How To Convert FLAC to MP3

FLAC logo FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is a lossless audio compression format. It’s often used to digitally store and transfer music without any loss in quality. The files tend to be rather large though – for example, 3 minutes of audio could take up around 18 Mb.

On the other hand, MP3 is a lossy compression format that is supported by pretty much any audio player (plus the files tend to be smaller). Sometimes you need to convert FLAC to MP3, e.g. to be able to play it on your iPod. In this post I’ll describe how you can do that.

I tried out several free FLAC to MP3 converters prior to writing this tutorial. According to my testing, dBpoweramp seems to be the best choice. So that’s what I’ll use here. However, if this converter doesn’t work for you, there are certainly other viable alternatives, e.g. Foobar2000.

Okay, on with the tutorial :) Here’s the step-by-step guide for converting FLAC to MP3.

  1. Install dBpoweramp Music Converter. You can download it here.
  2. Install the FLAC codec for dBpoweramp.
  3. Start up the dBpoweramp Batch Converter. Usually you can find the converter here : Programs -> dBpoweramp Music Converter -> dBpoweramp Batch Converter
  4. Locate the FLAC files you want to convert using the built-in navigator and tick their checkboxes. You can also select an entire folder (or several) by clicking the boxes near them. Click “Convert”.

    Select the files to convert from Flac to MP3. You can also select folders.

  5. A conversion settings window will pop up. There’s a lot of options here, but don’t worry – in most cases you will only need a few of them. First, select “MP3 (Lame)” from the Converting To dropdown. Then set the quality and bitrate according to your preferences. And finally, choose where you want the MP3 files to be placed. Then click “Convert >>”.

    FLAC to MP3 conversion options. Basically, just set the bitrate and output location.

  6. dBpoweramp will then convert the FLAC files to the MP3 format. Depending on how many files you’re converting, and the quality settings, this could take a few minutes.

    FLAC to MP3 conversion in progress. Listen to spme music while you wait :)

  7. Congratulations! Now you can put the converted MP3′s on your iPod, or whatever ;)
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This entry was posted on Sunday, February 10th, 2008 at 00:13 and is filed under Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

144 Responses to “How To Convert FLAC to MP3”

  1. 1
    Matt says:
    February 15, 2008 at 20:57

    Nice guide.

    OT: I stumbled here from your “Blog Personality Analyzer”. Ha, nice try. Gotcha.

  4. 4
    Chucky says:
    February 23, 2008 at 08:03

    Hey thanks man, works great for me! bout time i found something simple!

  5. 5
    kmitch says:
    February 26, 2008 at 04:13

    You can also use the VBScript at http://code.google.com/p/reflacer to convert from FLAC to MP3, including tags and images.

  6. 6
    music fan says:
    March 11, 2008 at 10:39

    useful tip. i also use eufony from http://www.softe.net

  7. 7
    Rory says:
    March 24, 2008 at 03:10

    Epic article. Cannot thank you enough for making this hassle free

  8. 8
    daemon says:
    May 14, 2008 at 17:54

    thnx so much

  9. 9
    windstar says:
    May 18, 2008 at 01:35

    I’ve been using this method already for converting my FLAC to mp3 and other various formats, but because I feel lazy I don’t want to type this out for my members @ my forum.

    I have copied your instructions on there as well as giving you credit for the tut

    If you would like to look at it here it is:
    http://www.japanimusic.net/technical-support-center-f32/flac-flac-to-mp3-t2504.html

    Thanks again!

  10. 10
    cezar says:
    July 3, 2008 at 18:59

    Thanks! And since the comment was too short to post with thanks alone, Thanks again!

  11. 11
    stroy says:
    July 28, 2008 at 05:48

    does powerrap work for mac???

  12. 12
    White Shadow says:
    July 28, 2008 at 12:24

    @stroy – your comment is entirely irrelevant and looks spammy, I think.

  13. 13
    ben says:
    August 21, 2008 at 03:19

    thx so mich i had dbpoweramp wasent using correctly this was so helpfull

  14. 14
    ed says:
    September 4, 2008 at 16:29

    piece of CRAP!

    do not bother because it simply doesnt work

  15. 15
    White Shadow says:
    September 4, 2008 at 16:35

    @ed – You are, of course, wrong. From my personal experience, and the other comments, it does in fact work.

