We tested a range of Audio Converters. The basic criteria for these were a) stability, b) did they do the job c) ease of use and d) did they require the installation of any other software or platforms (i.e. .NET framework or JAVA) to run.

Audio Converters are really just a front end for the various codecs, parsing the user's compression preferences. Yet the majority we tested failed at least one of the above criteria.

For a full list of recently tested audio conversion software click here.

Two freeware utilities stood out:

foobar2000: Suitable for advanced users who want manual control over encoding (i.e. command line switches etc.) and over which versions of particular codecs to use.
Efficient WMA MP3 Converter: A simple, intuitive and powerful audio converter/encoder.

1. FOOBAR2000 (fb2k)

foobar2000 is an outstanding audio application, which excels in pretty much everything it does (as a player, tagger, organiser and encoder). However, it requires a good deal of patient learning. On installation it may not look like much; the key to foobar2000 is via the context menu (right-click ... but if you didn't know that was called the context menu, foobar2000 probably isn't for you). The best approach is to assume foobar2000 can do it, then research how it does it. Hydrogen Audio hosts the foobar2000 wiki and also the extremely helpful foobar2000 forum and these are the places to learn about all things foobar2000.

Another nice thing about foobar2000 is that you can have multiple installations. For those that work with audio, it's not a bad idea to consider having one installation for playing and one for working with audio.

Here's an example of how to setup a custom encoder (in this case TAK) in foobar2000.

Great, so where do I get my encoders?

From Rarewares.org:

MP3: Latest LAME release (see LAME Bundles)
AAC: Latest "FAAC Binary for Win32" (Encoder) and "FAAD 2 for Win32" (Decoder)
OGG: Latest "Oggenc using aoTuVb5" (Encoder) and "Oggdec" (Decoder)
SSRC: Recommended "Shibatch sampling rate converter"

From Musepack.net:

MPC: mppenc (encoder) and mppdec (decoder)

From FLAC (Sourceforge):

FLAC: flac-x.x.x-win.zip from "FLAC for Windows (command-line tools only)"

From WavPack.com:

WavPack: WavPack Win32 (Binaries)

From TAK (www.thbeck.de) - the site's in German but simply scroll down to 'Links zu TAK':

TAK: TAK_x.x.x Final (includes Takc.exe which goes in foobar2000's "components" directory)

TAK for fb2k: foo_input_tak (TAK decoder for foobar2000, this needs to go in the main foobar2000 directory, i.e. where foobar2000.exe lives)

2. EFFICIENT WMA MP3 CONVERTER

The key features of Efficient WMA MP3 Converter are:

Supports a wide range of input formats (like MP3, MP2, MP4, MPEG, WMA, WMV, AVI, FLV, SWF, VOB, OGG, APE, FLAC, WAV, RealAudio, RealVideo, AAC, AC3, M4A, M4B,VQF, NUT)
Extracts and converts audio from video files
Batch Processing is supported, it can process an unlimited number of files at one time
Simple to use interface without bunch of graphics, easily accessible settings. All settings can be changed in the main window of program
ID3 Tags can be derived from the input files automatically
Uses up-to-date and high quality audio encoders

Efficient WMA MP3 Converter does not encode to AAC or WavPack.

For WavPack we recommend:

The WavPack Front End
WavPack encoder/decoder (WavPack Win32)
CheckWavPack: Normally WavPack will be used by people archiving important Wav files (like 24bit/32bit float master tracks, or samples etc..). CheckWavPack is a free, easy-to-use & stand-alone Windows utility to check Wavpack encoded audio files for errors. Very useful.

As for AAC the best GUI / utility for this is foobar2000. All that is required is downloading the relevant codecs and .exes and placing them in foobar's components directory (which on XP is likely to be here: c:\program files\foobar2000\components)

Nero AAC can be downloaded from here.

However apart from foobar2000 (and iTunes) we've found no decent user friendly encoder/decoder frontends except "Simple NeroAACEnc GUI". However you need to install AviSynth ("a powerful tool for video post-production") & Microsoft's .NET Framework! Which seems a bit much just to encode some audio files.

For a more in-depth analysis on the various pros and cons of various Lossy Audio Compression formats visit Hydrogen Audio.

