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Topic: Converting over 1000 files from mp3 to wav; fastest method? (Read 3022 times) previous topic - next topic
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Converting over 1000 files from mp3 to wav; fastest method?

Hey everyone,

I'm a musician, and I've recently decided to go digital from analog (in terms of playing). I've uploaded a metric crapton of myself playing, and after week, I've noticed that I have been saving them as mp3 instead of wav! Each clip is anywhere from 2 to 15ish seconds, and I was wondering if there's a semi-fast way to convert them all? I would like to drag-and-drop, but from the looks of it, I might be spending the next 2-3 days converting each file individually.

I kept hearing about this forum and how smart all of you are , so I figured I'd try here before I get carpel tunnel.

Thanks a ton in advanced if any of you have suggestions on what programs to use. (I'm using a PC and my budget is $100-$200).

Converting over 1000 files from mp3 to wav; fastest method?

Reply #1
Why do you want to convert your MP3s to WAV? Sound quality will be exactly the same (not better), but filesizes will be 4 to 11 times larger.
If you still want to mass convert your MP3s, I recommend foobar2000 (right click on a selection of files -> "Convert").

Converting over 1000 files from mp3 to wav; fastest method?

Reply #2
I suppose I should have been more specific (thanks for the quick reply, skamp). I need them in .wav because the DAW I'm currently using doesn't accept .mp3 files, otherwise, I would of just went with them. I'll check out that foobar2000 program right now. Thanks again!

EDIT:: It worked! Thanks again, man, I really really appreciate it! Cheers!

Converting over 1000 files from mp3 to wav; fastest method?

Reply #3
There are lots of programs to do it...  I'd use XRECODE (FREE!!!) or XRECODE II ($15 USD).  It's very easy to use...  You just select your output format and drag & drop the files, and go...    (I've never batch converted 1000 files, but I've probably done about 50 at a time.  And, I'm usually converting to MP3, but that shouldn't make a difference.)

Converting over 1000 files from mp3 to wav; fastest method?

Reply #4
I suppose I should have been more specific (thanks for the quick reply, skamp). I need them in .wav because the DAW I'm currently using doesn't accept .mp3 files


But you originally had them in something else? Dig up your originals.

Converting over 1000 files from mp3 to wav; fastest method?

Reply #5
mp3 is a lossy format. If you convert them to wav, mix them in a daw then export back to a lossy format you will have quality issues. It may or may not be audible, but it's something to keep in mind.

Converting over 1000 files from mp3 to wav; fastest method?

Reply #6
As far as I know, Apple's MP3 decoder implementation is quite fast. It's faster than  fb2k decoder in my environment.
So, it might be worth to have a look at iTunes... although I'm not a serious iTunes user and I don't know how well iTunes parallelizes the decoding task.

BTW, the attached is a win32 CLI MP3 decoder based on Apple implementation; requires CoreAudioToolbox to run (which is installed by iTunes or QuickTime installer).
This toy program can show you the speed of Apple's implementation, but I don't recommend you to use this seriously.
[attachment=7175:camp3dec.zip]

Converting over 1000 files from mp3 to wav; fastest method?

Reply #7
If you have 1000 clips with say 10s length, then that is less that 3 hours of material. Random album (1 hour) converts in 15 seconds (on my machine, using ffmpeg as decoder), so your conversion should not take more than 45 seconds.... , no need to invent any parallel workflow.
PANIC: CPU 1: Cache Error (unrecoverable - dcache data) Eframe = 0x90000000208cf3b8
NOTICE - cpu 0 didn't dump TLB, may be hung

Converting over 1000 files from mp3 to wav; fastest method?

Reply #8
If you have 1000 clips with say 10s length, then that is less that 3 hours of material. Random album (1 hour) converts in 15 seconds (on my machine, using ffmpeg as decoder), so your conversion should not take more than 45 seconds.... , no need to invent any parallel workflow.

Maybe a little more, to take into account 1000 iterations of an open > read > create > write > close loop.
All the more in this case I expect the decoding job to stay idle most of the time, waiting for I/Os to complete and a parallel workflow might actually worsen performances.
... I live by long distance.