"... .flac’s are used by audiophiles for the high quality sound..." [Comment #21 by MuddyMike]

True audiophiles prefer the sound & mixes of the original artistic recordings on LP's; the "Digitally Remastered" is not nearly as good, as the original intent/mix put down on vinyl will never match what was originally recorded. Transferring the original LP's to CD, without any tweaks (no matter how well intentioned), is about as close as you'll ever get to the original on vinyl. Last point is that WAV is the de facto standard over FLAC, for lossless recording/copying.

Converting FLAC to MP3 is like converting a Cadillac to a Volkswagen.
Thanks but no thanks.

I will go ahead and download this software and if I like it I will review it on my own app / software website :-)

For the record, about a week ago GOTD gave away Aiseesoft Total Media Converter, which works with FLAC, MP3, MP2, and about every DVD, CD, video, and audio format available. They also have many codecs. I am not bothering to download this, especially with the lack of need and noted installiation boogies. I am fine, and don't recommend this.And BTW, there are free rippers and converters out there (iTunes rips and Any video converter converts and both are free)

Another example for those asking "Why would I ever use flac when I've never heard of it?", just check out the Internet Archives (also home of the Wayback Machine)at http://www.archive.org/details/audio

'This library contains over two hundred thousand free digital recordings...from alternative news programming, Grateful Dead concerts, Old Time Radio shows, book & poetry readings, to original music uploaded by our users. Many...are available for free download.'

A good many of them are encoded in flac. Enuf said?

Is VBR better than 320? Seems like it might be smaller, but not better.

This software could be useful to someone who downloads music from the web. When downloading a live soundboard recorded concert, its usually in FLAC to preserve the quality of the sound (hence the term lossless). When compressing the FLAC file to mp3, so you can play it in your car, it loses some sound quality (Hence the term lossy). Most converters allow you to preserve the FLAC and also have the mp3 file.

#32-Spredo and #33-DougA.
Just wanted to say THANKS for your comments and info...just voting YES wasn't enough for my appreciation of your posts.

Installed fine on Windows 7 x64-bit. It runs nice. The registration key is in the readme.txt if anyone missed it. I tried to convert a .mp3 file to a .wav .
It worked fine. Honestly I do not know why it is called FLAC to MP3. This converter converts other files aswell.

The program worked fine and I will keep it for a while, the only problem I see with this software is the price. Talk about overpricing a product!
40$ is way to much for this software, even a 15$ price tag would be too much.

This is 2011, we already have hundreds of free converters.

//Jason

You can use Foobar to convert FLAC to MP3.
There's no point in making a one format to one format converter unless the source/destination format is custom/proprietary. And FLAC is open source.

My MP3 player runs Rockbox firmware which does support all major audio formats (including FLAC), but I do convert FLAC files to MP3 (using Foobar) because FLAC files are too large.

Like others have said, there're much better free programs that do this, foorbar200 (the best music player IMHO), dbPowerAmp, FormatFactory, just to name a few, there're countless others, since most of the libraries used in this program are open source software, libflac, ffmpeg, LAME.

Now, if what someone previously said is true about it using cygwin1.dll, then this must be the most horrible, inefficient way of doing things. Cygwin is a Unix emulation layer for Windows, going through it has horrible performance drawbacks. That's almost like running it through a virtual machine.

A VB app using open source libraries and going through the Cygwin POSIX layer, while charging $40, just wow...

geez flac seed - so glad you don't belong to me.... maybe grandma should be told what an "ingrate" you are.

THANKS GAOTD This sounds like a great program.

Yes there are many freeware audio converters, but the one I found to be most complete, fast and flexible is XRECODE II. It is also continually developed. I am donating to them because the program is excellent, and I can CHOOSE when I think it becomes worth my money.

I don't seem to be able to convert in VBR, which is a must in my opinion... I guess I'll have to convert in 320 kbps to get maximum quality...

ITunes + winamp does the same thing and you can get both free.
http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/08/14/how-to-convert-flac-files-to-mp3-using-windows/

Let's say your grandma knows you like music and gives you a piece of crap MP3 player, like I don't know, an iPod :p, that doesn't support free and open audiophile quality codecs like FLAC. Do you throw away the piece of crap? Or perhaps you could batch convert some of your FLAC to mp3 format so when she comes over you can dutifully sit there and listen to your music using her thoughtful gift. That's what I did anyway. (using foobar though - didn't try this app - just explaining why you might want to convert flac to mp3).

