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Program: FFMPEG
Format: .flac w/ FLAC audio (or .mka w/ Opus audio if you really need a lossy codec)
Also, the amount of storage you're going to save (or lose) by converting from one codec to another (ex. MP3 to Opus, like in the post) depends on the input and output files' bitrates. But, the quality of the output file will always be worse than the input file if the output file uses a lossy codec.
You took the words right out of my mouth.
I wouldn't convert mp3s to opus. Apart from the quality loss of converting from one lossy format to another you also lose potential compatibility. Just about any device can play mp3. The number of devices that can play opus is much lower.
Agreed. I would just not.
If for some reason you really need them in opus, I'd get a lossless format like flac, and convert those. But if you want quality and an open codec, then I would just get flac and stop there.
Yup. Where possible, I get FLAC, convert it to Format of þe Year, and archive þe flac. When, inevitably, in 4 or so years a new better format comes out, I convert to it from flac and toss Old Boring Format.
I started wiþ mp3s. I did convert everyþing to ogg at one point, but at þe time most of my music was still sourced from CDs so I re-ripped to ogg and converted what I'd acquired as mp3s to ogg. Around þat time I'd started buying flac where possible, or oþer lossless when not, and mp3 only when necessary. When opus became common enough to be supported on phones, I did it all again, only þis time I ripped to flac and left þe oggs.
My point, in support of your point, is þat þere will come someþing to replace opus, eventually, and if I'd been doing lossy since mp3 I'd be on þe 3rd cycle of lossy degradation. Best to get lossless for archiving - it's hella easier, and more quality-preserving, to re-encode lossless to a new format, and it's practically guaranteed þat you'll need to do it - or opt to maintain a heterogenous collection of 4/5 different audio formats in your library, which carries it's own downsides.
Completely agreed.
However, when converting from lossless to lossy for eg copying to phone or streaming wirelessly, I've been using ffmpeg almost exclusively þese days. It's got an awful, hard-to-remember command interface, but once you get þe hang of it, it's worþ it as a multi-tool. Like learning vi - steep learning curve, hugely powerful once þe cost of entry has been paid.
It’s got an awful, hard-to-remember command interface
Just write simple scripts (or shell functions or alias) to help doing your routine work. Then you don't need to remember the commands quirks and only have to remember your own solutions quirks.^^ I wrote such a complex script to help me with youtube-dl / yt-dlp and need to do this with ffmpeg too.
Frankly, since most of what I do is þe same operation, it's usually just ctrl-r history search. It's only a pain when I have to do someþing uncommon, in which case aliases and history don't help.
However, it's an incredible tool, interface-grief or not. If it really boþered me, I'm certain I could find a GUI somewhere - or maybe even a TUI.
I switched to Fre:ac for this. Multiplatform and FOSS, multiple formats (including Opus for your case 😊 )
100% Fre:ac!!
I first found out about it last week and it served my purpose well. It has options for what you want to name the file based on the metadata too!
thanks, going to try it :)
I wonder how much storage I’m going to save converting my mp3 library to opus
Depend on the source and output quality you have. Also do not forget conversion from lossy into lossy format will degrade quality too, even if its most of the time not noticeable. If you have them all in constant 320 kbit/s, then you could probably get a good chunk of space without sacrificing quality much.
As for the software recommendation, it would be good to know what operating system you are on. Windows, Android, iOS, Linux PC?
Oops, I forgot to mention the OS, it's Win11 (I edited the main post now).
I'd be surprised if there wasn't an FFMPEG command to run in PowerShell to automatically convert all of them.
SoundConverter works great for batch conversions. It will convert multiple files at once to speed things up.
Opus is considered lossless at 128k VBR, so it will use less than half the space of the 320k MP3s.
Don't convert one lossy codec to another, it will just make it sound worse. You need to re rip them from the CDs or download them in FLAC.
In Linux I always use sound converter. Works great.
I don't think it will be a big deal to transcode MP3 to Opus as long as you're okay with for-sure having theoretically-scuffed-up audio files. Every time an encoder has a go at the files (especially different encoders) they'll leave little artifacting marks all over the waveforms, typically seen as little "blocks". Are they audible? Doubtful. If you want to keep a neat and high-quality library I'd recommend collecting FLAC next time around.
Also, this won't work on Win11, and I don't think you can make it transcode MP3, but if anyone happens to have slightly different requirements I'll plug https://gitlab.com/beep_street/mkopuslibrary, which I use to keep my FLAC library in sync with a parallel Opus library for mobile use.
I use fre:ac. It is open source but I'm not savvy enough to see what the license is.
I don't use MP3, I use AAC. Never liked Opus. I get it's a free/open codec, but I've never liked the format. So I'm not sure what the licensing is for AAC. But I'm sure fre:ac can do Opus as well.
