free file converter?

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:12 am

i've got a program called Total Audio Converter, and it works great, except for the fact that if i don't pay 20 bucks and register it, while it's converting, a box pops up every minute and i have to click "ok" for it to continue.

does anyone know of any good free audio converters? preferably one that'll do it all-flac to mp3, and convert it from any other kind of audio file to any other kind of audio file.

anyone know of a good one out there? i've googled before for things like this, and downloaded stuff, trying to find a good one through trial and error, but i ended up getting horrible adware and a virus last time (and yes i do have virus protection software), so i'd rather just have someone point me in the right direction of a good program.

muchas gracias

MadDoctor · Post by **MadDoctor** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:37 am

(waits for Jim to find this thread)

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:43 am

NCH Swift Sound makes a bunch of freebies, they also make more powerful commercial apps.

Although not exactly a converter, the freebie version of Wave Pad will convert to quite a few formats. I just did one to double check. To convert, you open the file in Wave Pad, then "save as"; you'll see a lot of formats there.
I use it for editing.
Wave Pad

It's there towards the bottom of the page. You can also download it here

No virus, no nags, no BS. Works good too. Been using it for years.

Edited to add:
Oh Duh, now I see they have a converter too. I'll add the download below

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:46 am

I've tried lots of others in the past. They all seem to disable the conversion to mp3 after a set amount of time or number of conversions. Some BS about mp3 encoding license...

If you don't have the LAME encoder, you should get it.

download it here:

tip: I'd expect you'll have to install just the .dll, that's what I always do. You might want to read all the info on that page, make sure you grab a stable version. Been using LAME for years too.

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:15 am

NCH Switch

faq's

they make a pay version called switch plus too.

NCH is dependable, and won't have spyware or nags.

it's a ripper too, look here

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:02 am

dBpoweramp.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:01 pm

ghettoside wrote:NCH Switch

faq's

they make a pay version called switch plus too.

NCH is dependable, and won't have spyware or nags.

it's a ripper too, look here

****...i went to that site, to download the file converter, and it had some other free stuff-a program to capture streaming audio, and a few others, so i downloaded those as well...and now my computer wont play sound

i just tried to play a song, and it said "bad audio driver". now what do i do? i tried in winamp and windows media player, neither worked.

this is the mssg i got:

bad directsound driver, errorcode 80004005

Sid · Post by **Sid** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:03 pm

Scott wrote:dBpoweramp.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:16 pm

n/m. thank god for system restore.

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:46 pm

9mmprincess wrote:****...i went to that site, to download the file converter, and it had some other free stuff-a program to capture streaming audio, and a few others, so i downloaded those as well...and now my computer wont play sound i just tried to play a song, and it said "bad audio driver". now what do i do? i tried in winamp and windows media player, neither worked.

this is the mssg i got:

bad directsound driver, errorcode 80004005

hmmm...
probably you didn't configure it right, you need to set what output device for sound, and prolly the default wasn't your sound card.
see thistoo...

I've never had a problem with wave pad, and now that i think of it, I have used the switch app too. in fact I installed it this morning...
I don't do any capturing of streaming audio...

I'm sure it was just a config issue.

Db poweramp, I've used it before, in fact just a few days ago I downloaded it to try and convert a midi to mp3.
Db power amp, it's not free, you have to pay for the mp3 conversion ability, see here

That's why I didn't recommend it. If you've installed it, you'll see an item in the programs>db power amp menu, register mp3 license. I did mention that earlier. that link above is where the registration takes you.

It's a good idea when installing anything, one program at a time, that way if there's a problem you know exactly what app did it.

Like I said, I'm sure it was a config issue, select the correct output device, or sound card, and I'll bet it works fine.

You prolly could've just uninstalled that particular app too.
When I was trying to get a converter for midi to mp3, or wav would've worked, I had the same issue with one of the apps I tried. it was a matter of selecting the sound card.

I wouldn't recommend something that I haven't tried myself. Sorry you had a problem, but you only asked for a converter.

So where do I go to capture a streaming audio, I'll install that app and try it
myself and see what happens, you've piqued my curiosity.
I'll post after I try it myself, just let me know where you go to grab that stuff so I can try the same place.

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:52 pm

looks like you tried sound tap...

"SoundTap lets you record audio that is playing through your Windows computer to either wav or mp3 format. Audio is 'tapped' by a virtual sound driver and results in perfect digital quality audio recordings."

virtual sound driver...hmmm...

I just downloaded it, lemme install it. I'll be back.

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:14 pm

I downloaded it, went here selected #4 (Quebec radio), started up sound tap, it worked just fine, default output file is in your MyDocuments/Recordings folder. Played it back just fine.

There's an options button in sound tap, there is selection for your devices.
I didn't have to do anything to the default settings...but that all depends on what devices you have.

Don't know what else to say, worked just fine for me. NCH is darn good, never had any problems whatsoever with their stuff. and no need to buy an mp3 license either. Db power amp is good too, but like I said, it's not free. It's free unless you want to convert to mp3...

