failing that you're going to have to do a bit of searching. Sorry.

If this all seems a bit much, don't panic. Once the tools are installed and setup, it's a fairly simple process to stuff a CD in, press a couple of buttons, then leave the computer to do all the work. It's worth noting that even the most basic "use iTunes to rip CDs to MP3" solution does the ripping (to lossless), tagging, and "creating MP3 version" stages. But those intermediate lossless files are destroyed.

A Day In The Life Of A CD

1. The Ripping
   
   First thing to do is get that music off CD into a digital format. I cover this process in this post. Depending on what you use, you may end up fixing tags and adding artwork at this point.
   
   My Solution: EAC for ripping (I have a couple of drives I can use in case of problem CDs), freedb tagging info, and on those rare occasions where I can't get track info, I fire up iTunes and copy-and-paste the track names (but still rip with EAC). Oh, and EAC can grab artwork too.
   
   
   
2. The Tagging (Optional)
   
   If your disc wasn't found in the database, or whoever put it there spelt a track title wrong and you've only noticed now, or you want to merge two-disc sets into one long album (CDex does this with its wonderful track offset option, EAC has a similar "first track number" option), you'll need to edit the tags with something like Foobar.
   
   My Solution: Foobar2000 (but I don't like the way it won't mirror tagging info changes in filenames, need to find something better).
   
   
   
3. The Cover Art (Optional)
   
   If you didn't get artwork while you were ripping, grab some artwork using something like Album Art Downloader. I'd recommend getting your artwork at at least 500x500 if you can. Safe bet is to save the artwork as "Folder.jpg" in the same folder as the album tracks. Check with your library software for exact size limits and filename requirements. Getting the artwork is something you can do later or grab several covers at once. Watch for auto-tagging programs, they don't always get the best (or even correct) artwork.
   
   My Solution: Album Art Downloader, just search for artist/title, pick the best match and drag from search results into album folder to save. Files saved as "Folder.jpg", up to 600x600.
   
   
   
4. Feeding The Library
   
   OK, now you have a digital version of the CD and the front cover.
   
   Move/copy the ripped music plus artwork to its new home on your music server (you could probably even automate this bit), press whatever buttons you need to re-scan and add it to your library, assuming your music server doesn't do this automatically (Sonos allows you to schedule this). If you're ripping lossless, you'll fill up a hard drive quickly, so do any housekeeping you need to and clean up those temp files.
   
   My Solution: copy to a "Shared Music/FlacTunes" folder on my NAS, use "Update Music Index" option to get Sonos to recognise new stuff, keep the last few weeks of rips backed up on my laptop until properly backed up.
   
   
   
5. The MP3/Portable Version (Optional)
   
   If you're going the lossless route, you probably also want a portable copy, so convert those FLACs to MP3 etc. This is a big topic. I use iTunesEncoder and my own custom scripts to get to 160kpbs AAC, but there's so many options. And if you screw it up or want to change format or bitrate in a couple of years, well you do have those master lossless files, and your PC will be happy to repeat the conversion. And for the artwork, well iTunes will find artwork sometimes, otherwise, just use the JPEG you grabbed earlier.
   
   My Solution: 160kpbs AAC managed by iTunes. I use FLAC and iTunesEncoder on the command line to do the conversion (uses iTunes' internal AAC encoder) and my own custom scripts/software to find, convert and import anything I copy into a temp "flacDrop" folder (FLAC to WAV to AAC).
   
   My Alternative Solution: 192kpbs MP3 converted by Foobar. Open Foobar, drag in the FLAC folders/files to be converted, select all and hit "convert", saving in an "itunes import" folder. Then open iTunes and use the "file->add folder to library" to import. More on Foobar here.
   
   
   
6. The Shelf
   
   Now your CDs can gather dust on the shelf, to be visited only when you want to laugh at the band's 80s haircuts in the photos in the booklet. Unless you forget to do...
   
   
   
7. The Backup
   
   Remember to take backups. Seriously, remember the backups! Or just live in the belief that your hard drive will never fail (millions of people do, some of them are even lucky). A USB hard drive is cheap. Re-ripping CDs is tedious, re-buying downloads is expensive. You choose.