Looking for easy conversion from High Res FLAC to 16/44.1 FLAC

[hi-res_edition]

Personally, I use the converter that comes with dbPowerAmp - it has plenty of included options to manage a conversion, and in conjunction with Batch Converter - it really rocks. I can send an entire folder with plenty of sub-folders to batch process audio files all at once, relocating them to a new folder and even reorganizing them based on meta tags.
https://www.dbpoweramp.com/

 

[ssully]

Actually I got it to work with Audiomuxer. I must have done something wrong the first time. But thank you all for the suggestions.


For the most part, I think that is correct, especially while moving. When at dock, inside the cabin, you might be able to notice the difference. I can hear the difference between an MP3 and 16/44.1 in my car, again when not moving.

Do you really mean 320kbps MP3*? That is *extraordinarily* difficult to tell from lossless, under the best of conditions, when tested under fair conditions. Have you run an ABX test in your car?


(or even, say, 190 kbps VBR mp3)

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Do you really mean 320kbps MP3*? That is *extraordinarily* difficult to tell from lossless, under the best of conditions, when tested under fair conditions. Have you run an ABX test in your car?


(or even, say, 190 kbps VBR mp3)

I'd have to look at what data rate some of my wife's MP3s are. ABX... in the car? really? No. I havent. And its not that important to me to find out. SiriusXM supposedly provides "MP3" fidelity. I can easily hear the difference between that and a 16/44.1 FLAC copy of the same track. Does that count?

 

[Sonik Wiz]

I sometimes use a SanDisk MP3 player for audio on my sailboat. The player can play FLAC, but it is limited to 16 bit 44.1 kHz sample rates, the same as a Redbook CD. So I want to convert some higher res albums for playback on the boat using this player. For example, nearly all my stereo Jethro Tull stuff is ripped from the reissued DVDs at 24/96 FLAC. I need to convert to 16/44.1 FLAC. I dont see where FreeAC, Foobar, or Audiomuxer, (my three go-tos for this kind of thing) will do this, at least not easily. Foobar and FreeAC will convert 24/96 to 16/96, but I cant see an option to convert the sample rate. I tried converting to WAV first, then converting to FLAC, but ended up with tracks that sounded like they were running at half speed (what happened there?).

I do know Audacity will do it, but its a long and tedious track by track process that I really don't want to deal with just to get albums on the boat. I want something faster and easier.

Either Foobar or FreeAC will also convert High Res tracks to MP3.

Is there software out there that will do what I want with reasonable energy expenditure? Or should I just settle for MP3?

I might as well jump into the fray & comment that good 'ol Adobe Audition 3 does this easily, reliably, with no extra plug ins, no hassle. It's all done in Batch Processing. You start here where I have selected a FLAC file at 24/88 sent to my by J. Pupster:

Of course it would work with a 96 file as well. Your not running a scripts so next step is #3:

You can see the choices avaiable. Step #4 woukd be to choose output format which could be wav, MP3 or as you want, FLAC:

Step#5 is destination where you simply choose where you want to save it to. Click on Run Batch & sit back. It's very fast but of course if you run a 100 files it might take a few minutes.

 

[HomerJAU]

The new jeep also played MC FLAC, but only the front channels (damn!)

I wonder it it has a similar limitation as the new Acura RX MCH FLAC player? That only plays 24/48 uncompressed FLAC (MCH FLAC created with compression level 0). Might be worth a shot?

EDIT: And only MCH FLAC in a 6 channel file. So if you have say, quad, you need to add silent C and LFE channels.

 

[jamoke]

I'd have to look at what data rate some of my wife's MP3s are...
SiriusXM supposedly provides "MP3" fidelity. I can easily hear the difference between that and a 16/44.1 FLAC copy of the same track. Does that count?

Sirius/XM streams voice-only channels at ~24 kbits/s and music channels at 40-64 kbits/s. That's why it sounds like chit.
I simply cannot listen to the music channels for more than a few minutes. Cymbal's sound like chains dragging on the ground, etc.
Technically that could be called MP3 quality, but REALLY bad 64k MP3 quality.

 

[ssully]

I'd have to look at what data rate some of my wife's MP3s are. ABX... in the car? really? No. I havent. And its not that important to me to find out. SiriusXM supposedly provides "MP3" fidelity. I can easily hear the difference between that and a 16/44.1 FLAC copy of the same track. Does that count?

