FLAC conversion to iTunes

[TheGSMoeller]

I purchased a FLAC file/album from eClassical and would like to play it on iTunes.

I mentioned this in a thread last week and received some good answers. XLD was one that was mentioned by Gordo. Which I tried to download from several different sources but have failed, one was requiring me to download MacUpdates, which did nothing other than scan for updates of software I already own, never could find the XLD download. Another was an XLD download from Cnet that eventually just disappeared and never opened up.

Any suggestions? On either a good program from FLAC--->iTunes conversion, and if so could you give me a little insight on how/where to download it?

Thank you in advance!! 

[amw]

This is the only place you should be downloading XLD from, being the official home of the project. (download "xld-20131102.dmg" unless you want to try compiling it from source yourself)

There are alternatives as well, e.g.

[Madiel]

I would still recommend AVS4YOU. Which is easy enough to find, because that's the name of the website.

The particular program you want is of course the Audio Converter, but the idea is that you can get the whole suite of programs. I'm fairly sure there's still a trial version, so no obligation to give it a go.

I've definitely used it to convert FLAC to formats that iTunes can deal with. It can do mp3, AAC and m4a among others.  Full list of what it can create and what it can read from (which is a larger list) is here: http://onlinehelp.avs4you.com/AVS-Audio-Converter/Features/SupportedFormats/AudioFormats.aspx

[Peter Power Pop]

I purchased a FLAC file/album from eClassical and would like to play it on iTunes.

I mentioned this in a thread last week and received some good answers. XLD was one that was mentioned by Gordo. Which I tried to download from several different sources but have failed, one was requiring me to download MacUpdates, which did nothing other than scan for updates of software I already own, never could find the XLD download. Another was an XLD download from Cnet that eventually just disappeared and never opened up.

Any suggestions? On either a good program from FLAC--->iTunes conversion, and if so could you give me a little insight on how/where to download it?

Thank you in advance!! 

My favourite program for converting one format to another is dBpoweramp Music Converter. It can convert any audio format you throw at it.

• http://www.dbpoweramp.com/install/dMC-R15.1-Ref-Trial.exe

Although the program is US$39, the download is a fully-functioning trial version. The trial lasts 21 days.

For general media management (including support for devices that use iTunes), you can't go past MediaMonkey. That also can convert pretty much anything to anything.

• http://www.mediamonkey.com/MediaMonkey_Setup.exe

There are two versions of MediaMonkey: free and Gold (i.e., paid-for). The download is both versions, but you get the extra features of Gold when/if you paid for it.

[amw]

You generally want to be converting FLAC files to Apple Lossless (which confusingly has the same .m4a extension as AAC, but should be distinguishable by a higher bitrate—generally somewhere between 400 and 800), whatever software you use. It's easy enough to downsample to MP3 or AAC afterwards for transferring files to mobile devices or whatever.

Peter I don't think dBpoweramp or any of that software works on Mac. (If it did there would be no reason to use iTunes at all since you could just use foobar2000 instead.)

[Peter Power Pop]

You generally want to be converting FLAC files to Apple Lossless (which confusingly has the same .m4a extension as AAC, but should be distinguishable by a higher bitrate—generally somewhere between 400 and 800), whatever software you use. It's easy enough to downsample to MP3 or AAC afterwards for transferring files to mobile devices or whatever.

Peter I don't think dBpoweramp or any of that software works on Mac. (If it did there would be no reason to use iTunes at all since you could just use foobar2000 instead.)

Oops. Sorry about that.

Well, in that case there's MediaHuman's Free Audio Converter:

• http://www.mediahuman.com/download/MHAudioConverter.exe

I have no idea how good (or not) it is, but at least it's free.

[Peter Power Pop]

Movavi Audio Converter for Mac is paid-for software, but it looks nice 'n' easy to use. The trial version can be downloaded here:

• http://www.movavi.com/download-audio&videoconvertermac

[Wakefield]

This is the only place you should be downloading XLD from, being the official home of the project. (download "xld-20131102.dmg" unless you want to try compiling it from source yourself)

I totally agree.

I like this program because it allows to configure a fair amount of output formats. For instance, currently I convert my FLACs to .AIFF and they sound fantastic. 

[TheGSMoeller]

This is all great information, plenty to chew on, thank you friends. 
I'll get back to you here once I start figuring it out.

Please continue to use this thread for discussions on digital files.

[Brian]

For general media management (including support for devices that use iTunes), you can't go past MediaMonkey. That also can convert pretty much anything to anything.

• http://www.mediamonkey.com/MediaMonkey_Setup.exe

There are two versions of MediaMonkey: free and Gold (i.e., paid-for). The download is both versions, but you get the extra features of Gold when/if you paid for it.

I recently, and with regret, did "go past" MediaMonkey. My problem was with playback of CDs: MM kept having this bug where it would move from one track to the next by randomly playing a couple seconds of the next track, then a few seconds of the previous track, then starting at 0:05 of the new track.

Anyway, I recently adopted foobar2000 and although the process of setting it up to be usable is painful, the program now seems to work just as well. Absurdly customizable too, I spent 15 minutes agonizing over which color scheme works.

[Peter Power Pop]

I recently, and with regret, did "go past" MediaMonkey. My problem was with playback of CDs: MM kept having this bug where it would move from one track to the next by randomly playing a couple seconds of the next track, then a few seconds of the previous track, then starting at 0:05 of the new track.

