Freesound Forums
Article request: how to conver anything to anything...
Started May 3rd, 2006 · 18 replies · Latest reply by DavidChameleon 16 years, 6 months ago
Hello Everyone,
This is an article request:
we all know lot's of newbies have trouble using some of the files (too many bits, too high samplingrate, flac, ogg, ...) to wave files they can use in their Favorite Editor. So, I'm posting an article request: an article that describes how to use OPEN SOURCE / FREE tools to convert anything to wave file (preferably for windows AND mac!!). With nice screenshots etc.
This way we can just forward people to the article when we get the question asked again!
Maybe it could be distributed among more than one person ( mp3=>wav / flac=>wav / ogg=>wav / ... Windows / Mac OSX)
Thanks a lot.
- bram
Made a short page on the subject. Just a start, but you can see it here:
I'd be happy to write a Mac or Win guide, if only to stop the tide of "What's FLAC? What's Ogg?" :wink:
I've got a rough draft up at Google Pages. Let me know what you think.
I plan to link that page to one explaining how to use xACT.
Hmm...
I was thinking more a techy guide "how to convert X to wav on operating system Y" in general, where X is in the collection ( aif, ogg, flac, mp3 ) and Y is in ( windowsXP, macOSX). Something that would be really useful for all the newbies on freesound. Perhaps you guys could come up with a general "format" for writing this guide and then pass out different parts to different people.
I forgot to say: dobroide your text is a good starter, but it's very little organized and way too verbose...
I want something like:
Flac
On OSX:
To Play
download X, this is how you use it
download X, this is how you use it
To Convert to wav
download X, this is how you use it
download X, this is how you use it
On Windows:
To Play
download X, this is how you use it
download X, this is how you use it
To Convert to wav
download X, this is how you use it
download X, this is how you use it
Ogg
On OSX:
To Play
download X, this is how you use it
download X, this is how you use it
To Conver to wav
download X, this is how you use it
download X, this is how you use it
On Windows:
To Play
download X, this is how you use it
download X, this is how you use it
To Conver to wav
download X, this is how you use it
download X, this is how you use it
Dammit, we need a wiki.
- bram
For Windows, the best convert I've seen is dBPowerAmp Music Converter. It allows you to convert bewteen any two supported formats by right clicking on the file, even in the file browser window from another program (handy when I've forgotten to convert something!)
Only disadvantags is that, due to requirements of folks who "own" MP3 technology, they have to charge $12 for MP3 capability (after a free trial period).
Codecs for a wide variety of formats (including Mac formats) can be downloaded and installed from their site.
I've been using it for years with never a problem, and they're very responsive to sensible feature requests.
Yes, dbpoweramp is great, especially for converting to and from FLAC. It's as easy as making a ZIP file.
Hm... Bram, have you ever thought of installing mediawiki? It would make it easy to collaborate on articles like this...
You can get effective captcha extensions for mediawiki:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/ConfirmEdit_extension
I've seen one of these in use on the Ultronomicon wiki, I can ask the administrator which one he reccomends if you like.
It's highly effective against spambots if you generate a captcha when a user is trying to post an external link (or multiple, with a reasonable threshold.)
Another way to cut down on wiki spam is to make the wiki accounts and the forum accounts be the same, disallow anonymous edits, and only allow registration via the forum. I think this is done by making the wiki and the forums share their accounts table, but I'm not positive. You probably know way more about this kind of thing than I do. 
(I do know this is possible since the Vega Strike project does it.) That way, anonymous spamming isn't allowed... people must at least have a forums account to do it, which makes spamming a bit more difficult (you need to create a new account for each one that gets banned.) It also can discourage some would-be casual vandals.
And of course, the standard rel="nofollow" with a notification of such.
Perhaps I shouldn't post this as I haven't tried it myself, however, I've heard good things from a friend about a program called Media Coder. It can convert between a huge number of audio and video formats and it's freeware (windows only). You can find it here: http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/
windows - free but not necessarily open-source...
many media players that use winamp plugins can be coerced into converting file formats - I sometimes use xmplay to convert stuff to wave, because it supports weirdo tracker formats. Some other media players can do the same thing - check yours before seeking even more software - even iTunes does it. Don't forget to install plugins for all the formats you use to all the softwares that can support them - it makes life so much easier.
monkey's audio frontend (free but not opensource) supports mp3, ogg, wavepack, shorten, and can be fooled into supporting flac - see the flac site for more info
cdex (although a cd ripper program) is free and opensource, and converts to/from wave, mp3 (a couple different converters), wma, monkeys, ogg, and some odd ones
here's a list of converter stuff from the flac people - see "extras" lower in the page
(first post, can't post url - middle of "download" page at flac.sourcforge.net)
iTunes on a mac will convert between MP3, AIFF, WAV, and ogg files - I don't know more.