No, for three reasons. 1) There is no single "MP3 fidelity". There is a range of qualities from low to high. 320kbps is the highest. So Sirius's claim has no meaning as stated, 2) you have no idea of other processing is being added to the Sirius stream (like dynamic range compression), which could easily swamp any 'audible' difference due to MP3 encoding, and 3) even assuming there is zero difference between your CD audio and the MP3 version except for the lossy encoding, sighted comparison by itself in this case is so fraught with error that an 'easily heard' difference can be imaginary. Some objecttive evidence, like knowing the bitrate and codec...or an ABX... would be needed in support.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Cymbal's sound like chains dragging on the ground, etc.

Well put.

 

[atrocity]

I simply cannot listen to the music channels for more than a few minutes. Cymbal's sound like chains dragging on the ground, etc.
Technically that could be called MP3 quality, but REALLY bad 64k MP3 quality.

There's also extremely limited stereo separation. Or was 4+ years ago...cancelling my subscription was one of the first cost-saving things I did as soon as I retired.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I wonder it it has a similar limitation as the new Acura RX MCH FLAC player? That only plays 24/48 uncompressed FLAC (MCH FLAC created with compression level 0). Might be worth a shot?

EDIT: And only MCH FLAC in a 6 channel file. So if you have say, quad, you need to add silent C and LFE channels.

Unfortunately its not the same limitation as applies to the Acura. I resampled my quad transfer of ZZ Top's Waitin' for the Bus (with added silent center and sub channels) to 48K to test it. Its easy to tell if all channels are playing because all the guitar work is in the rears on that track. The system did not reproduce the rear channel information regardless of the "surround" mode being on or off. I was hoping....

 

[marpow]

This is a change from a few years ago when Chrysler products would not recognize FLAC files at all (nor would my Chevy). I had to convert everything to MP3 for my wife's 2015 Chrysler 300 and for her current 2018 Charger, but at some point they updated the Uconnect firmware to play FLAC. The new jeep also played MC FLAC, but only the front channels (damn!). I was hopeful as it also has a "surround" mode for the stereo, but its some type of faux surround manipulation. Its OK I guess, but I prefer the straight stereo version.

Luv, I am in a similar situation now, wonder if you could help me. 2021 Challenger with UConnect. From what I can see on YouTube, etc. The USB thumb drive can only be 32GB, formatted to Fat32 and can only play MP3. This will be my first experiment. My Ford Escape can play 1T SSD harddrive, and any FLAC all in stereo.
I think I can go to the UConnect site type in my Vin # and see if there is a upgrade.
I am wondering if your 2018 Charger can play FLAC, than my 2021 Challenger should?
In lieu of all that, I am wondering, can I take my FLAC stereo files and convert them to MP3 without permanently changing to MP3? In other words keep all my FLAC at home in my NAS but have MP3 copies just for car?

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Luv, I am in a similar situation now, wonder if you could help me. 2021 Challenger with UConnect. From what I can see on YouTube, etc. The USB thumb drive can only be 32GB, formatted to Fat32 and can only play MP3. This will be my first experiment. My Ford Escape can play 1T SSD harddrive, and any FLAC all in stereo.
I think I can go to the UConnect site type in my Vin # and see if there is a upgrade.
I am wondering if your 2018 Charger can play FLAC, than my 2021 Challenger should?

From what I know, current Uconnect systems can now play FLAC. Our two vehicles are a 2021 Charger and a 2021 Grand Cherokee. Both with Uconnect. Both FLAC compatible. Our previous 2018 Charger was limited to MP3 (or WAV ?). At least at first. If it updated and became FLAC capable I likely wouldn't have even noticed.

I'm not sure about a 32GB limit. I have used 64GB drives successfully. I never tried anything larger nor anything other than FAT32.

I think the Uconnect updates are automatic. They just happen somehow.

In lieu of all that, I am wondering, can I take my FLAC stereo files and convert them to MP3 without permanently changing to MP3? In other words keep all my FLAC at home in my NAS but have MP3 copies just for car?

Sure why not? I used to use a free program called called Freac. Just insert your USB drive and convert to MP3 with the destination being the USB drive.

Here is a link

Let me know how this turns out.

