With the amount of different portable audio devices and music software applications, sometimes it is difficult getting the correct formats. Today we take a look at XRECODE II which will convert virtually any audio file format to another. XRECODE II To get an idea of the amount of conversions possible take a look at this description from their site… xrecode II is converter and audio-grabber which allows you to convert from mp3, mp2, wma, aiff, amr, ogg, flac, ape, cue, ac3, wv, mpc, mid, cue ,tta, tak, wav, dts, m4a, m4b, mp4, ra, rm, aac, avi, mpg, vob, mkv, flv, swf, mov, ofr, wmv, divx, m4v, spx, 3gp, 3g2, m2v, m4v, ts, m2ts, adts, shn, tak, xm, mod, s3m, it, mtm, umx to m4a, alac, ape, flac, mp3, mp4 (using NeroAAC), ogg, raw, wav, wma, WavPack, mpc, mp2, Speex, ofr, ac3, aiff and Shorten formats. Command Line parameters are supported. Installation is straight forward and easy, but one thing you might want to check is adding it to the Send to Menu on the context menu. This utility is light on system resources with a clean and easy to use interface.

Here we will take a look at ripping a CD into FLAC format. Pop in the CD and when the tracks load into XRECODE you’ll want to grab the metadata from one of four databases.

There is support for cover art and you can resize the image to your liking.

If you need to you can easily edit the metadata manually as well.

Another feature to note is it supports Replay Gain which is a technology for volume level management. You might want to run that analysis of the disk before starting the ripping process.

 

When you begin the ripping or conversion process, if you have a dual core processor, it actually utilizes both cores for faster processing time.

For each format there is a small wrench icon that allows you to control the settings.

There are a lot of settings available for MP3’s including Constant and Variable bitrates. Creating a playlist when converting files is as simple as clicking a box.

This is an example of the different FLAC settings available.

It allows you to save different profile settings that you create for easier conversions.

If you choose the option during installation you can send complete albums or songs to XRECODE II for conversion.

It’s available in several different languages including English, French, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Spanish Traditional, Swedish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Finnish, Bulgarian and Czech.

XRECODE II is free and fully functional shareware, the one caveat being that to get rid of the nag dialog box when launching, registration is required and a license is only $15. The screen is really not too annoying either, like some shareware apps, it’s only up for a couple of seconds.

  If you’re looking for a free and easy to use audio conversion utility that handles a multitude of different files, XRECODE II is well worth a look.  Download XRECODE II