Oy! The number of responses that make this seem like something really out there. I moved overseas about 19 months ago and did not want to take all my CDs. I ripped them all to FLAC and put them on an external hard drive. Now when I want to put some files on my tiny MP3 player, I need to convert them. This sounds like an ideal package, which I will download, but have not yet tried. Bulk conversion is what I needed, but only once, and so I agree that other freeware is likely to beat the pants off of $40. So many converters out there these days...

For those who just didn't get it, your CDs have very good sound quality. When you change the format, you usually lose some of the sound quality, but you get a smaller file. What most people do not realize is that when you buy a song from the Internet in an MP3 format, you are almost certainly not getting the same quality as with a CD.

I have to admit that while I wish I were an audiophile and even bought some nice stereo gear, that I cannot really tell the difference among different formats when listening on my MP3 player while running. I would guess that most people cannot.

FLAC is one of several "loss-less" file formats, meaning that none of the quality of the CD is "lost" when converting to a file. By their nature (i.e., no information is lost), the files are really big. In my case, I "ripped" (converted) my CD collection to FLAC format, put all of the files onto an external hard drive, and put the CDs in storage, while I moved overseas. So I have all of my music is CD-quality condition. But since my Sansa Clip only holds 4GB, I can only carry around a limited number of FLAC files. A piece of software like this should be able to handle this easily. File format conversion is widely (and often freely) available.

If you do not have any FLAC files, you would have no need for this program. But I do...so thanks GAOTD.

There really is NO point in this type of software "Only" converting 1 format to 1 other.

Most will want a complete audio (Or video) converter that does it all.

As there are loads of Freeware that will, trying to sell this very, very limited software is pointless

When I rip a CD, I make two copies: one to FLAC and one to MP3. FLAC is good for lossless archival storage, and can be played back on PCs and some players, but takes up a lot of space (though about half that of WAV). MP3 works on my MP3 players and has sufficient sound quality for pop/rock. While some portable players support FLAC, at 8GB or less of storage on my players, the MP3 format works better.

I rarely do FLAC to MP3 after the fact, but once in a while it is necessary. As others pointed out, there are lots of utilities out there that do this for free.

It installed fine on my Win7 machine, and I converted a Flac file to MP3 just fine as well and it seemed to be pretty speedy. The engine (using Sox, thanks #23 mike!) seems to use ffmpeg/lame for the conversion.

As noted above, there are several limitations for a program that boasts batch capability. If you are just doing one by one conversions, or just converting all FLAC files in a single directory, and don't need them to be VBR (variable bit rate) MP3s, then this program seems to do the trick. Otherwise, I'd look at the alternatives.

Doug A.

Just to try to clarify by example, as there seems to be some trouble understanding what this really is about.

You go out and buy a new CD. This is good, as you support your favorite artist.

You take the CD home, and realize you have a lot of CD's laying around. In a flash of inspiration, you decide to copy ALL your CD's to your computer, and create an AMAZING music collection. (If you really are inspired, you will also connect your computer to your stereo system, but this example will work for any computer with a sound card and speakers).

In order to get your CD's INTO your computer, you can either copy all of it in its original format (takes a lot of space, and frankly, nobody does this today. It also mess up what program you can use to PLAY the music.), you can rip/convert the music to the FLAC format (takes up less spcace, keeps (allmost) all the quality of the music, can be played by most audio programs), or you can rip/convert it to mp3-format (takes up less space, does NOT keep the quality of the original music, but if space is important to you...)

I tend to rip all my CD's in FLAC-format. It takes up less space than the whole CD would do, and the quality is superb (IMHO). This gives me access to my whole collection without having to change CD's the whole time. I play this music on my computer and on my stereo. Hard disks are quite cheap today, so I can spend the extra money to have one LARGE disk dedicated to my music collection.

