Confused about products to purchase

[yada]

Hi, I want a music converter. When I press the purchase button next to the Audio conversion software it brings me to a page for products called

dBpoweramp Reference R14 $38 and
Power Pack & mp3 License $26

So I'm confused, where is the price for just the Audio converter? I want to convert my FLACs to MP3s.

Please advise
Thanks

[dbfan]

Re: Confused about products to purchase

They both contain music converter, but with different features, see:

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/db-versions.htm

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Confused about products to purchase

They both contain music converter, but with different features, see:

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/db-versions.htm

Though I've been a happy user for some time now, I remember my original confusion trying to navigate licensing and purchasing when I started. The way the buying choices are now listed is a little bewildering. There's nothing in the names that suggests that they are different versions of the product. Perhaps it would clearer if the three versions are named more consistently. For example:

1. dBpoweramp Free Edition...................Free
2. dBpoweramp Power Pack Edition...........$26
3. dBpoweramp Reference Edition.............$38

Just a friendly suggestion, as I think yada's confusion is probably very common.

[yada]

Re: Confused about products to purchase

Thank you for your responses. I still have a few questions.

1) I don't see anywhere I can download a "free version" the buttons all say PURCHASE
2) Is the free version just a trial version or can I use it to convert my flacs to mp3s indefinitely?
3) What mp3 encoder does it use. Lame? Francanofer? I would prefer to use Lame as this is what is familiar to me.

Thanks in advance.

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Confused about products to purchase

Hi again, yada. (You first question kinda illustrates my point! )

As to questions 2 & 3, the key thing you need to know is that the free version does not include mp3 encoding, so it sounds like it wouldn't serve your needs. Personally, I'd recommend Reference anyway, because that's how you get many of the features that make dBp so powerful and flexible, like Profiles, PerfectMeta, multi-CPU encoding, Batch Ripper, etc.

I believe both mp3 encoders you mention are available, and you can use whichever you prefer.

[yada]

Re: Confused about products to purchase

Thank you for your help Brodyboy. What the 'h does the free version do then if you can't make mp3s?? (just curious)

I will be purchasing the "Reference" then. Despite the awful website, I will carry on, based on your advise. Thanks again.

FYI: Webmasters/sales
Why such a confusing name? Why don't they just call it the Full version or something obvious. A person should not have to run around like this trying to figure out a confusing website, I think it detracts from what may be an excellent product. If people can't figure out what the h is going on or what the product are, they will just go spend their dollars elsewhere. Hope the webmasters are listening.

[yada]

Re: Confused about products to purchase

Oh and one more question, does "perfect metadata" mean the tags will convert from flac to mp3 perfectly? or?

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Confused about products to purchase

@yada:

Sorry about your frustration with the purchase experience. Been there, done that! (To be fair, I don't believe Illustrate is a sizable business with a web team, a marketing team, etc., working alongside a separate software engineering department. So if the marketing & sales component isn't quite as slick as we'd like during that brief time we're dealing with it, I take that as a trade-off: we get a really great program for a very low price.

There are a lot of audio codecs....mp3 is just one of them. While I'm sure many dBp users do rip or convert to mp3, a great many of us don't. (I have hundreds of Gbs of music, and not a single mp3. I use lossless exclusively, so I don't think I've ever ripped a CD to mp3!) I imagine a great many of the free-version users rip to FLAC, but that's just a guess.

"PerfectMeta" is dBpoweramp's solution to the metadata mess that is online music databases. If you've ever used another ripping program, you know that they typically rely on one online database to supply metadata. (freedb, for example, or Gracenote in iTunes). But any given database has its particular errors and inconsistencies. So dBpoweramp takes a different approach....it accesses several databases at once and selects the best-guess data when the databases differ. (You're not locked into what it selects, though. You can see the variations and choose what you want, or write your own tags.) "PerfectMeta" is just the name of this unique metadata solution. It's not relevant, BTW, to file conversions between codecs. It only pertains to the CD Ripper.

PS: Apologies for the late response. I only now noticed your most recent posts. :o