Convert audio in batches on Linux with SoundConverter

There are many file codecs used to retailer digital audio, and so they’re good for various functions. Digital audio is, in fact, solely a illustration of sound, a rendering of soundwaves that get translated into sound by a decoder and a set of audio system. Some audio codecs, generically known as lossless codecs, goal to encode audio near its unique analog kind. Still, there’s a variety of information in the true world, and as but, digital can solely approximate it in very massive recordsdata. Other audio codecs, known as lossy codecs, steadiness file measurement with an affordable illustration of sound.

There are loads of nice terminal instructions for audio conversion. There’s sox and ffmpeg and a handful of format-specific encoders, like opusenc, flac, oggenc, fdkaac, wavpack, and numerous others.

Install SoundConverter on Linux

SoundConverter is accessible on most Linux distributions out of your bundle supervisor. On Fedora, Mageia, and comparable distributions:

$ sudo dnf set up kdenlive

On Elementary, Mint, and different Debian-based distributions:

$ sudo apt set up kdenlive

However, I take advantage of SoundConverter as a Flatpak.

Converting audio

Once you encode audio right into a lossy format, you have misplaced information. Whether that information issues or not is determined by the ears of its viewers. Some folks cannot hear the distinction between a low-bitrate MP3 and a full high quality FLAC file, and even those that can usually do not discover the distinction between a 320kbps Ogg Vorbis podcast and a 128 kbps Ogg Vorbis podcast. Converting audio from a compressed format to an uncompressed format would not get well misplaced information, however it’s not unusual to want to transform audio from one format to a different. You would possibly wish to add a file to a web site that accepts solely a particular format, or your cellular system would possibly solely play a particular format, or to electronic mail a file that is too massive in your host, otherwise you would possibly simply wish to save house in your drive.

SoundConverter allows you to convert audio in batches with ease. To convert audio with SoundConverter:

1. Launch SoundConverter out of your Applications or Activities menu.
2. Click the Add Files button within the high left nook of the SoundConverter window, and choose the recordsdata you wish to convert.
3. Once you have added recordsdata, click on the Preferences button (the gear icon) within the high proper nook of the window, and choose the format you wish to convert to. You may set the file naming conference, the vacation spot folder, and different choices.
4. When you are prepared, click on the Convert button within the high left nook.

Parallel processing

SoundConverter is a helpful utility not simply because it does precisely what its title says it does, however as a result of it does it in batches and in parallel. Because fashionable computer systems have extra than simply CPU core, it is a waste of energy and time to put every file in a queue to encode them one after the other. SoundConverter can take a number of recordsdata without delay and encode them concurrently, which means that changing 12 recordsdata can take the identical time it might usually take to transform two—one after the opposite. You can do the identical factor with terminal command, however provided that you perceive how you can launch parallel processes.

You may convert stereo audio into mono recordsdata. This will be particularly helpful for podcasts and audiobooks. These normally encompass an individual talking from a singular location (the microphone) and do not require a way of spatial location. In truth, lowering stereo recordsdata to mono makes the audio simpler to listen to ought to you’ve gotten only one earbud and cuts the file measurement in half.

The SoundConverter benefit

It’s an excellent function to have completely different file codecs for audio, and but evidently at any time when I’ve saved audio in a single format, I inevitably want it in one other format. There are a number of nice Linux instructions to convert audio files, however generally you may want an utility you possibly can depart open in your desktop and drag and drop recordsdata to, and so there’s SoundConverter. A easy, single-purpose utility, SoundConverter does precisely, and solely, what its title says: It converts sound from one format to a different.