Lost Flac files please help me

[sexon]

Guys,

I ripped over 500 CDs a few weeks ago in Flac and stored the files on an external disc drive. In between i downloaded other Flac files from the internet. Yesterday I started transferring the files onto a bigger Netgear NAS Ready Duo> But as i played a selection today, i noticeds that all my files are now MP3. I can not recall what i could have done to cause this.

Other than re-ripping or batch converting 500gb plus, i am at a loss.

could i have done something wrong?

many thanks.

[Spoon]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

Have a look for your files using Windows Explorer, it could be the flac files are still there.

How did you transfer?

[sexon]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

Hi Spoon,

Thanks for responding, please advise how i do the above.

i transferred using wireless by identifying the NAS using its IP address. but retained the old files on the old external drive. even there they are mp3. i deliberately used Flac but just do not understand what happened.

thanks again.

[Spoon]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

How did you transfer the files, you opened a windows explorer window and typed the ip address of nas into it?

[garym]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

very odd. First I would say that it is possible to use dbpa to convert FLAC files to mp3 and then delete the old FLAC files. But to do this, you would have to setup several DSPs, choose some options, and you'd have several screens showing you what was about to happen, requiring you to click on a few buttons. So the odds that you did all this by accident without knowing are about zero.

So I'm wondering if you are SURE you initally created FLAC files and not mp3? Are the size of these mp3 files consistent with mp3 or are they the size of FLAC files (10 times larger!). Have you done a file search on the original drive for *.flac to see if you find any flac files that may be "hidden".

[sexon]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

thanks guys, yes definitely ripped in Flac. thankfully, i had given a friend a whole copy of my rips so i will get that back and see again. but the properties in the mp3 versions indicate flac.

somehow and i dont understand why and my IT skills are limited, the flac files are back with still mp3s in there, so i have two copies of each song now, one mp3 and one flac. to delete over 20k songs is no joke. i no longer trust what i have so i will see wht my friend has, hoping it has not been tinkered with.

otherwise will re-rip grr.

out of interest, my current system is as follows-ready nas duo, rega dac and naim equipment. why wont the nas play flac files yet it will play the mp3s (though the files are next to each other). by using dbp i should, i hope, have all the suitable codecs. please advise it driving me mad. i just need descent music while i consider options.

thanks guys.

[garym]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

thanks guys, yes definitely ripped in Flac. thankfully, i had given a friend a whole copy of my rips so i will get that back and see again. but the properties in the mp3 versions indicate flac.

somehow and i dont understand why and my IT skills are limited, the flac files are back with still mp3s in there, so i have two copies of each song now, one mp3 and one flac. to delete over 20k songs is no joke. i no longer trust what i have so i will see wht my friend has, hoping it has not been tinkered with.

otherwise will re-rip grr.

out of interest, my current system is as follows-ready nas duo, rega dac and naim equipment. why wont the nas play flac files yet it will play the mp3s (though the files are next to each other). by using dbp i should, i hope, have all the suitable codecs. please advise it driving me mad. i just need descent music while i consider options.

thanks guys.

odd. Are you saying the mp3 files are really FLAC files (properties of mp3 files show as FLAC). What about the size of these files. FLAC files are way larger than mp3 files. It is almost like you simply changed the name of the flac files to have .mp3 extension. Or can you see BOTH sets of files (FLAC and mp3) and the mp3 is a lot smaller? I'm still confused about this aspect of your question.

Regarding playing on ready nas, what is your PLAYER. dbpa has codecs for reading and writing but it is NOT a player. Does readynas have some built in player? If so, maybe it won't play FLAC files. But I know for sure (I have a readynas duo) that you can store FLAC files on a readynas, then point your player at those files to play. For example, I can do this with foobar2000 as the player (foorbar is on my laptop, the files are on the readynas)

[garym]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

odd. Are you saying the mp3 files are really FLAC files (properties of mp3 files show as FLAC). What about the size of these files. FLAC files are way larger than mp3 files. It is almost like you simply changed the name of the flac files to have .mp3 extension. Or can you see BOTH sets of files (FLAC and mp3) and the mp3 is a lot smaller? I'm still confused about this aspect of your question.

Regarding playing on ready nas, what is your PLAYER. dbpa has codecs for reading and writing but it is NOT a player. Does readynas have some built in player? If so, maybe it won't play FLAC files. But I know for sure (I have a readynas duo) that you can store FLAC files on a readynas, then point your player at those files to play. For example, I can do this with foobar2000 as the player (foorbar is on my laptop, the files are on the readynas)

or are you using a DLNA/upnp streamer from the readynas to stream to the NAIM? If so, this has nothing to do with dbpa and its codec programs. You'll need to ask at either readynas forums or naim forums.

