Best Audio Converter? Free and Paid

Hi,

I'm in need of an audio converter, and could use some advice...

Need flac, mp3, wav, etc... conversion. Would like to be able to right click and select convert.

Any advice on the best freeware and/or paid?


It's hard because so much of the software for this is spyware type crap.

Thanks for the help!

RSC

It all really depends on what you need to go from and to. I'll throw out a few programs I use and like.

ffmpeg [zeranoe.com] - Does a LOT of conversions. It's a command line program, though so you'll have to dig around for an appropriate command line structure
eac3to [afterdawn.com] - Converts to and from DTS, AC3 and Wav. You can also convert to AAC with the (free) Nero AAC Encoder [nero.com]. Be sure to read the instructions [wikibooks.org]
LAME [hydrogenaudio.org] - Free mp3 encoder. I use RazorLame [dors.de] as a GUI Front end.
Winamp [winamp.com] - Has a free Wav encoder built in, well, had one as of version 5. I haven't downloaded a new version in years. Nevertheless, it's very useful for converting several types of files to Wav for further encoding.
MeGUI [sourceforge.net] - GUI front end for several audio formats, such as Ogg, AC3, AAC, DTS and MP3. Mostly for use with video and Avisynth
OggDropXPD [rarewares.org] - Free Ogg audio encoder.

As for Flac, there are several programs listed on Flac's web page [sourceforge.net], including "FLAC for Windows with installer".

foobar2000 has file conversion inside it if you choose to install it during the install. You just need to get the encoders, like LAME and flac, which should be online somewhere, and then just choose your files and convert. It's super quick and easy. Just read up on where to put the encoder files.

Not sure of your source of files (That is important especially for quality, it can also change the recomendation) but DBPoweramp is a great paid option. It is Favorited by many in audio communities. Foobar2000 is also good.

Quote from LiquidRetro : Not sure of your source of files (That is important especially for quality, it can also change the recomendation) but DBPoweramp is a great paid option. It is Favorited by many in audio communities. Foobar2000 is also good.

+1 on DBPoweramp. In my Windows days it was my go-to for conversions.

Audacity?

Quote from prozac4312 : Audacity?

Free, but not automated and it also does not handle files longer than about 1.5 hours. For one or two files once and a while it would be great.

Which one is the one where it connects to the internet and gets the song titles for the CD you are making MP3's of?

Format Factory
[formatoz.com]