How to convert FLAC to ALAC (lossless m4a)? (UNSolved)

Audio editors, music players, video players, burning software, etc.
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shadowtroop
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How to convert FLAC to ALAC (lossless m4a)? (UNSolved)

#1 Post by shadowtroop »

I need something that will convert FLAC to ALAC (lossless m4a)

Should I try running DBPoweramp in wine, or is there another solution

Edit: I can't use AIFF. I need a program that does ALAC. Sorry.
Last edited by shadowtroop on Mon 20 Jun 2011, 23:34, edited 1 time in total.

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Flash
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#2 Post by Flash »

Menu -> Multimedia -> mhWaveEdit can open just about any kind of audio file, and then save in many different formats.

shadowtroop
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#3 Post by shadowtroop »

I was surprised! However, it does not support lossless m4a, only AIFF (which should be good enough anyways)

EDIT: AIFF is twice as big :(
Last edited by shadowtroop on Mon 20 Jun 2011, 23:35, edited 1 time in total.

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Makoto
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#4 Post by Makoto »

You might also see if shinobar's FFConvert will do it.
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shadowtroop
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#5 Post by shadowtroop »

Makoto wrote:You might also see if shinobar's FFConvert will do it.
None of the presets would do it and a custom configuration spit out an error :(

tempestuous
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#6 Post by tempestuous »

In Linux you can decode (play) ALAC files, but you can't encode ALAC files.

Since ALAC is closely linked to Apple "i..." devices and software, it would probably be better to be doing what you want on a Macintosh.
Sure, I'm a Linux fan, but "horses for courses".

Then again, if high quality lossless audio files are important to you, you could (should) consider setting up a Linux-based music system, and store all your music as FLAC.
In the high end hifi community, "Music Player Daemon" running on Linux is well regarded.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=46089

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Geoffrey
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#7 Post by Geoffrey »

I found this command, it seems to work, will batch convert flac to m4a
I don't know if that's what you're looking for as I don't usually play around with audio.

Code: Select all

for i in *.flac; do ffmpeg -i "$i" -acodec alac "`basename "$i" .flac`.m4a"; done;
here's a link, these guys seem to have solved flac > m4a: http://www.activeobjects.no/subsonic/fo ... hp?p=18927

tempestuous
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#8 Post by tempestuous »

Ah yes, it appears that ffmpeg in the Puppy 5-series now supports ALAC encoding. Earlier Puppy-ffmpeg versions did not.

It's still a little odd that anyone would want to use their Linux setup to convert a Linux-friendly codec to a proprietary non-Linux-friendly codec.

shadowtroop
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#9 Post by shadowtroop »

I want (lossless, not AAC) m4a because I'm storing this all on my iPod Touch. I really can't trust anything else. (all 5 of the computers I've used have suffered a harddrive crash or had files erased by a virus. I was also blamed all 5 times)

shadowtroop
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#10 Post by shadowtroop »

Geoffrey wrote:I found this command, it seems to work, will batch convert flac to m4a
I don't know if that's what you're looking for as I don't usually play around with audio.

Code: Select all

for i in *.flac; do ffmpeg -i "$i" -acodec alac "`basename "$i" .flac`.m4a"; done;
I am a complete and total linux noob. Can you show me how to use that script? I've never even touched console.

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Geoffrey
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#11 Post by Geoffrey »

shadowtroop wrote:
Geoffrey wrote:I found this command, it seems to work, will batch convert flac to m4a
I don't know if that's what you're looking for as I don't usually play around with audio.

Code: Select all

for i in *.flac; do ffmpeg -i "$i" -acodec alac "`basename "$i" .flac`.m4a"; done;
I am a complete and total linux noob. Can you show me how to use that script? I've never even touched console.
shadowtroop,

in the directory where the flac files are, from rox menu right-click "window/terminal here" to open the terminal and paste "for i in *.flac; do ffmpeg -i "$i" -acodec alac "`basename "$i" .flac`.m4a"; done;".

just highlight that code and copy, I think to paste in rxvt you use Shift+Insert, then press enter, it will create the m4a files in the same directory, be aware that it doesn't add metadata to m4a's.

I hope I got that right it's been a while since I've used rox, anyway hope that helps.

Geoffrey

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Geoffrey
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#12 Post by Geoffrey »

shadowtroop,

to add tags install EasyTag, from Here http://208.109.22.214/puppy/viewtopic.p ... 9c4192f026.
I just tried it and that works though I'm using quirky 120, I assume that your using Lucid 5.2, in that case I don't think it will run as it is for the puppy 4 series.

maybe someone else can help with that if you need it.

shadowtroop
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#13 Post by shadowtroop »

Geoffrey wrote:
shadowtroop wrote:
Geoffrey wrote:I found this command, it seems to work, will batch convert flac to m4a
I don't know if that's what you're looking for as I don't usually play around with audio.

Code: Select all

for i in *.flac; do ffmpeg -i "$i" -acodec alac "`basename "$i" .flac`.m4a"; done;
I am a complete and total linux noob. Can you show me how to use that script? I've never even touched console.
shadowtroop,

in the directory where the flac files are, from rox menu right-click "window/terminal here" to open the terminal and paste "for i in *.flac; do ffmpeg -i "$i" -acodec alac "`basename "$i" .flac`.m4a"; done;".

just highlight that code and copy, I think to paste in rxvt you use Shift+Insert, then press enter, it will create the m4a files in the same directory, be aware that it doesn't add metadata to m4a's.

I hope I got that right it's been a while since I've used rox, anyway hope that helps.

Geoffrey
Thank you sooo much!

tempestuous
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#14 Post by tempestuous »

shadowtroop wrote:all 5 of the computers I've used have suffered a harddrive crash or had files erased by a virus.
OK, I can see that it's a good idea to use a Linux computer to manage your music files, even though your portable music player is part of the iTunes family.

shadowtroop wrote:I want (lossless, not AAC) m4a because I'm storing this all on my iPod Touch.
It's hard to know exactly what you mean here, but if you mean that your iPod is considered the "main" archive storage device, this is against conventional wisdom. Portable music players, by their very nature, are at risk of drop-damage and being stolen.

Conventional wisdom is to store all your music files on a reliable desktop computer (Puppy Linux certainly qualifies) and maybe even do a mirrored backup to an external hard-drive or network-attached storage.

Then convert all of these "master" music files to a compressed format to transfer to your portable player. This is for convenience, not quality, since you maximise the storage capacity of your portable device this way. AAC is the codec of choice with an iPod, and it's certainly better than MP3. The storage capacity handicap you will suffer by storing ALAC files on your portable player isn't worth the trouble; I doubt you will hear the difference.
Contrary to what Apple fanboys may have you believe, the iPod is not an audiophile device ... unless you go all-out and modify the iPod's D/A converter circuitry, as offered by Red Wine Audio ($250)
http://redwineaudio.com/imod
or buy the Wadia iPod transport interface ($380)
http://www.wadia.com/products/transports/170i/

As to what format to store your original music files on the Puppy system; acquire the best lossless-compression music files available at the time, either FLAC, ALAC, Monkey's Audio, or WavPack. And just keep them as you acquired them. There's no need to transcode these original files ... unless you're using iTunes!
Eventually some manufacturer will come up with a better portable player, and a better codec for small size. Then you just recompress afresh, from the original files.

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