How To Convert FLAC to MP3
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.
- Install dBpoweramp Music Converter. You can download it here.
- Install the FLAC codec for dBpoweramp.
- Start up the dBpoweramp Batch Converter. Usually you can find the converter here : Programs -> dBpoweramp Music Converter -> dBpoweramp Batch Converter
- 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”.
- 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 >>”.
- 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.
- Congratulations! Now you can put the converted MP3’s on your iPod, or whatever
@ Aimee : Try selecting a different setting from the “Converting To” or “Encoding” boxes (see the second image in the post).
Thank you for your help!
Great tutorial, but it doesn’t work. It locks up every time it starts. Try writing something that actually works!
Fantastic!
I’ve been searching for hours trying to find the right converters.
I can’t thank you enough!
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.
I disagree. Yes, it is a paid program, but the trial version is functional and works for this purpose.
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…
…ah well.
Let me just note that FLAC is an open codec and not affiliated with this software.
Awesome directions and great recommendation on dBpoweramp. Thanks man!
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.
Thanks…!!! this software was really helpfull… thanks again man!!!
Thank you thank you!
well sure, but I like things that are actually free
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.
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.
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 =-)
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!
>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!
Thx
this is pretty cool
Thanks a lot man. I had downloaded OGG MP3 converter and it would only convert half the songs.
And Sonata Arctica is awesome!
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.
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) ..
i converted the flac to mp3 but when i try to play it on winamp, the whole song fast forwards in seconds
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.
Thanks so much this a very easy and useful tutorial.
thank you so much for this! thanks to you, I am now able to convert my FLAC files with ease!
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….
I think most modern multimedia players support the Flac format. For example : Winamp, VLC (aka Videolan), Foobar2000.
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
Yay! Thank youuuu!