How do I convert everything to 44 KHz, 16 bit?

[DigitalLA]

I just discovered Batch Converter's wonderful feature allowing the user to convert a certain file format (DSD, for example) into another format (FLAC, for instance). It saves an incredible amount of time. Unfortunately, I have files in various formats--including DSD, 96-KHz FLAC, 192-KHz FLAC, 176-KHz FLAC, and who knows what else?--that won't work with my Sonos, which supports only 44-KHz, 16-bit files. I have purchased music from multiple online sources--HDTracks, Pono, Acoustic Sounds, Society of Sound, and probably other vendors--and I have lost track of which tracks belong to which formats.

Is there some kind of macro in Batch Converter that will convert everything other than 44-KHz, 16-bit FLAC files to 44-KHz, 16-bit FLAC? Would I simply check every format except 44-KHz, 16-bit FLAC?

If so, I am not sure how to fiddle with the settings for frequency and bit depth globally.

I would like Batch Converter to save the converted files to a subfolder, named so I can flag the converted files easily, within the artist's folder. I think I figured that out: I set Dynamic Naming to use this format: [Artist]\[Album]\[Frequency]\[Track]. I assume that will then create a parallel folder for the converted music so that the new folder is easily distinguishable from the source material. For example, if I had a DSD album of Nat King Cole Story, the converted folder would appear as "Nat King Cole\Nat King Cole Story\44 KHz\" with the FLAC files then following.

Sorry for all the questions, but I am a neophyte. Thanks for any help.

[dbfan]

You can use the DSP effects:

Bit depth
Resample

Try your naming on a few files first.

[DigitalLA]

You can use the DSP effects:

Bit depth
Resample

Try your naming on a few files first.

Thanks. How do I tell the filter to convert from everything that is not FLAC 44 KHz, 16 bit? I don't see where I can set the frequency and the bit depth when selecting convert from.

[BrodyBoy]

Thanks. How do I tell the filter to convert from everything that is not FLAC 44 KHz, 16 bit? I don't see where I can set the frequency and the bit depth when selecting convert from.
There's really no need to filter those files out, as the converter essentially skips them anyway.

[DigitalLA]

There's really no need to filter those files out, as the converter essentially skips them anyway.

So I should tell the program to convert everything to 16 bit, 44 KHz and it will know to skip converting whatever is already in that format? I have nearly 60,000 tracks, maybe only 400 of which need to be converted, so I am a bit concerned about how much time that would take if it could work. Thanks for your help.

[BrodyBoy]

So I should tell the program to convert everything to 16 bit, 44 KHz and it will know to skip converting whatever is already in that format?
Yup. If you are applying any post-processing DSPs (like changing filenames, ID Tags, etc.), it'll still do that, but it won't do any audio conversion on the files that are already FLAC 16/44.


Regarding your edit: There is a roundabout way to "filter" files, if you'd rather not select all 60K files just to capture those 400 or so. You can order the file list by clicking on the column headers....i.e., order by name, date, size, whatever. If you order by file type, you should be able to bunch all the FLAC 16/44 together such that you can select the other part(s) of the list and leave out that huge group of FLAC files.

[DigitalLA]

I have around 60,000 tracks. I need to convert maybe 400 or 500. Will it take a lot time to parse the 60,000 tracks to filter the few that need converting?

[BrodyBoy]

I responded to your previous edit, but one way to test your concern is to go ahead and run a relatively large batch (50-100 albums, or whatever) and see if it seems fast enough. I think you'll find that it is, but you do have both options....run them all and let dBp skip most, or sort & select just the non FLAC 16/44 files. Either method will accomplish what you're after.

[DigitalLA]

I'm sorry. Our posts must have crossed. Will the sorting work if I have my tracks within folders and subfolders? In other words, does sorting require that all the files be in the same directory? And will it let me sort by, say, FLAC 192 KHZ, 24 bit, 96 KHZ, 24 bit, DSD, etc.?

I appreciate all your help.

[BrodyBoy]

I'm sorry. Our posts must have crossed. Will the sorting work if I have my tracks within folders and subfolders? In other words, does sorting require that all the files be in the same directory? And will it let me sort by, say, FLAC 192 KHZ, 24 bit, 96 KHZ, 24 bit, DSD, etc.?

I appreciate all your help.
Sorting works for subfolders too.

So basically, open Batch Converter. In the left-hand column, select a folder (that has subfolders). By default, you'll see two little yellow dots in the checkbox...that means that everything, folders & subfolders, is selected. Now go up to the top of the page and click the "List" button, which will open a window that lists all the selected files. If you actually selected all 60k tracks, it'll take awhile for Batch Converter just to read the metadata and create the list, so I'd suggest you break it up into a few smaller batches, if you can. In that list window, you can sort by any of the columns, which you can customize with the usual right-click method (like in Windows Explorer). Available options include Type, Bit Rate, and Sample Rate.

Note that there is, in fact, a Filter in Batch Converter that may be helpful in this process. (It's button in the top menu, like the List button.) You could, for example, filter out all FLAC files, and convert the resulting group of files to FLAC 16/44. So now your whole library is FLAC, but some are presumably a higher bit or sample rate. Then you could use the "sorting method" to find everything that's, say, a higher bit rate.