  16. 16
    Shawn says:
    September 5, 2008 at 13:29

    White Shadow, nice tutorial. Worked great. Thanks!

  17. 17
    Tomcat413 says:
    October 25, 2008 at 15:09

    hey, not sure is this a dumb question but do you have to keep the flac file after converting or can you get rid of it cause they’re huge

  18. 18
    White Shadow says:
    October 25, 2008 at 15:12

    If you want you can delete the .flac file after you’ve got the .mp3.

  19. 19
    yellowdevel says:
    October 30, 2008 at 15:59

    thanks you saved my life! xD

  20. 20
    Joao says:
    November 19, 2008 at 00:43

    Cheers mate!

    I was looking for this desperately…

  21. 21
    Jefferson says:
    November 23, 2008 at 02:07

    Thanks! Most helpful!

  22. 22
    Excalibur says:
    November 23, 2008 at 09:22

    Wow, this is great. The program you recommended is absolutely amazing. Uses each core on my PC to do a file and goes from one file to the next seamlessly. I converted around 50 FLAC files to 320KBPs 48KHz MP3s in less than 10 minutes.

    Thanks,
    -Ex

  23. 23
    Download Me - Flac to MP3 says:
    November 30, 2008 at 15:36

    http://www.brothersoft.com/flac-to-mp3-192853.html

    Please Download MY software and Create a review or tutorial for this .

  24. 24
    Download Me - Flac to MP3 says:
    November 30, 2008 at 15:37

    Download Me and create a review for me !

  25. 25
    White Shadow says:
    November 30, 2008 at 15:58

    @Download Me – Flac to MP3 – Nope.

    I don’t just review software. In this case, I wrote a tutorial about solving a particular problem. I used dBpoweramp because it seemed like the right tool for the job, not because I wanted to “review” it. Why would I write another tutorial that says basically the same thing, but uses a different program? (this is of course a rhetorical question)

  26. 26
    Ata Alla Zangeneh Madar says:
    December 5, 2008 at 20:24

    @White Shadow –
    Thank you for reply
    But Also I have some other applications ,If you like You can review or create a tutorial for them , Also I will get you register code for free :

    MP3 Converter http://www.fullmm.com/mp3-converter/
    WMA Converter http://www.fullmm.com/wma-converter/
    Convert WMA TO mp3 http://www.fullmm.com/convert-wma-to-mp3/
    Flac Converter http://www.fullmm.com/flac-converter/

  27. 27
    magicvideo says:
    December 8, 2008 at 06:18

    Why not try “Magic FLAC to MP3 Converter” ?

    You can download it at:

    http://www.magicvideo.net

  28. 28
    HeylookitsaMoose says:
    December 10, 2008 at 08:10

    Thank you so much for this guide and program referral. You’ve taken something I knew was going to be a pain and made it so easy.

  29. 29
    Carrie says:
    December 24, 2008 at 16:59

    Sonata Arctica, woo! =]
    Thanks for the tutorial.

  30. 30
    White Shadow says:
    December 24, 2008 at 17:10

    @Carrie – Yeah, that’s one of my favorite bands :)

  31. 31
    Alec says:
    December 31, 2008 at 20:05

    WOW! This is an awesome program! Thanx alot.

    I like how it uses both cores to do 2 songs at once. And conversion is VERY fast!

    Thanx again!

  32. 32
    Alec says:
    December 31, 2008 at 20:07

    O, and just a note – CONVERTED 15 SONGS IN 1MINUTE 17SECONDS

  33. 33
    Ata says:
    December 31, 2008 at 20:59

    What was your files size ( or Length in seconds ) !

  34. 34
    Andrew says:
    January 1, 2009 at 09:25

    Hey, I just got an ipod and I had a bunch of .flac songs. This really helped me out. Thanks. Happy new year.

  35. 35
    Laaz says:
    January 1, 2009 at 21:53

    Great tutorial and software. Thanks.

