Editing flac files

[deleted]

Hi all,

I have a problem opening flac files.

I have just downloaded wavepad as I've been told its the best for editing and later converting flac files. As I have a large collection of these file types, I thought I was in luck.

However, when I try to open a flac file, the wavepad screen flickers once ( possibly a message screen flashing on and then off again faster than I can read it) and the file doesn't open at all.

I have tried to open the sample file that you can get from NCH and wavepad won't open that either.

Can anyone please help, How do I open flac files?

[deleted]

stokehun wrote:

Hi all,

I have a problem opening flac files.

I have just downloaded wavepad as I've been told its the best for editing and later converting flac files. As I have a large collection of these file types, I thought I was in luck.

However, when I try to open a flac file, the wavepad screen flickers once ( possibly a message screen flashing on and then off again faster than I can read it) and the file doesn't open at all.

I have tried to open the sample file that you can get from NCH and wavepad won't open that either.

Can anyone please help, How do I open flac files?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm having the same problem.... no ideas??

[deleted]

I can edit FLAC files BUT, the FLAC Tags are missing on the saved FLAC file. That kinda defeats the purpose of me editng all my FLACs. Any chance of fixing this?

wavepaduser

Hi all,

i'm having the same flickering problem with Wavepad version 3.02 when trying to open flac files. This was NOT the case when i use the older version 1.0X. :angry: How can i get back the setup file for the 1.0X version !

Also, when i want to open an existing file, Wavepad wrongly treat some folders as audio files and attempted to open it and ended in an error message. :angry:

How to correct the problem ?

ajustabill

Does anyone have a solution to this problem? I have a registered WavePad Master's 3.02 that used to work. Suddenly it has stopped loading .flac files. No errors are reported. I can't load the flac sample file, nor any other flac file. I can use WavePad to create a flac file that can be opened and played by other programs, but it won't open in WavePad.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the program without any change in the behavior.

Are there known conflicts with any other programs?

musikone

stokehun wrote:

Hi all,

I have a problem opening flac files.

I have just downloaded wavepad as I've been told its the best for editing and later converting flac files. As I have a large collection of these file types, I thought I was in luck.

However, when I try to open a flac file, the wavepad screen flickers once ( possibly a message screen flashing on and then off again faster than I can read it) and the file doesn't open at all.

I have tried to open the sample file that you can get from NCH and wavepad won't open that either.

Can anyone please help, How do I open flac files?

I do not understand why you need to edit a flac file. The purpose of a flac file is for _archiving_ at minimum space without loss. In fact, it is my understanding that WavePad is not meant to edit a flac file.

However, it is of course necessary to be able to convert a flac file to a different format (such as MP3), for _use_ in a player. For this conversion, I use Switch Plus, which is an excellent program and reasonably priced. If you want to convert from a flac file to another format, then Switch Plus will do this quite well.

Perhaps a flac file can be "opened" with WavePad, but I have never tried to do this, nor have I missed this capability, despite the fact that I routinely archive my music files as flac files. Then, if I ever want to convert them to some particular format without any deterioration in quality (since a lossy file cannot normally be converted in a completely satisfactory manner), I can do this, beginning with the flac file.

Think carefully about what you are trying to do--and _why_. This is the best advice that I can offer.

Musikone

ajustabill

Yes, there are alternative means of conversion from flac to other formats. I am now using one of those. The existence of alternatives doesn't change the fact that for several people at least, WavePad doesn't do what it is advertised to do. My problem is I have a program that I paid for (WavePad) not behaving as it should (and used to), and I can't get any support from NCH without paying them more money. I understand that sometimes programs can "break" (especially under Windows), but the lack of any error messages and the failure of a reinstall to fix the problem are additionally frustrating. I also understand that NCH can't offer support indefinitely, which is why I asked my question here.

I did not purchase WavePad to do conversions. I still use it for its primary intended purpose. But the batch conversion feature of WavePad is one of the easiest and most effective I've used, and I don't see why you suggest I purchase another program when the one I've already paid for should work. :huh:

[deleted]

ajustabill76 wrote:

I can't get any support from NCH without paying them more money

Where did you read that? Try reinstalling the flacdec file from www.nch.com.au/components.

ajustabill

nchto wrote:

Where did you read that? Try reinstalling the flacdec file from www.nch.com.au/components.

I read it here - http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/support.html

"Do [sic] to the volume of emails we receive we can only provide limited email support for those who have not purchased a support plan."

and also when I tried to file a support request on the web site. After I filled in all the info it informed me I was no longer eligible for support

Thanks for the suggestion, but I ran flacdec.exe from there and the symptoms are still the same.

If I feel more ambitious, I might uninstall and then manually clean out any leftover wavepad entries from the registry before reinstalling and see if that helps.

musikone

ajustabill76 wrote:

I read it here - http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/support.html

"Do [sic] to the volume of emails we receive we can only provide limited email support for those who have not purchased a support plan."

and also when I tried to file a support request on the web site. After I filled in all the info it informed me I was no longer eligible for support

Thanks for the suggestion, but I ran flacdec.exe from there and the symptoms are still the same.