Go back to the Encoding Menu

Jump to the Encoding Recommendations Summary



			> home > play > encode > audio conversion/encoding software
	Play (Listening) TRANSFER ENCODE TAG GAIN PLAY SUMMARY Related Information RECORD PAUSE (analysis) GiantPygmy.net BLOG (HOME)		AUDIO CONVERSION/ENCODING SOFTWARE We tested a range of Audio Converters. The basic criteria for these were a) stability, b) did they do the job c) ease of use and d) did they require the installation of any other software or platforms (i.e. .NET framework or JAVA) to run. Audio Converters are really just a front end for the various codecs, parsing the user's compression preferences. Yet the majority we tested failed at least one of the above criteria. For a full list of recently tested audio conversion software click here. Two freeware utilities stood out: foobar2000: Suitable for advanced users who want manual control over encoding (i.e. command line switches etc.) and over which versions of particular codecs to use. Efficient WMA MP3 Converter: A simple, intuitive and powerful audio converter/encoder. 1. FOOBAR2000 (fb2k) foobar2000 is an outstanding audio application, which excels in pretty much everything it does (as a player, tagger, organiser and encoder). However, it requires a good deal of patient learning. On installation it may not look like much; the key to foobar2000 is via the context menu (right-click ... but if you didn't know that was called the context menu, foobar2000 probably isn't for you). The best approach is to assume foobar2000 can do it, then research how it does it. Hydrogen Audio hosts the foobar2000 wiki and also the extremely helpful foobar2000 forum and these are the places to learn about all things foobar2000. Another nice thing about foobar2000 is that you can have multiple installations. For those that work with audio, it's not a bad idea to consider having one installation for playing and one for working with audio. Here's an example of how to setup a custom encoder (in this case TAK) in foobar2000. Great, so where do I get my encoders? From Rarewares.org: MP3: Latest LAME release (see LAME Bundles) AAC: Latest "FAAC Binary for Win32" (Encoder) and "FAAD 2 for Win32" (Decoder) OGG: Latest "Oggenc using aoTuVb5" (Encoder) and "Oggdec" (Decoder) SSRC: Recommended "Shibatch sampling rate converter" From Musepack.net: MPC: mppenc (encoder) and mppdec (decoder) From FLAC (Sourceforge): FLAC: flac-x.x.x-win.zip from "FLAC for Windows (command-line tools only)" From WavPack.com: WavPack: WavPack Win32 (Binaries) From TAK (www.thbeck.de) - the site's in German but simply scroll down to 'Links zu TAK': TAK: TAK_x.x.x Final (includes Takc.exe which goes in foobar2000's "components" directory) TAK for fb2k: foo_input_tak (TAK decoder for foobar2000, this needs to go in the main foobar2000 directory, i.e. where foobar2000.exe lives) 2. EFFICIENT WMA MP3 CONVERTER The key features of Efficient WMA MP3 Converter are: Supports a wide range of input formats (like MP3, MP2, MP4, MPEG, WMA, WMV, AVI, FLV, SWF, VOB, OGG, APE, FLAC, WAV, RealAudio, RealVideo, AAC, AC3, M4A, M4B,VQF, NUT) Extracts and converts audio from video files Batch Processing is supported, it can process an unlimited number of files at one time Simple to use interface without bunch of graphics, easily accessible settings. All settings can be changed in the main window of program ID3 Tags can be derived from the input files automatically Uses up-to-date and high quality audio encoders Efficient WMA MP3 Converter does not encode to AAC or WavPack. For WavPack we recommend: The WavPack Front End WavPack encoder/decoder (WavPack Win32) CheckWavPack: Normally WavPack will be used by people archiving important Wav files (like 24bit/32bit float master tracks, or samples etc..). CheckWavPack is a free, easy-to-use & stand-alone Windows utility to check Wavpack encoded audio files for errors. Very useful. As for AAC the best GUI / utility for this is foobar2000. All that is required is downloading the relevant codecs and .exes and placing them in foobar's components directory (which on XP is likely to be here: c:\program files\foobar2000\components) Nero AAC can be downloaded from here. However apart from foobar2000 (and iTunes) we've found no decent user friendly encoder/decoder frontends except "Simple NeroAACEnc GUI". However you need to install AviSynth ("a powerful tool for video post-production") & Microsoft's .NET Framework! Which seems a bit much just to encode some audio files. For a more in-depth analysis on the various pros and cons of various Lossy Audio Compression formats visit Hydrogen Audio. Go back to the Encoding Menu Jump to the Encoding Recommendations Summary
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