  36. 36
    Sabbotage says:
    January 11, 2009 at 21:37

    Great tutorial, very easy to follow – thanks a lot!

    P.S. I tried Magic convertor, and it’s only a trial version so it only converts half the song – wtF?

  37. 37
    White Shadow says:
    January 11, 2009 at 21:42

    You’re welcome :)

    Regarding the Magic converter – wow, that’s a nasty limitation.

  38. 38
    Diabolical Masquerade says:
    January 22, 2009 at 07:16

    Hah nice music collection

  39. 39
    Jose del Busto says:
    January 28, 2009 at 17:23

    Thanks for the turorial, I spent some time downloading crappy converters that didn’t work, but with your help I just finnished converting a very nice collection of jazz that I thought I would have to download again in another format. So thank you for taking the time to create this tutorial.

  40. 40
    White Shadow says:
    January 28, 2009 at 18:52

    Glad to help :)

  41. 41
    music fan says:
    February 5, 2009 at 14:41

    very useful tips. http://www.softe.net

  42. 42
    rich says:
    February 6, 2009 at 03:47

    worked great.
    THANKS!

  43. 43
    Aimee says:
    February 11, 2009 at 05:16

    Whenever I try to convert the songs, it says there’s an arror because no encoder is specified, what should I do?

  44. 44
    JMun says:
    February 11, 2009 at 06:36

    I’m computer ‘lingo’ dumb so this tutorial worked out nicely!

    Thanks!

  45. 45
    White Shadow says:
    February 11, 2009 at 16:49

    @ Aimee : Try selecting a different setting from the “Converting To” or “Encoding” boxes (see the second image in the post).

  46. 46
    Bob says:
    March 4, 2009 at 01:13

    Thank you for your help!

  47. 47
    John says:
    March 6, 2009 at 07:39

    Great tutorial, but it doesn’t work. It locks up every time it starts. Try writing something that actually works!

  48. 48
    Kat says:
    March 7, 2009 at 06:36

    Fantastic!
    I’ve been searching for hours trying to find the right converters.
    I can’t thank you enough!

  49. 49
    Gonzo Alvarez says:
    March 14, 2009 at 01:21

    this is an advertisement. the db poweramp is a paid program, you only get a free trial. this is basically an ad for db poweramp. there are free (actually free) versions out there.

  50. 50
    White Shadow says:
    March 14, 2009 at 01:34

    I disagree. Yes, it is a paid program, but the trial version is functional and works for this purpose.

  51. 51
    XTC says:
    March 17, 2009 at 06:58

    Errm,
    well this just does not work at all, its badly made, full of bugs, and incaple of anything other than wasting my time – this software should not be on the internet…

    Same goes for the “flac” codec they offer – another complete waste of time…

    Simply put, after installing the required programs and codecs in the right location, this program just throws out errors and does absolutely nothing…. ?!?

    Better off just recording with playback and a microphone…

  52. 52
    White Shadow says:
    March 17, 2009 at 13:38

    …ah well.
    Let me just note that FLAC is an open codec and not affiliated with this software.

  53. 53
    Jules says:
    March 19, 2009 at 18:45

    Awesome directions and great recommendation on dBpoweramp. Thanks man!

  54. 54
    Bob says:
    April 13, 2009 at 02:44

    dBpoweramp is not working for me anymore. It says, “mp3 Encoder trial has expired, purchase mp3 License to continue encoding to mp3″. Costs $36. I thought it was free.

  55. 55
    Torres says:
    April 14, 2009 at 21:24

    Thanks…!!! this software was really helpfull… thanks again man!!!

  56. 56
    LALALa says:
    April 23, 2009 at 05:54

    Thank you thank you!

  57. 57
    who? says:
    April 28, 2009 at 01:12

    well sure, but I like things that are actually free :)

  58. 58
    DinFLA says:
    April 30, 2009 at 21:28

    It clearly states that it is not free software and that this a trial version a few times before actually downloading the software. It’s scary seeing how many people actually download stuff and they have absolutely no clue what they are downloading. I mean it could clearly state “THIS IS A VIRUS THAT WILL F UP YOUR COMPUTER PERMANENTLY” but you will be able to convert FLAC into MP3 and people would STILL download it. Sheesh.