[sexon]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

Dear Gary,

many thanks for getting back. i am no IT expert so some infor needs effort to extract. but as i recall, i wanted only flac but i dont know anymore. the file type shows as mp3 but i have been able to copy this, it may mean someting to you, please advise

Artist Joe Henderson
Title A Shade Of Jade
Album Mode For Joe
Track 1/6
Disc
Genre Jazz
Year
Rating
Composer
Size 43.22 MB (41% Compressed)
Original Size 72.51 MB
Length 7 minutes 11 seconds
Channels 2 (stereo)
Sample Rate 44.1 KHz{CR}
Sample Size 16 bit
Bit Rate 1,411 kbps
Encoder FLAC reference libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917
Encoder Settings
Audio Quality Perfect (Lossless)
Contains CRC, ID Tag [Vorbis Comments]
Channel Mapping
File 01 A Shade Of Jade
Type Free Lossless Audio Codec File [.flac]

i will check what type of files i gave to my friend, may save myself re-ripping. the pursuit of quality grr!

i recently purchased a rega dac. and my current connections are bog standard usb cable connected from laptop to rega dac. the nas is then connected to the router (virgin) and i can see it on my network and access it. i can so far only play the files identified as mp3s but not the flac? the network fluctuates and i lose reception often which is irritating, so trying to figure a better direct connection. good to hear of your nas experiences, i may be doing something wrong. also good to know the effect of the dbp codecs, did not reaise that.

how good is foobar? what is the dbp Asset UPnP by the way, what does it do. i am very keen to play the nas wirelessly without losing the intergrity of my files, which is currently happening.

thanks again.

PS just seen your other response. my sysytem is now based on the rega dac and the nas. no streamer in use thus far, and happy to take suggestions of what works etc. thanks gary.

[garym]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

This certainly looks like a FLAC file. Right click on the file, and look at properties. What is the SIZE of the file? What sort of READYNAS do you have? is it an x86 type?

so the laptop has music and feeds the DAC which then feeds the NAIM? Is the NAIM stuff a receiver, preamp, amp? I can't figure out if you have a network music player involved (naim makes these, and so does Linn, Squeezeboxe, sonos, etc.).

I'm confused about where the NAS is involved in your playback.

[sexon]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

thanks again gary

here is what i got when i right clicked and got this "43.2 MB (45,320,684 bytes)". any use?

the nas is a Netgear RND2000 ReadyNAS Duo

http://www.empiredirectcomputers.co.uk/novatech/prods/networking/networkattachedstorage/netgear/rnd2000-100uks.html

sorry for insufficient information. the nas stores all my music. thats the plan anyway. i ripped all my CDs to a temporary HDD which became full so i opted for the nas due to the networking options. my naim is just a preamp sorry, an 82, connected to power amps. so the dac is connected using coax from rega to 5pin din naim end. that side i am ok with.

since all my music is now stored on the nas, the only way to access and play it is by accessing the nas on the network, hence the nas is connected to the router. is there a better more direct way of doing this since the nas has about three usbs, so does my sony viao laptop. i was advised that since the nas does not have an operating system it could not be directly connected to the rega dac. hence i am using the laptop which has an operating system for this purpose. at least that is the only i have been able to play music since sat, even though thats minus flacs and the network is unreliable.

if there is a player that will make me play the files on the nas, reliably and truthfully, and ideally for free, thats what i am after. if hardwiring is the only option, i am not certain my connections are the best. happy to take pictures if it helps.

it may be that due to my limited knoweldge i am making mistakes gary, please bang me to rights!

i really appreciate your patience in trying to understand the problems i face and advising.

[mville]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

Sexon, what makes you think the files are mp3 and not flac?

[sexon]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

thanks again mville,

when they were on the HDD the files had a different symbol i suppose for flac and the standard one for mp3. i tried to copy and paste you what i see but failed miserably. essentially its says mp3 format sound under type-thats in windows media player.

perhaps i need not worry?

best wishes,

[sexon]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

UPDATE!

i downloaded some codecs from cnet and rebooted my laptop and now i can play the flac files. only nuisance is that i have two identical songs one in mp3 and another in flac. but i can live with that for now, until i can see what i left my friend with.

boy the quality is beautiful in flac, or was it not flac before-audio perceptions gentleman.

what is critical for me is to be able to play my music wirelessly from nas directly to the rega, then just use the laptop to wirelessly play files...if thats possible, free software imperative :-)

[garym]

Re: Lost Flac files please help me

dbpa will rip to BOTH mp3 and FLAC at the same time. Are you sure you didn't choose that option? If you did, you would have two copies of every file (one FLAC and one mp3). It is easy to tell a FLAC file from an mp3 file. If you are just learning about all this, I suggest you slow down a bit and do some reading on the web before making any fast decisions.

regarding streaming to REGA. Isn't this a DAC? If so, it is not a network music device that allows wifi streaming. you need something like a Squeezebox TOUCH (I highly recommend). You would have your music on NAS, it can run the music library file (called Logitech Music Server), then it would feed music via WIFI to the SB Touch which will connect to your DAC via either Optical (toslink) or S/PDIF (coax).