When I want to take my music along for a ride (in my portable music player), space is suddenly important. The storage in my player is not unlimited. So, in order to get MORE of my music in my player, I convert the songs I want to take along to MP3-format. This gives me 3-4 times as many songs on my player as I would have had in FLAC-format, and still acceptable sound quality. (Yes, I CAN hear the difference between my music in FLAC-format and my portable 320kbs MP3-format, but it is acceptable as I can carry more of my collection around)

This program, if it works as advertised, would be what I use to convert my "permanent" FLAC-collection to my "temporary" MP3-playlist.

@24, @25

I just want to convert my flac files to mp3, to get music on my cell phone that cannot read anything elses.

Thank you for your participation, guys

All on FLAC files form Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flac

As a follow up to my request for a good FLAC-MP3 converter, I am not smart enough to use command line converters. My specifactions require some sort of n interface, good or bad, just not command line. :)

@24 and @25 - Most portable MP3 players (or portable CD/MP3 players) will not play FLAC files. So you may have kept your collection of ripped CD's as FLAC but it would be great to be able to do batch conversions, once in a while.

Since this one does not seem to be very good, what other good FLAC - to - MP3 converters are out there, that do one click, batch conversion? Thanks.

40 bucks?? What the FLAC! LameXP does the same for free

My main question is why someone would want to convert a lossless format to lossy? Hard drive space is cheap these days.
Anyways, if I wanted, I could do this with a bunch of other programs for free. Including the command-line ffmpeg (which is really for Linux, but there's Windows builds around.)

I can't for the life of me see WHY you would want to lose the quality of FLAC files by converting them to MP3 files. Yes, you get a much smaller file, but it comes at a price i.e. the loss of quality

FLAC To MP3 is a small, VB [Visual Basic] app that would be portable if not for the VB part -- it'll work portably as long as the host Windows has the necessary VB files installed [I *think* most home setups do]. Several input/output formats are supported besides flac, as FLAC To MP3 seems to be a front end for SoX [ http://goo.gl/C3GaR ], a free cli audio converter. Along with older versions of free code libraries [like SoX], today's GOTD also includes cygwin1.dll [ http://goo.gl/MX63 ], which is something that in my experience can cause problems. While I don't see any definite problems using it -- you may find it quite useful as an audio converter -- uninstalling FLAC To MP3 may break other software you've installed... it registers its included copy of MSCOMCTL.OCX overwriting existing registry entries, so when/if that copy's gone [i.e. you remove FLAC To MP3], apps that use it, can't.

Setup installs to the root directory by default [c:\FLAC To MP3], which while frowned on won't cause any computer gods to curse you. The app itself takes up ~24 MB with 21 files, 1 folder, & *not including* any adds &/or changes because of MSCOMCTL.OCX, it just adds an uninstall key to the registry.

[Note that if you want/need to re-register another copy of MSCOMCTL.OCX (which should be located in Windows' system folder) you can use Windows own regsvr32 (if/as needed Google/Bing for directions), I use an old, free app called RegDrop, there are other utilities you can download, or you can re-install an app that removing FLAC To MP3 broke.]

As far as flac goes...
The home page for flac [free lossless audio codec] is here: http://goo.gl/dv0i4 , & if the audio apps you already have can't convert flac, you can use the cli [Command Line Interface] app itself to convert flac audio files to the lossless Windows .wav format: http://goo.gl/6Ui0b . Alternatively you can use the free Foobar 2000 [d/load from videohelp here: http://goo.gl/HUMN1 -- 1 guide here: http://goo.gl/Xlo1K ], or Winamp [guide with d/load links: http://goo.gl/d5SG ], or fre:ac [formerly BonkEnc], available here: http://goo.gl/iziie or in the portableapps.com format here: http://goo.gl/MzwTk . Google/Bing for more choices.

People,this is free and works fine ! You can convert audio and video files
http://www.iwisoft.com/videoconverter/video-converter-features.php

.flac's are used by audiophiles for the high quality sound. If you don't have a pile of flac's then you have no need for this. Also if this converts many other formats why would you not boast that it does. $40 for a single format converter is too much.

@1 & @9 - If your audio player is capable of playing FLAC files, the sound quality is better than that of MP3 files because it is lossless - you're getting the full range of sound. I tend to rip my CD's to FLAC for HD storage; I can always convert them to MP3 later if needed.

