Flac support? Metadata?

[SyncroScales]

Hi.

I am considering archiving my audio, CD's and vinyl into Flac files. Can anyone recommend any good programs?

I would want to be able to adjust settings and get the approximate equivalent of a Wav file. So 44.1kHz, 16bit. Is there any need for better? I think if I was recording music or worked in a studio, then I might want different/better rates for the audio files.

I planned to copy my audio into flac about 3 years ago when Flac was becoming more known. But I did not due to it's lack of support in programs and difficulty with metadata recognition, etc. I would hope to have a codec that is completely open-sourced and flac has not been bought up or anything which is good.

If anyone uses Flac can you say how often the metadata is recognized? I don't want to use winamp for example, fill in the metadata, picture, etc and then it not be recognized in another program (This happened often before with many programs). I would probably use mp3tag.

Sites like bandcamp and a few others are offering Flac but not Wav or Aiff and when available it is better than mp3's with 320kbps. So I need to be able to organize my files.

[Cornucopia]

For CD ripping + conversion, Exact Audio Copy. For LP, transfer & edit with something like Audacity. Convert with it, or with LameXP.

Equivalent to dithered 16/44/2ch should be good enough for most end use, Go better if you intend to do more editing/mixing/processing.

Scott

[SyncroScales]

Thanks Cornucopia.

Has anyone noticed problems with flac metadata recognition in different programs with flac? Sometimes this was common before. Eg: Add the flac metadata in winamp, and another program does not see it.

I think I should take a look at Audacity. I have what I need for transfering, edit and convert cassettes and LP's.