    Anyways thanks for the tutorial.

  59. 59
    MrVibes says:
    May 1, 2009 at 15:27

    Thankyou for this it worked great and very fast (one note tho the files I wanted to convert were on my desktop and dBpoweramp could not find my desktop!!!) but as soon as I moved the files somewhere else it found them easily.

  60. 60
    Foot says:
    May 14, 2009 at 07:21

    Easy to use…who cares that it’s a trial. It got the job done that I needed it to do. I highley recommend this software. 400mb FLAC to mp3 in 3 minutes, that’s not too bad at all =-)

  61. 61
    Hannah says:
    May 15, 2009 at 22:32

    I’ve been trying to figure out how to convert FLAC to MP3 for weeks… this was super simple! Thank you for putting this together!

  62. 62
    john turningpin says:
    May 16, 2009 at 10:31

    >Great tutorial, but it doesn’t work. It locks up every time it starts.

    Just push Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up the task manager and then X it closed. The lockup will take care of itself. Or didn’t you try that?

    >Try writing something that actually works!

    Try thinking for yourself or simply asking for help instead of being a jackass!

  63. 63
    Alex says:
    May 23, 2009 at 21:54

    Thx

    this is pretty cool

  64. 64
    Amprebe says:
    May 24, 2009 at 05:40

    Thanks a lot man. I had downloaded OGG MP3 converter and it would only convert half the songs.

    And Sonata Arctica is awesome!

  65. 65
    senyorcitoninja says:
    May 24, 2009 at 09:22

    So easy. I though this was gonna take some time, I was going to leave the computer on, but it converted 3GB+ in 25mins or less. Nice program, great tutorial.

    Thanks.

  66. 66
    ..::MasterGGM::.. says:
    May 27, 2009 at 05:55

    Thanks a bunch man!! And anyone who wants to get the latest FULL version of this program check out “www.warez-bb.org” (No viruses or porn) .. :-)

  67. 67
    oojules09 says:
    May 28, 2009 at 21:02

    i converted the flac to mp3 but when i try to play it on winamp, the whole song fast forwards in seconds

  68. 68
    Bryan says:
    June 3, 2009 at 09:05

    Excellent, I have been looking for a free converter that actually converts the entire song! Good tutorial even though the converter program is pretty straight forward. People who can’t get this to work either have a MAC or is a moron.

  69. 69
    yans says:
    June 4, 2009 at 19:06

    Thanks so much this a very easy and useful tutorial.

  70. 70
    Nicole says:
    June 8, 2009 at 23:22

    thank you so much for this! thanks to you, I am now able to convert my FLAC files with ease! :D

  71. 71
    bass cadet says:
    June 11, 2009 at 04:16

    great tutorial.

    so…
    after the conversions what good are the flac files? which programs use flac and where can i find them? it took a good six hours to download the flac files; i’d like to assume there’s something i can do with it….

  72. 72
    White Shadow says:
    June 11, 2009 at 20:51

    I think most modern multimedia players support the Flac format. For example : Winamp, VLC (aka Videolan), Foobar2000.

  73. 73
    jeff says:
    June 15, 2009 at 05:29

    foobar put out a really easy converter that i just started using. I was having some trouble with winamp and found it to be a great alternative.
    FYI

  74. 74
    r0xy says:
    June 17, 2009 at 12:53

    Yay! Thank youuuu!

  75. 75
    James says:
    June 21, 2009 at 06:11

    Super easy to use. Many thanks!

  76. 76
    Mohsen says:
    June 25, 2009 at 11:22

    Thanks many times :-) . It was the first time I converted some Flac files and this software was the first I’ve used. It’s actually very usefull.

  77. 77
    Charles says:
    June 27, 2009 at 12:48

    It works out perfect for me. Spend quite some time to find this website :) Thanks

  78. 78
    Manuel says:
    June 29, 2009 at 22:10

    It’s always hard trying to find a good converter online, but I’m glad I found this!! This is a really good converter, and best of all, it works! lol. AND, best of all, someone posted this really easy to follow tutorial! Perfect!