That's bizarre. It sounds like your MediaMonkey was set for a combination of auto-play previews (MediaMonkey can preview the first few seconds of each track on a CD) and DJ mode (i.e., random playback) – or something. It's bizarre.

I don't know what to say to bring you back into the MediaMonkey fold. I've used it for almost 10 years, and without any kind of problem of I can think of. (I've probably had a glitch here and there over the years, but I can't remember anything significant.) One thing I love about the program is that it has a play count, in which it tells me how many times I've played a track (or album), and when I played it last. I find that invaluable.

Anyway, I recently adopted foobar2000 and although the process of setting it up to be usable is painful, the program now seems to work just as well. Absurdly customizable too, I spent 15 minutes agonizing over which color scheme works.

Yep. I used to spend inordinate amounts of time over screen wallpapers. And then there was the phase I went through where I spent way too much time with fonts. And then there was the time...

[king ubu]

Why convert FLAC in the first place? Why not just play them on a decent programme instead of iTunes? (foobar has been mentioned, WinAmp would be another one.)

[Peter Power Pop]

Why convert FLAC in the first place? Why not just play them on a decent programme instead of iTunes? (foobar has been mentioned, WinAmp would be another one.)

Maybe it's one of those "This Apple product will only play x format because it's an Apple product and doesn't play nice with anything else" situations.

In addition to MediaMonkey, foobar2000, Winamp, some people swear by JRiver Media Center.

[Peter Power Pop]

Why convert FLAC in the first place? Why not just play them on a decent programme instead of iTunes? (foobar has been mentioned, WinAmp would be another one.)

Maybe it's one of those "This Apple product will only play x format because it's an Apple product and doesn't play nice with anything else" situations.

In addition to MediaMonkey, foobar2000, Winamp, some people swear by JRiver Media Center.

It's one of those "This Apple product will only play x format because it's an Apple product and doesn't play nice with anything else" situations. iTunes doesn't recognize FLAC files. However, there's a workaround.

Honestly, Apple, how proprietary do you want to get?

[Brian]

Maybe it's one of those "This Apple product will only play x format because it's an Apple product and doesn't play nice with anything else" situations.

In addition to MediaMonkey, foobar2000, Winamp, some people swear by JRiver Media Center.

I believe VLC can also play FLAC. I used VLC to play my FLAC files a few years ago, before getting serious and installing MediaMonkey.

Since MediaMonkey and foobar2000 can control iPods, my current computer has never seen iTunes.

Also, "We're Apple and we don't play nice" is why I don't want an iPad. No USB? They're just being jerks.

[king ubu]

Maybe it's one of those "This Apple product will only play x format because it's an Apple product and doesn't play nice with anything else" situations.

Well, Apple is more like religion anyway ... whatever, I'd just advise to keep the original FLAC since one never quite knows what happens during such conversions and one day one might want to hear the music in decent lossless quality again.

[Peter Power Pop]

I believe VLC can also play FLAC. I used VLC to play my FLAC files a few years ago, before getting serious and installing MediaMonkey.

Since MediaMonkey and foobar2000 can control iPods, my current computer has never seen iTunes.

Yes indeed. Just yesterday I transferred the entire Beatles discography on to my daughter's iPod Touch using MediaMonkey, and it was easy peasy.

In the past I've tried wrestling with iTunes to do the same thing with other music, and it had been hair-tearingly frustrating trying to figure exactly how to do it. I now know how* to transfer audio files in iTunes, and it's definitely not friendliest of procedures.

Note to Apple: Why, Apple? I thought you promoted yourself as the company for people who "just want to get things done" etc. If I want to just get things done in twice the time using iTunes, I might use it, but otherwise I'll be doing things the hassle-free way in MediaMonkey.

Also, "We're Apple and we don't play nice" is why I don't want an iPad. No USB? They're just being jerks.

Quite possibly.

(*Such is the weirdness of the English language that a supposedly correct phrase like "now know how" looks bizarre to me, with all that "ow ow ow". I've said it before, and I'll say it again: English!)

[Peter Power Pop]

I believe VLC can also play FLAC. I used VLC to play my FLAC files a few years ago, before getting serious and installing MediaMonkey.

VLC works as a simple media player, and can play anything – as does PotPlayer (or as I like to call it, "The thing I use to play all my videos").

Since MediaMonkey and foobar2000 can control iPods, my current computer has never seen iTunes.

Also, "We're Apple and we don't play nice" is why I don't want an iPad. No USB? They're just being jerks.

[amw]

Why convert FLAC in the first place? Why not just play them on a decent programme instead of iTunes? (foobar has been mentioned, WinAmp would be another one.)

If you use a Mac, there is no 'decent programme' unfortunately. (I do, I think GSM does also) iTunes is pretty much the only good library organiser for OSX unless you're willing to spend $$$ on one of those audiophile music player programmes (Audrivana or whatever) and even those often piggyback on the iTunes architecture just because Apple has made it quite difficult for any other means of playing audio to be installed.

If you're not big on library organisation and just want an audio player, can't do worse than VLC. It'll play anything. Also allows you to rip streams and lots more. I probably use it more than iTunes just because VLC uses 38MB of real memory and <1% CPU, with a startup time of about two seconds; iTunes uses 300+MB of real memory and >15% CPU, with a startup time of like 20 seconds, and that's when no audio is playing.

[North Star]

If you're not big on library organisation and just want an audio player, can't do worse than VLC.

Thanks for the warning.