As you can see, there are a few ways to go about this if you get a little creative with the tools available in Batch Converter. ;)

[DigitalLA]

Hello again. I tried the sort function with all roughly 60,000 files, and I couldn't seem to get it to sort the non-16-bit, non-44-KHz files properly, so I tried to batch-convert all the files to 16-bit, 44-KHz FLAC. I'm not sure whether I did something wrong, but it appears to be converting everything to 16-bit, 44-KHz FLAC, including files that were already in the format. So far, it hasn't gotten past the first artist with a first name beginning in A, and it is estimating it will take over two days to complete. I wouldn't mind if it took that long, but I don't want it to convert files that are already in 16-bit, 44-KHz FLAC, and I don't have enough hard-drive space for it to do so.

I will take another crack at sorting to see whether I can pick out the files that really need converting, but I am wondering whether I have done something wrong in converting since it is converting files that don't need converting. :)

Thanks again for all your help.

O.K. I took another look at my files using the List function, and I added the fields for Sample Rate and Sample Size. For some reason, about a tenth of the way down the list, the Size, Date Modified, Artist, Title, Genre, Album Artist, Length, Bit Rate, Sample Rate, and Sample Size fields stop populating. Then, at the end of my list (which I have already sorted by Bit Rate), about one-twentieth from the bottom, the fields start populating again. So I can't sort properly. Is it possible that I don't have enough RAM for the populating to complete? (I have 2 GB.)

Update: I tried List again, and I can see the program updating the metadata in realtime. I had to add back the fields for Sample Rate and Sample Size, and I can see the program adding the data for those fields, as well. Hopefully, it will complete the populating.

One additional question: how could I find the DSD and DSF files? Don't they use some strange kind of bit depth (1 bit, perhaps)? I suppose I could sort by bit depth and look for the 1-bit files, that is, if that is how all DSD and DSF files appear.

Further update: As soon as the List feature hit the first DSD file--I think it's a DSD file; it is classic music from Society of Sounds--it stopped populating, not just the Sample Rate and Sample Size fields but all the other fields, as well, for the tracks in that series. And the list then resumed populating after those files. So I think the DSD format (if that's what it is) isn't playing nicely with the List feature. Is there a solution?

[DigitalLA]

List finally finished populating (except for that one tranche that wouldn't) but when I tried to Uncheck All Windows Vista reported that the program was not responding. I quit it and tried to Uncheck All from the start, and it became unresponsive again. I tried several more times, but each time it freezes. I don't think I can perform the conversion without sorting.

I think the only solution, other than moving the data to a newer, robust computer and trying again, would be to run the conversion on all files, but the program still wants to convert FLAC 16 bit, 44 KHz to FLAC 16 bit, 44 KHz.

Any ideas? Thanks again for your help.

[BrodyBoy]

Hey again. Your description suggests to me that trying to load the metadata for 60k files is overwhelming your computer. As I suggested earlier, I think the best approach here is to simply run smaller batches, if possible. There must be subfolders you can select in groups, rather than the entire music folder. I would start with a much smaller batch, say just a few thousand files. If that proceeds successfully, maybe try a bigger one with the next batch. You should be able to figure out pretty quickly how large a batch you can run without issues. Even if you can only select about 10% of your library at a time, 10 batches shouldn't take that long.

You mentioned a concern about not having enough hard drive space. Somewhere in the thread I got the impression you were converting and replacing the non-FLAC 16/44 files n place. Are you, instead, sending the conversions to a different location?

[DigitalLA]

Because we had invested so much time in this process, I decided to let Batch Converter run overnight. By this morning, it had completed the unchecking. So I sorted and then checked the high-bit-rate/high-frequency tracks (each time resulted in a significant but manageable delay), and it is now converting north of 900 tracks (shows you my estimating skills, though, when we are talking about 60,000 tracks, I wasn't off by a great percentage). It is estimating a bit over three hours, quite a reasonable time compared with attempting to manually find tracks and convert them.

I had around 600 GB of hard drive space left, and that's why I did not have room to reconvert all 60,000 tracks. I did not want to overwrite the existing tracks. What I am trying to do is move all this data to a newer computer. My hard drives, though in RAID configuration, are around seven years old. And my RAID NAS just failed, though its hard drives are fine. So I am trying to move my data somewhere safer.

One anomaly: when I had the data from my NAS restored, the track count numbered around 40,000, and those files consumed somewhere in the range of 800 GB. In contrast, there are 60,000 tracks on my computer, taking up somewhere between 1.25 and 1.4 TB. When I set up my NAS, I first moved all the tracks from the computer to it, and then I manually dragged over music when I added that music to my computer. Somewhere along the way, around 20,000 tracks somehow did not end up on the NAS, which also ended up with considerably less data. I have no idea how that happened. That is why I wanted to convert the high-bit-rate/high-frequency files from the computer. After that finishes, I will copy all the computer data to a new NAS.

Anyway, that was just an explanation for this madness.

Thanks again for your help.