  79. 79
    19 says:
    July 4, 2009 at 23:34

    Works fine for me. I don’t care if it’s a trial, I just converted all my FLAC at once and do NOT INTEND to acquire any more. Clarity is cute and all, but useless if I can’t broadcast that file format. Just do all your FLAC and avoid it like the plague it is after that. : )

    Thanks for the tutorial, dear. Big help for a Luddite like me.

  80. 80
    stevephengb says:
    July 6, 2009 at 12:05

    Anyone, please I need a certainty. Is this software really really working? Because if isn’t, I won’t waste my time for hoping so much with this converter..

  81. 81
    J.C. says:
    July 11, 2009 at 04:38

    Just download this…it’s free and there is alot more you can do with this program.

    http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

  82. 82
    Camilo says:
    July 14, 2009 at 10:33

    Thanks, it was useful.

  83. 83
    Fire says:
    August 14, 2009 at 19:01

    This is the MOST USLESS converter. It took 1hr:35:45 to convert a singfle .flac file. On top of it all the converted file was useless too!

  84. 84
    Tyler says:
    August 16, 2009 at 06:50

    I was surprised to see that it used both my duel cores efficiently, it did 2 songs at a single time. Output quality was good too.

  85. 85
    Dan says:
    August 23, 2009 at 20:32

    Wow, you couldn’t have made converting flac files to mp3s any easier. Thanks so much for your tutorial!!

  86. 86
    86 Chu says:
    August 26, 2009 at 23:03

    Thank you!

  87. 87
    Slarty Bartfast says:
    August 30, 2009 at 03:50

    Macintosh users have a very easy option. And it’s totally free. Downoad MAX (Google Macintosh file converter), drop it into your dock, and it converts FLACS into mp3s without you even thinking about it. No tutorial required, no cash required, and it’s quick and 100% reliable. I even use it to transform “troublesome” mp3 files into usable ones.

    PC users, as usual, struggle on with their creaky old apps on their dim-bulb old pcs. Sigh!

  88. 88
    asdf says:
    September 9, 2009 at 16:25

    Great job dude. Thanks.

  89. 89
    ChromePlatedHrt says:
    September 11, 2009 at 16:43

    That was awesome! Worked like a charm. Thanks for the walkthrough!!

  90. 90
    Jaake says:
    September 16, 2009 at 14:26

    That was super easy. Thanks for making complicated computer stuff easy for us non-tech savvy people.

  91. 91
    True Dat says:
    September 18, 2009 at 01:11

    Worked perfectly. Utilized my dual-core processor well, putting each CPU to work on a different audio file. Sweet software, great walkthrough. :D

  92. 92
    Riolynda says:
    September 18, 2009 at 17:27

    Brilliant! I made it! :-)

  93. 93
    Xanatwo says:
    September 20, 2009 at 08:40

    Hey, I was wondering what is the best idea to use for the quality settings? I saw it goes up to 320, does that make it the best choice. I downloaded a live metallica album from their website and want to make it the best quality possible.

  94. 94
    Keirra says:
    September 23, 2009 at 03:26

    Thanks so much. Great free converter that actually converts the whole song.

  95. 95
    phishtwirl says:
    October 5, 2009 at 04:48

    AWESOME TUTORIAL and AWESOME PROGRAM! easy and SUPER QUICK! i’m one of those people that hunts and hunts to find the perfect program, and this.is.it.!

  96. 96
    flacyou101.. says:
    October 18, 2009 at 17:39

    AwEsOmE

  97. 97
    Suleika says:
    October 24, 2009 at 19:52

    Awesome tutorial, thanks a lot!

  98. 98
    Anon1 says:
    November 8, 2009 at 11:55

    Is it really free? The free version says it only some basic converts but no MP3 encoding.

  99. 99
    White Shadow says:
    November 8, 2009 at 13:25

    Hmm, interesting. Nevertheless, the trial version still works for converting to MP3.

  100. 100
    UGA BRO says:
    November 12, 2009 at 02:06

    Thanks!!! Now I can listen to Rick Ross

  101. 101
    sayna says:
    November 12, 2009 at 22:42

    i cant cut it into tracks

  102. 102
    Ryan Whittaker says:
    November 17, 2009 at 00:32

    Thanks a lot fella, was trying to download a decent one for AGES. It really is appreciated.

