If you have multiple files, you don’t want to have to process them one at a time. Depending on your internet connection speed, a desktop converter might have an advantage with an online converter, you have to take the upload and subsequent download time into account. But if you’re converting an entire music library or a two-hour presentation, the speed will matter. If you’re just converting one small file, speed may not be much of an issue. Even if your current need is for one type of file, though, your needs next week might be different, so it’s helpful to have a tool that can “read” and “speak” as many different formats as possible. Ability to import and export a variety of formats.īecause audio files come in so many formats, you may need a tool that can read a particular format and export to another format. Not all audio converters are alike, so look for the following attributes.ġ. Important attributes of an audio converter It’s sort of like translating a book from English to French. ![]() Not all applications know all algorithms, so it’s the job of an audio converter to read a file encoded with one algorithm and translate it to another. In order for an application to be able to play an audio file, it has to know the algorithm that the file was encoded with. But again, you really shouldn't be compressing to mp3 in the first place, unless you're one of the few who still has an "mp3 player" that doesn't support AAC.Audio file types are each encoded using a particular algorithm. Regardless of how nice the user interface and how easy it is to use, I won't be using or recommending it.įor those who are still compressing to mp3 (which is a really foolish thing to do in this day and age - mp3 was abandoned years ago by the standards bodies in favor of AAC because of mp3's mediocre performance characteristics), MH might be a simple and easy to use option. MH eliminates that AAC advantage altogether by, apparently, imposing its own 20kHz filter on AAC conversions, and I can't condemn that in strong enough words. AAC is a lossy format, but nearly as lossy as mp3. Part of the reason AAC sounds better than mp3 is it has superior audio spectrum. But it was long ago discovered that the original thinking was flawed because it doesn't take into spacial characteristics (sound stage) and high frequency harmonic distortion, etc. For that reason mp3 filters everything above 20kHz. ![]() Granted, the human ear can't hear above 20kHz anyway, and that was the original rational used by the standards bodies when they came up with mp3 in 1993 in the first place. If you plot spectrum of the vast majority of iTunes Store purchases you'll find that the spectrum extends to a minimum of 21kHz, and many extend to 22kHz. The conversion with MH yields results which would lead one to believe it's actually using an mp3 codec instead of AAC, with the sharp 20kHz cutoff characteristic of mp3. ![]() True to form, XLD yields audio spectrum results that are as close to the original flac as one could hope for (btw, this is only possible if you compress to AAC - mp3 isn't capable of that). For comparison I use Spek, as well as the Plot Spectrum feature in Audacity. I was recently asked my opinion of MediaHuman Audio Converter for compressing flac to AAC/m4a. I've come to depend on it for yielding the best possible audio results. I'm a long-time and regular user of XLD and have come to appreciate its features and versatility.
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