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:32 pm

yeah..i probably shouldn't have installed everything at once, i just figured there'd be no problem. after i did system restore i installed JUST the file converter and it worked fine. i may try installing one of the others as well tomorrow and see what happens-they did all look like cool programs-that's why i grabbed em all

i've always wanted to be able to rip streaming audio.

i was just panicking for a sec after my audio didn't work cos i was like oh no..if they've messed up my sound card or summat, what if uninstalling doesnt fix it?

but all is well now.

file converter works great, btw

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:42 pm

k i installed soundtap and it worked this time, no problems... but i'm confuzzled-how do you save the file after you record it? i don't see a 'save' option, and when i look in the folder i designated for saving the files, there's nothing there..

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:52 pm

sound tap isn't working for me...i click record, but nothing happens... strange :/

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:11 pm

tried cdex yet, it can do all kinds of conversions.

and to go from flac to mp3 i think the flac frontend can do that, or maybe it only goes to .wav, can't remember, been awhile since i used them.

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:22 pm

9mmprincess wrote:sound tap isn't working for me...i click record, but nothing happens... strange :/

hmmm...

do you have a screen capture proggy?

if not, here's a freebie that I've used for years (was recommended by someone here at SG as a matter of fact) analog x capture

would you mind taking a screen shot of sound tap's window, open the "options"
and then take a screen shot. If you don't have a place to host the .bmp, pm me.

sorry I haven't been so quick to respond, I'm in and out today.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:25 pm

MadDoctor wrote:(waits for Jim to find this thread)

I would've suggested dBpoweramp like Scott did, as it's a very handy little proggie, but as ghettoside pointed out, it's not free either.

</little-to-no-help>

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:33 pm

WTH!

Now my sound card's not working LOL!

hmmm...

maybe this app isn't so good after all...

let me try and figure out what happened, I know it worked earlier today, i captured 5 streaming files from that cbc site.

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:34 pm

Jim wrote:I would've suggested dBpoweramp like Scott did, as it's a very handy little proggie, but as ghettoside pointed out, it's not free either.

</little-to-no-help>

well, it looks like I'm only batting .500 with this one...

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:07 pm

ok, here's what happened:

this last time, I started sound tap, then I browsed to the cbc page. Then I started recording. I took some screen shots too, thinking I'd show you how it's done LOL!
the audio started to slow down (sounded kinda cool too). I exited sound tap (I let it run in tray option)
then I didn't hear any sound when I browsed to the "recordings" folder. so i tried to open an mp3, and media player says "problem...no audio device installed or it's in use by another program"

exited sound tap completely, still no good. checked on the status of my sound card in control panel>sounds and audio devices

nothing wrong there...
"recordings' was an active process in task manager, although I'd closed it's window. so I killed it in task man.

still no go.

I rebooted. tada- I have sound again.

now this time I started sound tap, then went to "exit" and chose the tray option. browsed to the cbc site, started the stream, then restored sound tap, and now in it's own little window it says "...streaming audio started..." bla bla bla...hit the start recording buttton, sure enough it's working.

I "stop recording", exited it to tray again, closed the cbc windows, browsed to "recordings" folder, and sure enough now the file plays back fine.

hmmm...
seems like a lot of stuff to go thru.

It appears you need to start sound tap, then exit it to the tray option, then find your streaming audio, then restore sound tap and hit the "start recording" button. then stop the stream, exit sound tap to tray option, then browse to the recordings folder.

If you want to give that a try...
Otherwise uninstall it, and see if someone else has a free streaming audio capture app for ya.

I did say I don't do streaming file capture. lol!

maybe what happened to me is what happened to you earlier. I will say that I don't like this app- seems kinda difficult to work with. learn something new every day.

I'm sure if you ask for a free streaming capture app link one of the guys (or gals) will be able to help you out.
Sorry you had so much trouble. At least you're happy with the converter...

good luck. I'll keep an eye on this thread in case you decide to try sound tap one more time, but I dunno what to think of it. i'm a NoOb on capturing streams

ghettoside · Post by **ghettoside** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:08 pm

9mmprincess wrote:k i installed soundtap and it worked this time, no problems... but i'm confuzzled-how do you save the file after you record it? i don't see a 'save' option, and when i look in the folder i designated for saving the files, there's nothing there..

make sure you hit the "start recording" button...

zooner · Post by **zooner** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 4:37 pm

nobody suggested razorlame?

fan-freaking-tastic.

I use it to rip mp3's for my phone. (1gig microsd card)

http://www.dors.de/razorlame/source.html

downhill · Post by **downhill** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:56 pm

I used to use razorlame a long time ago. It's a great frontend for LAME.

I don't know of a free one unless like Mark mentioned, CDex....

Here's how I'd do it. Take all the flac files you like and convert to wav then convert to mp3 with whatever frontend you like. As zooner pointed out...Razorlame would work great for this.

I thought EAC could do it with the decompression tool but flac isn't included. Bummer.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:51 am

Jet Audio