  103. 103
    SeaSmith says:
    November 18, 2009 at 02:42

    The step by step was great, but when I got to the last step the program did nothing. I repeated several times but that final box gave no indication it was converting anything. It also looked different than the one in the tutorial as it had two boxes where the status bar should have been that were listed as cpu 1 and cpu 2. Any thoughts?

  104. 104
    White Shadow says:
    November 20, 2009 at 19:47

    It’s been a while since I wrote the tutorial, so it’s quite possible that the current release of dbPoweramp has a slightly different interface. Still, clicking the “Convert” button should have made it start conversion. If it didn’t then that’s probably a bug.

  105. 105
    musicbyLen says:
    November 22, 2009 at 03:18

    Hey,

    I’m glad that I found your blog on this topic. I agree with your other reviews, the information you provided was very helpful and well written.

    I had a bunch of older flac files from months ago that I had forgotten about that I can now listen to on my iPod . . . . which is great!

    Thanks!
    Len

    p.s. Has anyone noticed a significant sound quality difference using the slower setting?

  106. 106
    Itzabo says:
    November 22, 2009 at 21:34

    Excellent.

    DbPoweramp is excellent. It used all 4 cores (Q9550) and converted each song in seconds!!

    Set it to constant bit rate of 320.

    Thanks for a excellent Article.

  107. 107
    Onxycat says:
    December 9, 2009 at 16:48

    Found you on Google. Went and d/l DbPowerramp and after a few false starts got it to work. Appreciate your help. thanks.

  108. 108
    HooK says:
    December 23, 2009 at 16:44

    This is an awesome program. Converted 80 files (1.4GB) in 31 minutes. Thanks for turning me on to this

  109. 109
    rambiguous says:
    December 26, 2009 at 02:00

    WOW!
    Although I only had 4 files to convert, this fantastic program made use of my dual core CPU and completed the conversion process in 50 seconds.
    Thank you.

  110. 110
    Lana says:
    December 30, 2009 at 03:53

    This is awesome! Thanks! I ended up with .flac files by accident and was sure I was going to have to redownload in a different format, but this is super! Yay!

  111. 111
    nycboymusic says:
    December 30, 2009 at 19:38

    I’m a macbook pro user.
    I went to Sourceforge.net
    downloaded
    max-0.7.1.tar.bz2
    dragged the max icon to my doc
    and the rest of the process was flawless.
    thanks so much.
    I’m grateful for quality.
    Rich….

  112. 112
    David Vanderschel says:
    January 6, 2010 at 06:32

    There are free programs that do this very well. My way: Use Winamp to convert FLAC files to .wav files. (See Preferences->Output->Plug-ins->Output->Nullsoft Disk Writer.) Then use EAC to compress the .wav files. (See “Compress WAVs” on Tools menu.) It only takes a couple minutes to convert a whole album.

  113. 113
    Chad says:
    January 7, 2010 at 15:37

    Thanks heaps! after googling and searching and trying four different FLAC-MP3 programs, with no luck (and lots of backward steps) I’m pleased to have found your blog. I can say with confidence… this is the first time in five years I have actually found a blog useful.

    Cheers, your instructions were dead easy as well. I’m now a huge fan of dBpoweramp.

    :-)

  114. 114
    Dylan says:
    January 16, 2010 at 13:12

    it keeps saying that I have an error converting into mp3 because I need to purchase the thing… why didn’t you get that problem… why am I getting the problem….

  115. 115
    Brett says:
    January 23, 2010 at 04:24

    Great writeup, and the dB Poweramp software is fantastic! Uses both cores (or all 4 on a quad core) and was able to re-encode about 200 MP3′s in less than 10 minutes.

    the instructions from this were dead on. The only thing I’m trying to figure out is how to keep the folder & file name structures.

  116. 116
    Anderson Irelan says:
    February 2, 2010 at 22:28

    Very informative post. I’ve found your site via Google and I’m really happy about the information you provide in your articles. Btw your sites layout is really messed up on the Chrome browser. Would be really great if you could fix that. Anyhow keep up the good work!

