MP3-to-FLAC_SoundReef_Metadata_Questions

WaveLab
#1

Anyone with experience delivering files to clients so they can upload to Soundreef? While I fine Soundreef’s technical requirements odd, I believe there’s an explanation for it–that this makes the files absolutely compatible with worldwide platforms.

Question: Soundreef wants a 128kbps MP3 encoding, saved as a .flac file. That’s easy, right? Not exactly…
So, I encode an MP3 as needed, then save as a .flac file. Meta-data in the MP3 is dumped. And, the .flac encoding changes the file’s peaks, so watch those intersample peaks!

So, I can edit the .flac meta-data, but Wavelab can’t save the “changed” file. It can only save a copy under a new filename. Is this a problem, or expected? Also, is the edited file saved as a new file changed in any other way as far as audio content?

Is there a better way to accomplish this?

Thanks!!

#2

Not only is that not easy, it’s not possible.

#3

Believe it or not, it was required for Sound Reef. And, so, yes, you can save a previously rendered MP3 as a new .flac file, and it plays back. However, there must be a way to verify it doesn’t “change” the MP3 audio.

#4

No you can’t, however you can convert it to a FLAC, though I fail to see the point, as MP3 is lossy, and converting an MP3-encoded file to a lossless format such as FLAC makes no sense – unless of course quality is not a consideration.

That’s a pretty low bar.

#5

I should restate: Wavelab allows me to convert the MP3 file to .FLAC by way of “Save As”, and playback sounds fine.
And yes, it seems quite pointless as I mentioned this to SoundReef support. But it’s their way, I suppose.

#6

The conversion to MP3 in the first place probably does some normalisation in the frequency domain which makes it easier to recognise the file algorithmically - the conversion back to flac or wav retains this property.

That’s just a guess, though.

Paul

#7

Let’s just hope this crew are not extracting a premium payment from unsuspecting consumers of such bastardised content!