How to Convert .FLAC to .MP3 In Ubuntu

soundconverter-logoHow good would it be if your iPod or your favorite portable MP3 player can support FLAC format? Unfortunately not. If you have a bunch of FLAC music files that you want to bring along in your journey, the best way is to convert them into MP3 format. Luckily, this is an easy task in Ubuntu, using SoundConverter.

SoundConverter is an application for GNOME that can take in most audio format (Ogg Vorbis, AAC, MP3, FLAC, WAV, AVI, MPEG, MOV, M4A, AC3, DTS, ALAC, MPC, Shorten, APE, SID, etc…) and convert them to WAV, FLAC, MP3, AAC and Ogg Vorbis format.

Installing SoundConverter

SoundConverter requires the gstreamer ugly library to encode audio files into MP3 format. If you have not installed it, click here to install.

Install SoundConverter here. Alternatively, you can install via the terminal:

sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse soundconverter

Converting audio files

Go to Applications -> Sound & Video -> SoundConverter

soundconverter

Go to Edit -> Preferences.

soundconverter Edit

Under Type of result?, click on MP3. Choose Variable (VBR) – Best quality for Bitrate mode.

Other options that you can configure in the Preferences page include the location to store the converted files and the labeling format of the files.

Once you are done, click Close to return to the main menu.

Click on the Add File to add the FLAC (or any other audio format) file that you want to convert.

soundconverter-addfile

If you have a bunch of audio files that need to be converted, you can place them all in one folder and use the Add Folder to select them all.

Alternatively, you can also drag and drop your audio files to the SoundConverter main window.

Once ready, click the Convert button to start the conversion

soundconverter-convert

The time taken to perform the conversion is dependent on the number of files you include. On average, a 4 minutes audio in FLAC format will take about 20s to convert to MP3 format.

After the conversion, you will be able to find the MP3 files in the folder that you specified earlier.

soundconverter converted mp3 files

Enjoy!

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  • Jake

    A similar app for KDE users I found is SoundKonverter. But the ‘C’ and the ‘K’ are in Mandriva’s repositories.

  • Jake

    A similar app for KDE users I found is SoundKonverter. But the ‘C’ and the ‘K’ are in Mandriva’s repositories.

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  • http://www.fullmm.com/ Audio Converter

    very good audio converter

  • http://www.fullmm.com Audio Converter

    very good audio converter

  • Kobee

    Thank you very much! Great converter (;

  • Kobee

    Thank you very much! Great converter (;

  • henriavelabarbe

    Thank you for the link.
    With rockbox firmware, you can play flac and other formats on all supported audio players.
    Mine is an Iaudio X5 but rockbox works with some “limited” Ipods also.

  • henriavelabarbe

    Thank you for the link.
    With rockbox firmware, you can play flac and other formats on all supported audio players.
    Mine is an Iaudio X5 but rockbox works with some “limited” Ipods also.

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  • music_critic

    Thanks for info… although questionable music taste (backstreet boys? come on, man :))

    • http://maketecheasier.com/ Damien

      Haha…I am not a fan of Backstreet Boys. That is just a sample that I took from my brother’s music collection.

  • music_critic

    Thanks for info… although questionable music taste (backstreet boys? come on, man :))

    • http://maketecheasier.com Damien

      Haha…I am not a fan of Backstreet Boys. That is just a sample that I took from my brother’s music collection.

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  • Chad

    But my mp3 player DOES support .flac files.

  • Chad

    But my mp3 player DOES support .flac files.

  • Oanh

    Thank you very much. It’s greate.

  • Oanh

    Thank you very much. It’s greate.

  • Yaro

    Why do that? Ogg is a much better format. Better quality, more features, and there’s none of those pesky patent issues.

  • Yaro

    Why do that? Ogg is a much better format. Better quality, more features, and there’s none of those pesky patent issues.

  • Roll FIzzleBeef

    This has worked previously, but has stopped just tonight. I get “Gstreamer error: gstreamer encountered a general streaming error.”

    Help?

    • http://maketecheasier.com/ Damien

      @Roll FIzzleBeef : Do you still remember what have you installed previously?

  • Roll FIzzleBeef

    This has worked previously, but has stopped just tonight. I get “Gstreamer error: gstreamer encountered a general streaming error.”

    Help?

    • http://maketecheasier.com Damien

      @Roll FIzzleBeef : Do you still remember what have you installed previously?

  • alexbaum

    Ok, its great. But how i can split .ape file for each song. I have .cue file, but soundconverter ignore this and give me just one big file – entire album. Any help, please :)

  • alexbaum

    Ok, its great. But how i can split .ape file for each song. I have .cue file, but soundconverter ignore this and give me just one big file – entire album. Any help, please :)

  • JELaBarre

    Because the majority of players unfortunately do not support OGG, and many of those cannot be flashed to add support. Especially when you consider car stereos that can handle data CDs with digital audio files. I have yet to fins a way to flash those platers with new formats.

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