  117. 117
    megan says:
    February 8, 2010 at 08:01

    THANK YOU!! For once, I was able to do something on the computer by myself! I tried Winamp to listen to my music file – didn’t work. Then, tried a different converter that couldn’t pull up the files.. so, thank you !!!!

  118. 118
    Joel says:
    February 11, 2010 at 22:50

    Works like a charm. Thanks!

  119. 119
    ade says:
    February 13, 2010 at 22:20

    awesome
    that was really helpfull

  120. 120
    Margaret Flanigan says:
    March 11, 2010 at 08:43

    Thank you! I converted my flac files and then I went back and got the ogg vorbis codex and now I’m converting those files too.

    This is so great! I had all this amazing music that I never listened to because it was in some oddball format and now I will be able to enjoy all of it.

    Your tutorial provided genuine enrichment in my life. Thank you so much for your generosity.

  121. 121
    Sojwita says:
    March 15, 2010 at 20:07

    Good article. I will use it. I want to automate the process with biterscripting scripts. (http://www.biterscripting.com) Can you post how to use dbpoweramp thru batch or biterscripting ? That will be very useful. Thanks.

  122. 122
    magicvideo says:
    March 20, 2010 at 06:36

    Why not try magic flac to mp3 converter? FLAC/CUE files are supported.

    http://www.magicvideo.net/flac-to-mp3

  123. 123
    Mr. Guy says:
    April 1, 2010 at 16:06

    Nice article, saved me a lot of work and searching. Thx a lot =)

  124. 124
    David Vanderschel says:
    April 2, 2010 at 11:03

    Please reread the 3rd paragraph on this page. dBpoweramp may have been free when the author first created this page; but it is no longer free for the FLAC to MP3 conversion capability. The free version of dBpoweramp is what I call “cripple-ware”. After a 21 day trial of the full set of capabilities, it will no longer be able to create MP3 files. This is actually a pretty silly way to cripple the program since dBpoweramp itself does not even include an MP3 encoder. It externally invokes the (free) Lame encoder (which is included in the installation). Personally, I find this blocking of access to a program that they did not even write to be rather reprehensible way for the dBpoweramp folks to behave in order to induce you to send them money.

    OTOH, the foobar2000 program, also mentioned in the 3rd paragraph, is no longer in beta, is totally free, and will never cripple itself. It can also do FLAC to MP3 conversion in a single step (as opposed to the 2-step process I mentioned with (free) Winamp and (free) EAC in an earlier posting here).

    I have actually tried both dBpoweramp and foobar2000 at converting FLAC to MP3. With both doing VBR at about 190kbs, dBpoweramp was slower by a factor of 3:2. On my machine, for 14 files it was about 90 seconds for dBpoweramp and 60 seconds for foobar2000. (They both seem to be able to use both processors in my dual core machine.)

    With foobar2000, the conversion capability can be accessed directly in the player. There are no separate conversion programs as with dBpoweramp. In foobar2000 you create (or use) a playlist including the files you want to convert, select the files to be converted, right click, and select “convert”. foobar2000′s installer does not install Lame; so you have to tell it where there is a copy of Lame (which is easily obtained if you do not already have it).

    The only advantage I can see to dBpoweramp is its batch conversion capability. However, I think you would have to be converting an awful lot of stuff before you would consider the interactive conversion interface of either to be excessively cumbersome.

  125. 125
    Eric says:
    April 12, 2010 at 22:30

    Why wouldn’t you just use Audacity, for free, instead?

  126. 126
    White Shadow says:
    April 12, 2010 at 23:24

    Somehow Audacity didn’t come up when I was researching audio converters, but I imagine it would also work.

  127. 127
    juan e sapien says:
    April 13, 2010 at 05:55

    dude this was really really heplful like it helped a lot even though u gotta pay pretty soon but man this help a lot …

  128. 128
    David Vanderschel says:
    April 13, 2010 at 13:04

    Eric wonders, “Why wouldn’t you just use Audacity, for free, instead?” I think one answer to that question would be that Audacity is not aimed primarily at such a purpose. What it can do is much more sophisticated than what dBpoweramp or foobar2000 can do – with the result that learning how to use it to do anything is going to be more cumbersome. (Just check the size of the documentation for it!) For those already familiar with Audacity, it is a good solution; but such persons are not likely to be looking at tutorial on how to convert FLAC to MP3.