I tend to use dBpoweramp for my conversions, but since @14 mentioned that this software also converts other formats, I'll give it a try.

If you are looking for something that does the same thing for free try Any Audio Converter - The program has been around for years and is freeware

http://www.any-audio-converter.com/

Any Audio Converter will also download the audio directly from any video on YouTube if you enter the url address of the video you want to download the audio from, can't see spending $40.00 when this is free also have any-video converter which is freeware.

Format Factory (freeware) do it too.

www . formatoz . com

I got a much desired music file in .flac format and searched for hours trying to find a program to convert it. I don't remember what program I ended up using, but it was free. The developers should take a look at some of the open source/freeware apps out there, and make sure their software is better than those. Then *maybe* it might be worth $40. At the moment, it's got too many issues.

"I dont think i have ever come across a .flac so why would i want this? Where would i get a .flac from? Why would i not have the .mp3 already or be able to access the .mp3 directly?"
Comment by fivish

FLAC files are usually found on usenet or torrents. They are commonly used to store concert recorded "bootleg" music for example. Many bands allow concert goers to record the concert by plugging in, while other venues often have Assisted Listening Devices with earphone plugs, and as a result there are some very good quality portable digital recorders out there. If you were a fan of one of these bands, you would probably already know what flac files are used for, so I'm guessing you wouldn't have much use for this. All that being said, however, if you need something like this, you probably already have something to convert the files, like Audacity or many other free programs. Also, CD burning software like Nero can burn flac files directly to a music CD. Once burned to CD, FLAC albums can easily be ripped to mp3 by Windows, and the mp3 tags added automatically by WMP.

I tried this software, and I found that it not only converts Flac to mp3, but also these formats:
Input: Flac, wav, wma, mp3, avi, mpg, mp4, wmv, flv, mov, vob, rm, 3gp.
Output: mp3, wma, wav, ogg, ac3, aac, am3, mpg, flac.
And you can decide the output's bitrate...
You can install the program also in C:\Program files..., and you can save the output where you want.

Laura Nass wrote: "It would be more useful to be able to convert FLAC to WAV format, which is also lossless but a useful format on PCs."

FLAC files are lossless compressed WAV files which can be decompressed to the original WAV files anytime with - uhm, yes: FLAC.

This is total rubbish as a batch converter. It does not retain folder tree integrity. It does not maintain the name of the file - therefore what is has just done with 10 folders of FLAC is to convert them into one folder and name each track as the track number. Therefore overwriting each previously converted album!!! Oh and it doesn't seem to always retain the FLAC tags when it converts to MP3. I would also have it filter out non FLAC/WAV files when adding a folder, like album art jpgs. However, if I was batch converting I would want an exact replica of the folder I was converting, including the album art.

dbpoweramp, foobar2000, both do the same thing for free....

OK. How do you register? I can find no 'register' button/box/menu except for the possibility of purchasing the software via sms.

I dont think i have ever come across a .flac so why would i want this? Where would i get a .flac from? Why would i not have the .mp3 already or be able to access the .mp3 directly?

Format Factory can accomplish what this software does and more, plus its free.

FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec. MP3 is very lossy. It would be more useful to be able to convert FLAC to WAV format, which is also lossless but a useful format on PCs.

"...The program is available for $39.95..." ?! Freeware foobar2000 can do much more !

Well, it's easy to convert my .flac files to mp3 for my MP3 Player. To some audio formats like wma,wav, it works pretty well. But to some audio like AAC, M4A, OGG, MP2, AC3, AU, i'd rather choose a professional audio converter, such as Snowfox Audio Converter, and no matter the output audio quality or the conversion speed is better than
FLAC To MP3 Converter. But still thx for sharing!

40 bucks? Get real! Freeware out there does the same thing!

program creates files in c:\tmp, output of all files goes to one directory, not the tree they came from, cannot set to variable bit rate mp3s. disappointed.

Installed fine on WinXP Home though had to change from installing directly onto my c:\drive to install in my program files directory

i had to firstly google "what is flac". it means Free Lossless Audio Codec. Still don't know where i will need it.