I am currently learning audio formats, such as FLAC, WAV, M4A/ALAC, etc and I would like to know more. The question is simple: I used to download FLAC music from forums. I have XRECODE II installed in my computer but it is unregistered. I use this software to convert the downloaded FLAC music to FLAC with ID tags edited and cover art removed. But I finally find that the outputted FLAC files are having about 2~5 VBR less than the original downloaded FLAC files, meaning that the FLAC seems to be lossy. I know FLAC is lossless but I have no idea why the VBR losses after conversion. I don't think the reason is due to restriction of unregistered XRECODE II. Then I use the outputted FLAC to convert to WAV. Will there be differences in the WAV after conversion, comparing the two inputs, FLAC with 1000 VBR and FLAC with 995 VBR? Original downloaded FLAC (1000 VBR) --> WAV After-converted FLAC (995 VBR) --> WAV Perhaps I need another software, any suggestions?
I reccommend dBpoweramp,I use it all the time to convert my music to WAV.You can convert to all sorts like FLAC,ACC,M4A etc and it does a great job of the tags too.Everyone else on the forum will reccomend EAC but I prefer dBpoweramp which comes with a 21 day trial,more than enough time to convert all your music as well as your families!
Use EAC (I use that for exact copies of cds) Sorry for bringing up old thread. When I want to copy my cds to my computer in TRUE LOSSLESS QUALITY, I use the program called EAC (EXACT AUDIO COPY). It is freeware. This program will take your cd and make losless .Flac files or even .Wav files, if you prefer that. They are both Lossless, but flac uses MUCH LESS space than wave. Think of .Flac files as compressed (like rar or zip files). Even though .Flac is compressed, it is still Lossless. A .Wav file might be like 50-60 MB, but the same file in .Flac format will be like 18-25 MB and be EXACT SAME QUALITY. You can also convert .Flac back into original .Wav. Even when comparing the hash of both original .Wav and converted .Wav, they match up, because THEY ARE THE SAME. This PROVES that it is Losless. When it comes to managing my over 600 GIGS of music, I use MediaMonkey, which lets you tag and play .Flac files. Majority of my collection is Flac or higher quality mp3. Media Monkey has a freeware version and also a "Gold Version". Contact me for more info on Media monkey Gold.