    I think a more mundane solution should be offered in this context. But I do agree with Eric that the solution offered should be free, since good and easy free solutions do exist. That is why I have tried to suggest foobar2000 or the combination of Winamp and EAC, all of which are free. (BTW – Both Winamp and EAC are free programs that I personally think are more valuable to have than any others mentioned here (with the possible exception of Audacity).)

  129. 129
    Bayan Bajerdang bulkarin bolbolan says:
    April 18, 2010 at 13:01

    nice dude! so mother fucking helpfull i just dl’s a fukload of black sabbath and i was like what th fuck??? right zus its all in flac so di this totally helped yo thanks alot brothaaaa

  130. 130
    iced_wine says:
    May 26, 2010 at 09:27

    very awesome! Thank you :D

  131. 131
    Vincent Markwood says:
    May 29, 2010 at 18:54

    Very good program. Very fast. The CPU 1 & 2 thing is there because your computer is dual core. I converted an entire album at 320kbps constant is about 5 mins. Cheers for the blog :)

  132. 132
    dv8tor says:
    June 6, 2010 at 23:21

    Thanks for the review, works awesome.

  133. 133
    None says:
    June 11, 2010 at 16:37

    It’s not free.

  134. 134
    Randy says:
    June 19, 2010 at 19:09

    You really should update this blog. This software isn’t free and unless you’re a product shilling whore (in which case most of us should punch you in the face in the streets) then it does people a disservice to peddle a product that is no longer free.

  135. 135
    qqq says:
    July 2, 2010 at 01:20

    THANKS. you were a great help ;)

  136. 136
    Lewis says:
    July 8, 2010 at 10:52

    +1 for audacity if you already have it.

  137. 137
    dan says:
    July 14, 2010 at 09:28

    What a NICE piece of software i cant believe I lived without this on my computer.

    So easy to use, install it! and just right click the mpe, flac, or whatever and choose Convert TO and you’ll get the option screen.

    hit convert – woala! you got your files convereted

  138. 138
    ololo says:
    July 17, 2010 at 19:05

    Hi! I think this way is quite complicated…I use MediaConverter123 and it converts the whole flac library simultaneously after I just click “Convert” )))
    You can try it http://mediaconverter123.com/

  139. 139
    David Vanderschel says:
    July 20, 2010 at 10:12

    ololo suggests yet another non-free program. There are very good free solutions for ALL these conversions! You don’t need to pay money to the dBpoweramp folks, the MediaConverter123 folks, or anyone else to solve these conversion problems. The non-free programs are typically based on open source underpinnings anyway. They add a non-free GUI, but free GUIs exist also.

  140. 140
    Austin Fella says:
    July 24, 2010 at 22:28

    Why not just use “FLAC FrontEnd”?

    http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html

    1. “Decode” to .WAV files in FLAC
    2. Use iTunes to convert them to MP3

    Both are free and the 2 step process is relatively painless.

  141. 141
    scarlett says:
    July 30, 2010 at 09:07

    thanks a bunch! worked great! too bad it’s only a 21 day trial of dBpoweramp… but I got what I needed. thanks.

  142. 142
    bwfan says:
    August 2, 2010 at 21:58

    Ha foobar wins hands down!

  143. 143
    froggywoggy says:
    August 12, 2010 at 17:14

    thank you very much for this
    clear instructions are always appreciated!
    thanks again

  144. 144
    Kev says:
    August 19, 2010 at 18:55

    OH THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
    You have no idea — or maybe you DO! — how much crap is out there. I found your site on the 8th try. I got FLAC files of Joe Sample, Ray Brown & Shelly Manne “The Three” (1975) from a friend a year ago and couldn’t convert them. This Direct-to-Disc album is a rarity indeed. It’s beautiful. I couldn’t listen to it ’til now. I’m listening to the tracks as I write this. Fantastic! Thank you again, so very much.

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