If I feel more ambitious, I might uninstall and then manually clean out any leftover wavepad entries from the registry before reinstalling and see if that helps.

Wouldn't it be much easier to "Switch" rather than fight?

ajustabill

musikone wrote:

Wouldn't it be much easier to "Switch" rather than fight?

It might be easier, but something in me balks at spending more money on this (I'd need Switch Plus to do batch and/or command line conversions).

And unless I know what broke WavePad, I don't have a good feeling that something won't break Switch as well. And for the same reason, I'm not going to install Switch on even the remote possibility that something else might break.

Again, it's the principle. I bought software: it worked, then it didn't. It bothers me when that happens.

I'm here looking for help in fixing the problem, or at least knowing why it occurred.

mam44

Does this mean that once I save as flac I am unable to open it and hear the file unless I convert it somehow?

I too am unable to open once saved as flac, which I thought was the best format for quality sound, ie radio?

Thanks.

MAM

[deleted]

Any of the lossless codecs will give mathematically perfect representations of the sound being recorded. However lossy codecs are so close to perfect that it isn't significant. For the record the best sounding sound card I have ever heard is an original ISA SB16. Awesome amplifiers on those cards.

The moral to the story is that Wavepad can use many codecs. Feel free to use almost any for essentially flawless sound reproduction.

As for fixing flac, Wave Pad can play any format it can load. If not it should automatically download the codec to allow it to do so. Cancelling that download can cause trouble.

kk2002

nchdc wrote:

Any of the lossless codecs will give mathematically perfect representations of the sound being recorded. However lossy codecs are so close to perfect that it isn't significant. For the record the best sounding sound card I have ever heard is an original ISA SB16. Awesome amplifiers on those cards.

The moral to the story is that Wavepad can use many codecs. Feel free to use almost any for essentially flawless sound reproduction.

As for fixing flac, Wave Pad can play any format it can load. If not it should automatically download the codec to allow it to do so. Cancelling that download can cause trouble.

With all due respect, Windows Vista cancels the download itself. This is a problem that NCH will have to address very soon, should in fact have already addressed, since Vista has been with us for several months now.

As a new user, the problem with saving and loading flac files has been driving me crazy, because I use them all the time, to save disc space. It's partly a Vista thing. WavePad downloads filters from the Internet and tries to install them into C:\Program Files. But unless you happen to be running the program as Adminstrator (which is not recommended!), that doesn't work. What's more, the flac filters provided by NCH don't work with Vista.

Here's a workaround. Acquire a copy of "flac.exe" (it's freeware and available from numerous sources). Copy it into C:\Program Files\NCH Swift Sound\Components\flacdec (under Vista, you have to give yourself Administrator's rights to do this). Then delete "flacdec.exe" in that folder, as provided by NCH, and change the name of the new file from "flac.exe" to "flacdec.exe". Do the same, again using "flac.exe", in the folder C:\...\flacdec, this time changing the file-name to "flacenc.exe". Bingo.

musikone

Any of the lossless codecs will give mathematically perfect representations of the sound being recorded.

However lossy codecs are so close to perfect that it isn't significant.

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Maybe to _your_ ears, but not to mine. This is an absurd statement, and I am very surprised to see it posted in this forum! If a "lossy" codec is so close to perfect that the loss is insignificant, then why on earth are there so many different bitrates available for mp3 (a lossy codec) encoding? According to your statement, the difference between an mp3 sound file encoded at an 8k bitrate and an mp3 sound file encoded at a 320k bitrate "isn't significant". I (and everyone else who knows anything at all about the subject of codecs) beg to disagree.

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For the record the best sounding sound card I have ever heard is an original ISA SB16. Awesome amplifiers on those cards.

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What does this have to do with the subject of this particular discussion thread (the flac codec)?

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The moral to the story is that Wavepad can use many codecs. Feel free to use almost any for essentially flawless sound reproduction.

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"Essentially flawless sound"? Surely you must be kidding!

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As for fixing flac, Wave Pad can play any format it can load. If not it should automatically download the codec to allow it to do so. Cancelling that download can cause trouble.

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Help!! We're all trapped in the Twilight Zone.

Musikone

(I'm sure glad that I don't have any questions about WavePad that I would like answered here. Perhaps NCH will provide us all with a special WavePad Discussion Forum Filter :-))

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[deleted]

Musikone I've no interest is starting a flamewar.

Yes I'm sure that a 16kbps mp3 sounds horrible to everyone. A 320kbps mp3 is much closer to perfect, close enough to be considered as good as perfect and still smaller than a flac file

If Vista cancels your download all the tools are available at www.nch.com.au/components/index.html