Batch Convert Audio Files with Switch
Written by Alan Monday, 30 January 2012 07:00
Not many people these days keep audio CD’s. For most of us, all of the CD’s we owned have been ripped to our computers, stored on backups, and/or moved to cloud storage. In our house we began ripping all of our CD’s years ago and then selling the discs to a music shop that dealt in used discs. It saved us a lot of shelf space and made listening to our music a lot easier as well. However, in the early days, I elected to use WMA (Windows Media Audio) as my format of choice, although I wave since switched to MP3. Nothing wrong with that, it’s a great format for music. However, it’s also not compatible with all services, like Amazon Cloud Player. So, what do you do if you have a large bunch of music that needs to be converted to another audio type?
One solution is a free program called Switch, from NCH Software. That’s what we’re going to be trying out here today. Once you have downloaded the app and begun the installation you will be asked if you would like to install any of the extras that come along with it. This isn’t anything nefarious, but a couple of them are checked by default (like the Ask.com toolbar) so be careful here.
The user interface is pretty spartan by today’s software standards, and that’s a good thing. You can add files or folders, play songs to get a sample or make sure it’s the file you wanted, and choose from a few options. At the bottom of the screen you can choose the audio format you want to output and the folder where you want the new files sent to.
Select your music, or a folder full of it, by browsing your PC or network and then choose what format you would like it converted to. Now choose the folder that you want your new files placed in and click the big “Convert” button at the bottom right of the screen.
The conversion goes fairly quickly and I am testing it with Switch installed on a Laptop (on 802.11n) and the files I converted were on a computer with an ethernet connection to the the router.
You can choose, in the options, to delete the source file upon conversion (this isn’t set by default), but I would recommend making sure your new files are good and then using them to replace the old format ones.
In my tests Switch worked flawlessly. It’s a small file and doesn’t come with bloatware, although as I said earlier, watch the installation to make sure you only get what you want. It handles a LOT of audio file formats and converts music quickly. The interface is straight-forward to use. The app is free as well, although there is a paid version that adds a few more features. You can get a copy by visiting NCH Software.
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