 

[marpow]

Well, I am happy as heck, got it USB drive playing through UConnect.
The last few days I have been reading and YouTubing about playback from USB drive into UConnect, 2021 Challenger. Complicated and basically sucks for what I want.
I started with my SSD 1TB Samsung which plays perfect in my Ford Escape and did not play at all in the new car.
Internet says no bigger than 32GB drive and has to be formatted to FAT32. On top of that will only play MP3, sucks, sucks, sucks.
Today I did an experiment with a Sandisk 128GB that I formatted to NTSF.
Like magic, the 2021 Challenger now reads all the folders, in alphabetical order, click folder and all tracks show and play. I loaded 4 albums and best news they where all FLAC, 16/44.1, 24/96, 24/192 and a 5.1 DVD-A as 24/48, all played. I tried a DSD rip, now that was a No Go.
I set the audio to the Surround mode, which has a center speaker in dash and they all played, good enough.
The stereo of the 24/96 Led Zeppelin II with track 1, Whole Lotta Love has all the back and forth in the last 1/3 of song and did go front to back in clearly a Faux Surround.
The DVD-A 5.1 24/48 of Foo Fighters One By One, played well in the surround mode with track 1 starting in vocals front and then breaks into all speakers.
1. I am ecstatic I got it to play in FLAC.
2. I am going to try another drive above 128 just to see how far I can go, but I am sure I cannot play a 1TB unless it is the style of drive?
3. Surround mode: I have been listening to surround for years and I will say that the surround mode via UConnect is pretty good, with the stereo FLAC's, it is obviously faux surround but activating that center speaker working it does enhance the stereo image.
4. Real surround from FLAC Blu Rays or DVD's (SACD not an option) to be honest I have to listen to some more to tell if it is actual discrete surround, albums I am very familiar with.

If all this holds solid I think I just saved a lot of money by not taking to a car audio store.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Like magic, the 2021 Challenger now reads all the folders, in alphabetical order, click folder and all tracks show and play. I loaded 4 albums and best news they where all FLAC, 16/44.1, 24/96, 24/192 and a 5.1 DVD-A as 24/48, all played. I tried a DSD rip, now that was a No Go.

Yes I was surprised as well that it will play higher res FLAC files. I wouldn't doubt though that it might be down sampling them. The DSD was just wishful thinking.

I set the audio to the Surround mode, which has a center speaker in dash and they all played, good enough.
The stereo of the 24/96 Led Zeppelin II with track 1, Whole Lotta Love has all the back and forth in the last 1/3 of song and did go front to back in clearly a Faux Surround.
The DVD-A 5.1 24/48 of Foo Fighters One By One, played well in the surround mode with track 1 starting in vocals front and then breaks into all speakers.

I found the surround mode to be hit and miss. 50% of the time I preferred the straight up stereo. My Jeep has the Alpine branded system. It wouldn't have taken much more to make it a true surround system. Some of the new higher end Jeeps have a Macintosh branded system.

I thought the center speaker was functional even without the surround mode engaged. It alleviates the perceived balance issue you get in a car due to sitting closer to one speaker than the other.

1. I am ecstatic I got it to play in FLAC.
2. I am going to try another drive above 128 just to see how far I can go, but I am sure I cannot play a 1TB unless it is the style of drive?
3. Surround mode: I have been listening to surround for years and I will say that the surround mode via UConnect is pretty good, with the stereo FLAC's, it is obviously faux surround but activating that center speaker working it does enhance the stereo image.
4. Real surround from FLAC Blu Rays or DVD's (SACD not an option) to be honest I have to listen to some more to tell if it is actual discrete surround, albums I am very familiar with.

If all this holds solid I think I just saved a lot of money by not taking to a car audio store.

Not having to convert the files is a big deal for me.

In my vehicle, any true surround track plays the FL and FR only.

I doubt the car audio store could have helped much. I looked into it with the older vehicles and there were no aftermarket head units capable of replacing the Uconnect console. It does have the Nav system the blue tooth system, and many of the cabin controls integrated into it, after all. The best I could do was use a FLAC capable MP3 player with the Uconnect analog in jack. Its a hassle selecting tracks that way though.

A happy Marpow is a good thing

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

I was able to get real lossless surround working a while back on UConnect using Android Auto, no idea if it still works.