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”

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  1. 55
    Torres says:
    April 14, 2009 at 21:24

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

  2. 56
    LALALa says:
    April 23, 2009 at 05:54

    Thank you thank you!

  3. 57
    who? says:
    April 28, 2009 at 01:12

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

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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 =-)

  7. 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!

  8. 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!

  9. 63
    Alex says:
    May 23, 2009 at 21:54

    Thx

    this is pretty cool

  10. 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!

  11. 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.

  12. 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) .. :-)

  13. 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

  14. 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.

  15. 69
    yans says:
    June 4, 2009 at 19:06

    Thanks so much this a very easy and useful tutorial.

  16. 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

  17. 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….

  18. 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.

  19. 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

  20. 74
    r0xy says:
    June 17, 2009 at 12:53

    Yay! Thank youuuu!

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

    Super easy to use. Many thanks!

  22. 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.

  23. 77
    Charles says:
    June 27, 2009 at 12:48

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

  24. 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!

  25. 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.

  26. 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..

  27. 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/

  28. 82
    Camilo says:
    July 14, 2009 at 10:33

    Thanks, it was useful.

  29. 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!

  30. 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.

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