Use lame to convert flac to mp3 on iPod transfer

I'd like to find an answer to this too. However, I do know that banshee will convert flac to mp3 on the fly as it copies to your ipod. I have, however, had mixed results. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. I think it also uses gstreamer and 128kbps. Personally, I'd like to be able to change it to be 192kbps. However, for now it's better than nothing.

You have a number of options, either with SoundKonverter or using other programs. It might help if you give more details such as what OS you are using and if you are using KDE or Gnome. But, without knowing this, the first place to look is in the SounKonverter settings>configure Soundconverter>backend. It shows the the decoders used by SoundKonverter and allows you to select them. Mine defaults to Lame but you have to have mp3Lame installed. I use Ubuntu and you can get it from a number of sources. You have other options also - if you download a lot of music in flac or shn format then their are a nice set of scripts that can be used that will even tag the files for you (if you downloaded them from a source with a txt file) they are called etree scripts. In KDE or Gnome their are a number of other scripts including nautilus audio converter, pacpl (and I am sure many more) that can convert flac to mp3. If you are using Ubuntu, they are available in synaptic. I hope this helps. You are welcome to email me if you need more help or post here and I will try to help you.

I'm using Ubuntu 7.04. Ideally I'd like to avoid KDE apps, so far I've been pure Gnome. SoundKonverter or something similar would totally work, although my original aim was to 'cut out the middleman' and be able to convert my flac files in my library to mp3 files on the iPod on the fly just by dragging the files from my library in Rythymbox to my iPod. Rythymbox does this but doesn't really give you a choice of converters (plus when I tried it the resulting mp3 file was skipping).

If I do end up having to use another program to convert the files it's not the end of the world or anything, but this would be optimal.

OK - perfect because I use Ubuntu 7.04 also so I should be able to help. First - do you have mp3lame and flac installed? If not then you need to install them - follow these instructions to be sure you have medibuntu in your repository and the right codecs installed. One you do that then you should be able to install mp3lame and flac through synaptic or agt-get whatever is your favorite way to acquire apts. Once you have that installed their are many options. I download both shn's and flacs so I like the etree scripts because they will also tag from a text file - very convenient. A number of other scripts are available including pacpl (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pacpl/), nautilus audio converter (http://freshmeat.net/projects/audio-convert/) and the etree scripts (available in synaptic). All these are very good decoders/encoders and each has advantages. The Nautilus script is very easy - you just place the script in your Nautilus script folder then you right click on the file go to scripts and a gui comes up and walks you through the process. The etree scripts are nice because they will also tag based on a text file. Pacpl is probably the most feature rich but if all you are doing is flac to mp3 the othre two are probably better options. Let me know how it goes.

FYI - check out this thread about the etree scripts for more info http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=451368&highlight=metaflac

Thanks - I do have lame and flac installed. I will check this out.

I still left this problem open in case there is word on this feature in Rythymbox, but for right now it sounds like I can get away with using the scripts.

OK - good luck. I don't use Rhythm Box myself because it just does not seem to handle flac very well and shn's don't play at all. I have been looking for an integrated manager that can "do it all' but I have yet to find one. You might try Quod Libet (http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet/). It integrates well with the ipod and also ex falso which I found to be the best tagging program. The only problem is it does not have a file conversion function (at least not that I know of) so you still need a program for that. For my need Amarok comes closest to doing it all because you can access SoundKonverter, ipod managment and tagging but it is a kde app. I convert my files for the ipod into m4a and few programs support conversion (from flac and shn) and tagging. That is why I went with the scripts. If you find something better let me know.