Converting FLAC to WAV

[Ben]

In the past I have used the audio converter built-in to eCS with decent success. However, there have always been a few FLAC files that would not convert. AVxCAT took care of those, but now I have some FLAC files that will not convert by any of those means.

I downloaded and installed David Yeo's latest FLAC zip from Hobbes, (1.30), but it has changed nothing.

Has anyone found a solution to converting all types of FLAC files to WAV? Is there another converter program?

Thanks.

[Greggory Shaw]

Has anyone found a solution to converting all types of FLAC files to WAV? Is there another converter program?

Thanks.

I'm guessing you have some compelling reason to convert them to WAV.

Try:

  ffmpeg -i inputfile.flac - to make sure the identity of format
  ffmpeg -i inputfile.flac -f wav output.wav - but AVxCAT probably uses the same string and the best bet would be to email the author this question too.

Or

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/looking-for-the-best-flac-to-wav-freeware-program.285401/


If not, FLAC is considered to be a lossless format and is just a wav file compressed, and no audio information is lost in the conversion. You can see for your self by comparing a file that has been compressed to FLAC then decompressed with the original WAV file.

Besides the space savings, the nice thing about FLAC format is that it can easily contain information tags (title, album, artist, date, cover art, etc.).


Greggory

[Dave Yeo]

In the past I have used the audio converter built-in to eCS with decent success. However, there have always been a few FLAC files that would not convert. AVxCAT took care of those, but now I have some FLAC files that will not convert by any of those means.

I downloaded and installed David Yeo's latest FLAC zip from Hobbes, (1.30), but it has changed nothing.

Has anyone found a solution to converting all types of FLAC files to WAV? Is there another converter program?

Thanks.

Do the files play OK with any program or other piece of hardware? There is at least one encoder out there that pushes the flac standard creating files that strictly speaking are non-standard. We can always attempt to build something for you. There should be a new version of flac out soon. FFmpeg has advanced and I'm sure I've seen flac related fixes and I'll try to remember the other programs name.
Are the files personal or shareable?

[David McKenna]

Ben,

  Have you tried VLC? ( http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/apps/mmedia/video/players/vlc-2.1.3.zip )

  I haven't done FLAC to WAV myself, but VLC has the capability (supposedly).

[Dave Yeo]

VLC uses FFmpeg (actually libavcodec) for decoding so is a good test of current FFmpeg and worth trying.

[Dave Yeo]

The other encoder I was thinking of was flake, http://flake-enc.sourceforge.net/. Unluckily I'm having problems downloading the source 

[Ben]

Thanks for the replies good people.

I'm converting for the purposes of making an audio CD; I want to make something that I can play on the large system; regardless of how good computer audio is, it is always a joke in comparison.

These FLAC files will play under PM123.

I didn't know that VLC did conversions. I'll give that a try.

I'll also try the following if VLC does not work;

ffmpeg -i inputfile.flac - to make sure the identity of format
ffmpeg -i inputfile.flac -f wav output.wav - but AVxCAT probably uses the same string and the best bet would be to email the author this question too.

I'm trying to stay away from using any OS other than OS/2. I'll give other platforms a try only if everything else fails.

The files in question are just mundane music files I got from a pirate ship that passed by not too long ago. I can post a link to the Torrent if anyone wants a look.

[Greggory Shaw]

Thanks for the replies good people...

The files in question are just mundane music files I got ...

Well, like Dave said maybe it's a non-standard flac format and since all the others converted.

I would just re-download them, especially since it's a small localized problem and not with flac.


Greggory

[Dave Yeo]

I did build flake and whereas flac goes to 8 in compression levels, flake goes to 12 (numbers sorta made up). Unluckily it is only an encoder. The authour has gone on to FFmpeg development is is responsible for FFmpegs flac support so FFmpeg or anything based on it should be able to handle those files. Might need a newer version then is commonly available.
Anyone interested in the flake binary?

[Ben]

Thanks for the replies good people...

The files in question are just mundane music files I got ...

Well, like Dave said maybe it's a non-standard flac format and since all the others converted.

I would just re-download them, especially since it's a small localized problem and not with flac.


Greggory

Well, I would if I could find another source in FLAC format, (lots available in MP3, but only one in FLAC). It's Don Henley's Greatest Hits BTW if anyone is interested.

MP3s sound fine on portable stereos, mainstream stereos and anything with ear buds, (since all expectations are low and electronic reproduction mediocre at best), but all MP3s sound like crap on something high end. FLACs sound fine... assuming the source material was of quality to begin with and the conversion to FLAC, (and back to WAV), was done properly. Of course, most things that come out of the music industry sound poor anyway and only an occassional  few are  done by competant sound engineers... but I have digressed.

At this point I have no choice but to try and find a different FLAC encoding from a source other than that pirate ship... though they do have most everything that is available elsewhere. I guess it now depends on how badly I want it; how much time I am willing to spend searching; it has already taken up too much.

Oh, well.

Thanks to all of those whom have replied.