WMA-Lossless -> FLAC - will the conversion happen without loss?

[Morbii]

So, the majority of my library is WMA lossless.  I switched to a NAS, and WMP handles it very, very poorly, so I'm doing what I should have done years ago and dropping WMP.  MusicBee seems to be the best player/organizer I've found, by a longshot, so I'm committed. 

However, what I've noticed is that MusicBee seems to be unable to encode WMA Lossless.  This isn't such a big deal as I can just use FLAC.  However, I've also encountered a second problem while trying to set up UPnP: Even if I check the options that force transcoding, my ps3 still cannot stream WMA-L from MB.  It streams FLAC tracks fine, but trying one of the WMA-L always fails with "not supported".  I would have expected the transcoding would have fixed that problem, but it seems not to have.

That said, unless someone has an idea of what the problem is on my end (or a workaround), I am considering converting my entire library to FLAC - I should probably do this anyway.

Due to the fact that MB doesn't support encoding in WMA-L, I am worried that it also may not decode losslessly.  I am guessing that it will decode fine, but I'd rather not convert 65K tracks and then find out that I've screwed myself. 

I was hoping for confirmation that if I use MB to convert my library from WMA Lossless to FLAC that the FLAC files will both have all of the information (that was present in the WMA, of course).

thanks!

[sveakul]

Why not use ffmpeg.exe externally to batch convert them.  This command line should work:

Code

FOR %F IN (*.wma) DO C:\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.exe -i "%F" "%~nF.flac"

This would convert all *.wma files in the folder it is executed into *.flac files of the same name, keeping the originals for deletion later if you are satisfied with the results.  Change the path of ffmpeg to wherever it is installed on your PC.  Throw a couple of files into a test folder first and give it a try.  An up-to-date ffmpeg.exe can be extracted from the "static" builds available here:  https://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/

[Morbii]

I'm just wondering if MB will perform a lossless conversion (I can't imagine why it wouldn't, but you never know).  But if we're talking different tools, I have the same exact question.

[redwing]

I'm just wondering if MB will perform a lossless conversion (I can't imagine why it wouldn't, but you never know).  But if we're talking different tools, I have the same exact question.

There's a recent Windows 10 (1809 build) bug with decoding WMA lossless 24-bit files (see for the details: https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,117275.0.html). Most programs can no longer play those files including MB and foobar. And converting those to another format won't yield a bit-perfect audio stream either (this used to work for me before). But playing and converting 16-bit WMA lossless files seems working fine. Both MB and ffmpeg show the same result for the audio stream, but tag handling may be different.

I've also encountered a second problem while trying to set up UPnP: Even if I check the options that force transcoding, my ps3 still cannot stream WMA-L from MB.  It streams FLAC tracks fine, but trying one of the WMA-L always fails with "not supported".  I would have expected the transcoding would have fixed that problem, but it seems not to have.

Works fine for me with either transcoding enabled or not at least for 16-bit files. 24-bit files just make noises, and I don't see such message.

I am guessing that it will decode fine, but I'd rather not convert 65K tracks and then find out that I've screwed myself.

You should check yourself if it works as expected with a few test files, and if you find any issues, file a bug report. After all it's your files and it will be you that suffer if something goes wrong.

I was hoping for confirmation that if I use MB to convert my library from WMA Lossless to FLAC that the FLAC files will both have all of the information (that was present in the WMA, of course).

Again you should test yourself before converting all of your files. As far as I know, MB's file conversion only copies tags known to MB. Unknown tags will be discarded unless you manually copy all tags after conversion: https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=24569.msg150661#msg150661

Also I'd recommend you keep the WMA files as backup for a while in case you find some faults much later. That happens all the time.

[Morbii]

Thanks, redwing.

Works fine for me with either transcoding enabled or not at least for 16-bit files. 24-bit files just make noises, and I don't see such message.

WMA lossless plays on your Playstation3?  I read that the PS3 doesn't even support it at all; only normal WMA (which you need to enable).  I could have sworn at some point I had a PS3 that could play them, but it's possible it was an iTunes server or WMP did conversions.  Anyway, I was able to get it to play flac, but not WMA-L. 

I am doing a full flac conversion now, so I guess the point is moot.

[redwing]

No, I just meant the UPnP plugin, not on PS3.