How to play FLAC in WMP

[JoeRip]

I'd like to play FLAC files in WMP 10. What is necessary to accomplish this?

I'm assuming that I need to install either a (a) native FLAC codec or a (b) DirectShow filter for FLAC. Please recommend where to get these.

Also, if (b), how do I get WMP to recognize the FLAC file extension? And, how can I get WMP to recognize the tags on a FLAC file? Do I need to add ID3 tags, instead of Vorbis tags? If so, how do I tell dMC to add ID3 tags to FLAC files?

Thanks,

Joe

[JoeRip]

Sigh. Updating this.

I have tried the two FLAC DirectShow Filters mentioned elsewhere on the net (Core and Illiminible). They are both crap.

Illiminible "FLAC & FLAC Front End" setup doesn't mention WMP anywhere. The setup lists PlugIns for WinAMP and Foobar, etc, no WMP. However, it does list a FLAC decoder.

Tried installing just the decoder. Attempted to force WMP 10 to open a FLAC file - reported that it could not, no codec installed for it.

Re-ran setup, installed decoder and front end (but not "Plugins", since WMP is not listed in the plug in list). Attempted to force WMP 10 to open the file. "No codec installed" for this file.

Gave up on Illiminible's. Why do all of these web pages point to this as a WMP solution? WMP isn't mentioned on any of the Illiminible pages, and clearly doesn't work.

Ran the Core setup, and was able to force WMP 10 to load a FLAC file. However, 2 out of every 3 times, WMP 10 crashes when it exits. Error reports the crash in the Core FLAC decoder DLL. I checked their web pages, it's a known issue, but: nobody has been working on this project since 2004. So, it's a buggy piece of crap that nobody is going to fix.

So, now that we've eliminated the crap, what is left? How can I get WMP to play my FLAC files?

By the way, I found the "WMP Tag Extender" project (http://wmptagext.sourceforge.net/), it does let me view the FLAC Vorbis tags (although I cannot edit them).

I associated FLAC with WMP, which of course killed it's dMC "Convert To..." menu list. I turned this option on and off in DMC Config and it came back.

However, how do I get FLAC to show up in the WMP Open dialog? I recall this being a reg key somewhere...

Thanks,

Joe

[windmiller]

Check out this guide for more detailed info WMP/MCE Lossless Audio Guide

[jsallen]

What would be the approach to taking a WMP 11 playlist built from FLAC files and creating an audio cd of MP3's?

For whatever it's worth I'm also running on Windows Vista...

Thanks!

(I bought the DBPoweramp Converter/Ripper and love it! Great tool!)

[LtData]

Easiest way to do it is to use dMC to convert your FLAC files to mp3 and then burning those files.