Problem with WMA lossless to FLAC

[jhenderson01075]

Hi -

I recently purchased some WMA 9.1, 24-bit, 88.2 kHz lossless studio master tracks from LinnRecords.com that I wish to transcode to Flac 24-bit, 44.1 kHz. This is needed since my music players (Squeezebox 3) cant decode WMAs.

I am using the latest dBPowerAmp Converter codecs downloaded from the Illustrate website yesterday. When I transcode to Flac, the resultant files are 16-bit, 44.1 kHz instead of 24-bit, 44.1 kHz. Is there a work-around?

Thanks in advance,
Jim

[Spoon]

Re: Problem with WMA lossless to FLAC

Yes use R12 in beta.

[jhenderson01075]

Re: Problem with WMA lossless to FLAC

I just uninstalled my registered version of v11.5 dMC and codecs. Then, installed the version listed at the bottom of this post.

After I right-clicking on a 24-bit, 88.2 kHz WMA to convert in the Win explorer, I select convert to Flac, level 5. But, it fails with the error message below:

Error Message:
Error converting to FLAC, 'M:\Lossless\Uber\Lazaridis, George-Emmanuel\Liszt Sonata and Etudes\7 - Grandes Etudes de Paganini Etude VI.wma' to 'M:\Lossless\Uber\Lazaridis, George-Emmanuel\Liszt Sonata and Etudes\7 - Grandes Etudes de Paganini Etude VI.flac'
Error initializing FLAC encoder. [clEncoder::BeginConversion]

Note, however, that I can successfully transcode to WAV format keeping all default settings. So, it seems that the FLAC codec is problematic. So, I uninstalled everything and re-installed. Same failure.

Jim

Configuration:

dBpowerAMP Music Converter
Release 12 Beta 4
Registration Status
Reference: Trial (21 days remaining)
All Media Guide: 30 Days Access Remaining

dBpowerAMP Audio Player
Audio player extraordinaire


dBpowerAMP CD Writer
Audio CD burning simplicity


Sveta Portable Audio: Unregistered Trial
Release 5

[Deano]

Re: Problem with WMA lossless to FLAC

Sounds like you haven't ionstalled the R12 FLAC codec....

[LtData]

Re: Problem with WMA lossless to FLAC

To clarify what Deano said, did you install the FLAC codec from the dMC r12 beta thread or from Codec Central? You must use the r12 version, NOT the codec central version, as r12 has a new codec system.

[jhenderson01075]

Re: Problem with WMA lossless to FLAC

I did install the new FLAC codec along with the WMA v9 codec listed on the same webpage as the r12 dMC beta. That's not the problem.

I have since learned that the problem lies with the specific 24-bit, 88.2 kHz WMA source files. 16-bit, 44.1 kHz WMA files can be successfully transcoded. However, the FLAC codec errors out during the conversion of the 24-bit, 88.2 kHz files.

I know that the 88.2 kHz 24-bit WMAs are viable, because dMC can convert these WMA to WAV format and they play ok. This must be a limitation of the new FLAC codec for r12.

For reference, I downloaded the studio tracks from:

http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-franz-liszt--piano-sonata-in-b-minor---grandes-etudes-de-paganini-sacd.aspx

[LtData]

Re: Problem with WMA lossless to FLAC

The FLAC codec might not like the 88.2KHz. Try making a 24-bit 44.1KHz WAV file and then try converting that to FLAC. Does that work?

[Spoon]

Re: Problem with WMA lossless to FLAC

Use the Resample DSP to set 44.1khz

[jhenderson01075]

88.2 kHz...

The 88.2 kHz was in fact the source of the problem. Using the DSP resampler, transcoding worked perfectly.

However, is this restriction somehow endemic to FLAC, or is it merely a restriction of the current implementation of the encoder?

[LtData]

Re: 88.2 kHz...

Many encoders don't like odd sampling rates. They expect 44.1KHz or sometimes 48KHz. That is probably the source of the problem.