flac, lpac, ape all come with free windows frontend programs
what I use on windows:
flac-wav - flac
ape-wav - cdex, monkey's
mp3-wav - cdex, audacity, monkey's
ogg-wav - cdex, audacity, monkey's
wav-ogg - cdex, audacity, monkey's
wav-mp3 - cdex, audacity, monkey's
wav-flac - flac frontend
wav-ape - cdex, monkey's
aiff-wave - audacity
aiff-wave - audacity
lpac-wave - lpac
wave-lpac - lpac
I think the flac plug can be installed in CDex, but mine isn't, so I didn't list it.
ultimately it looks like a big table to me (src format/OS) x (dest format/OS)
with each entry (except the identity diagonal) pointing to a page with a list of (software available: instructions) pairs
is a table practical in a wiki?
with this sytem:
formats could be added as required without disturbing or complicating previous instructions
Individuals could check to see whether they already have something that does the job
No one has to decide what the "best" software or series of steps is.
Since when does iTunes support ogg? I don't have the latest incremental update, I suppose it could be a new feature.
I have gotten Oggs to play in Quicktime (presumably they would also work in iTunes) by installing the Ogg Drop X quicktime component.
(i'm being a dick here)
or you could just leave everything in wave format and stop trying to act like the tech geeks you are-and make shit easier for the majority here who aren't using ogg or flac.
there i solved your problem for you.
I AM MESSING WITH YOU GUYS SO CHILL OUT I CAN HERE YOU ALL YELLING AT ME RIGHT NOW-IT WAS MEANT AS A JOKE BECAUSE THIS THREAD IS STARTING TO SOUND WAY TO PRETENTIOUS.
LS
(i'm being a dick here)or you could just leave everything in wave format and stop trying to act like the tech geeks you are-and make shit easier for the majority here who aren't using ogg or flac.
there i solved your problem for you.
I AM MESSING WITH YOU GUYS SO CHILL OUT I CAN HERE YOU ALL YELLING AT ME RIGHT NOW-IT WAS MEANT AS A JOKE BECAUSE THIS THREAD IS STARTING TO SOUND WAY TO PRETENTIOUS.
OK LS, good joke and no problem at all. But hey, why those that want everything easy don't collect some money to hire some bandwidth for us, flac uploaders. That way I would start uploading WAVs (ITS A JOKE
peace
Bram
Hmm...I was thinking more a techy guide "how to convert X to wav on operating system Y" in general,
And yet "Y" on this forum always seems to be Windows or Mac! There are other OSs, you know!
On Linux, open a program that lets you use the command line. You'll find one in your application menu with a name such as "Konsole", "Terminal", etc.
For the purposes of this guide, we shall assume that the audio file is called "SoundFX", with an extension representing its file-type.
Go to the directory where SoundFX is, using the "cd" (change directory) command. For example, if it is on your desktop, type the following:
cd ~/Desktop
Here are some lines of commands that will carry out various conversions. They are largely self-explanatory. After each one is a # symbol, which introduces a comment. You don't need to type that bit!
# These commands come with the vorbis-tools package.
oggdec SoundFX.ogg #That'll produce SoundFX.wav.
oggenc SoundFX.wav #That'll produce SoundFX.ogg.
ogg123 SoundFX.ogg #That'll play an OGG Vorbis file. Press Ctrl + C to stop.
# These commands come with the sox package.
sox SoundFX.flac SoundFX.aiff #Sox is the swiss army knife of audio conversion...
sox SoundFX.ogg SoundFX.wav #The first file is the input, and the second file is the output...
sox SoundFX.aiff SoundFX.flac #Sox guesses the correct format for the output from the filename you give it.
play SoundFX.flac #This will play most audio files. Press Ctrl + C to stop.
# These commands come with packages which are the same as the name of the command in each case.
mp32ogg SoundFX.mp3 #That'll produce SoundFX.ogg.
lame SoundFX.wav #That'll produce SoundFX.mp3.
toolame SoundFX.wav #That'll produce SoundFX.mp2.
twolame SoundFX.wav #That'll produce SoundFX.mp2.
flake -12 SoundFX.wav #That'll produce SoundFX.flac. The number (1-12) indicates the level of compression.
flac -8 SoundFX.wav #That'll produce SoundFX.flac. The number (1-8) indicates the level of compression.
flac -d SoundFX.flac #That'll produce SoundFX.wav.
dir2ogg SoundFX.m4a #That'll produce SoundFX.ogg. The input can be MP3, WAV or M4A.
mppenc SoundFX.wav #That'll produce SoundFX.mpc (MusePack)
mpc123 SoundFX.mpc #That'll play a MusePack audio file.
You probably have some of these packages installed by default on your Linux system.
There are also some graphical conversion applications available. Try Audacity, SoundKonverter, SoundConverter, OggConvert.
To get a package (either for the command line or a graphical app), use a package manager such as Synaptic. You should also be able to use the command line, and type stuff like:
sudo apt-get install audacity