Help needed for complete newbie - that old ALAC to FLAC conundrum !

[Slobcat]

Hi all, thanks for having me.

I have ten thousand ALAC and FLAC files from ripped CDS . I originally created a system (don't ask!) of ripping the songs to ALAC for an i-pod but I only ripped the best 2 or 3 songs per CD to FLAC , so there are plenty of duplicates within my collection.

I have finally ditched I-Tunes and am happily using Media Monkey for everything now. I want to convert all the ALAC files to FLAC and delete the original ALAC tracks. what is the best way to do this so I can happily play the newly converted FLACs on media-monkey?

If I do this How much of the original info is retained e.g. song rating, art work etc?

Also if I decide to go through with this process it will create several duplicate FLAC files , is there a straight forward way to delete these?

Many thanks all!

[Spoon]

First you need to remove the duplicates, PerfectTUNES can help there with De-Dup:

https://dbpoweramp.com/perfecttunes.htm

Then you can backup the ALAC files, and convert and delete them, use Batch Converter, put a check mark in the root of the music folder, click Convert, then choose FLAC as the encoder, Output To choose 'Existing Source Folder(s), and add the DSP effect 'Delete Source File'

Art and metadata should transfer, however if you ripped the tracks in iTunes, the art will not be in the files, it will be locked up in iTunes, also likely the rating also is locked in iTunes.

Test on a few albums first

[GBrown]

First you need to remove the duplicates, PerfectTUNES can help there with De-Dup:
Art and metadata should transfer, however if you ripped the tracks in iTunes, the art will not be in the files, it will be locked up in iTunes, also likely the rating also is locked in iTunes.

Out of scope for dbPA, but there are Win and Mac scripts out there that can embed iTunes database info and album art into your music files. A quick Google search for your OS + "iTunes scripts" should get you there. You can convert after these tags have been updated if necessary.

ALAC and FLAC are lossless formats though. And most media players can handle both easily. Other than the Checksum tag that can be written during the ripping stage only for FLAC, there is very little difference. Converting from the existing ALAC files probably doesn't gain you anything.

[Slobcat]

Thanks everyone , very helpful!