Hi Mark,
I'm probably too late for you on this, but here's what I do since I use FLAC files whenever possible:

Ripping from CD - I use EAC and I have 2 profiles stored, 1 for MP3 and 1 for FLAC. I always rip to FLAC and optionally do a 2nd rip to MP3.

Converting FLAC to MP3 - If I need to convert something to MP3 that I've already ripped to FLAC but am too lazy to pull the CD to re-rip I use the Winamp method that you have discovered. Because this is a pain to remember how to reconfigure all the time, I leave Winamp configured to do the conversion, but then use MediaMonkey, VLC etc... for my audio playback needs.

My situation may be unique however in that when I am home I (almost) exclusively use my Sonos system for playback of audio, and the MediaMonkey, VLC or others are used on my work laptop for travel purposes only, so that is more of a floating mobile library. My core complete library resides on my NAS in FLAC for Sonos distribution.

Cheers,

Forgot to mention, Foobar also does Flac to MP3 conversion and it is free. Took me forever to find the option though. I searched the menus for a long time before realizing that I just had to right click on the highlighted tracks to get a conversion option.

I basically followed the steps on this site to get FLAC working in my Media Center HTPC. I'm sure that it would help anyone get flac working on a windows computer.

http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/01/playing-flac-files-in-media-center.html

Another free alternative to Media Center is XBMC. It has native flac support and some nice customization features so you can have different visual library interface styles for say your TV library vs. your movie library. Open Source, so lots of add ons.

I'm not saying it's better, just presenting an alternative.

Hey guys, i ran into a new conversion task I have not done before. I have several concert discs that I enjoy in my HT, but do not have the CD equivalent to enjoy in the car. Yes my car is old school and I can either play audio only CD's (not MP3's on CD).... or cassette tapes!

What can I use to rip either DVD or BR but just output a 2 channel audio track list for making an audio CD? All suggestions are appreciated. I have both Mac and Windows XP systems available to work on.

Thanks!

I did this a couple of years ago. It involved several programs and a lot of complexity, failures and do-overs then finally success. I think I quit after the first one.

I'm sure there is probably a much more streamlined app to do it now. Sorry, but I can't recall the steps I took with the older method although I know I created a text file somewhere on my PC if all else fails. I'm betting it is easier now anyway..

My experience was EXACTLY like Murph's. My brain is now trying to protect me by forgetting the particulars. Seems like VLC and/or Handbrake might have been in there, somewhere. I was working with only DVD, not BR.

While it obviously doesn't help you, it was nice to note that the industry seems to recognize this issue; when I bought the Adele concert Blu-Ray, it came with a digital audio download or the performance.

Thanks guys,
I could not seem to find the right search term that came up with a good (free) solution. Tom when you mentioned VLC I tried changing my search to include that and voila , I found the instructions I needed. I have not tried it yet, but will later this week.

Thanks, your comments gave the breadcrumbs I needed.

Tom send some bread my way!

Oh, Mark, you KNOW there is all kinds of stuff headed your way.

Dan, let us know how it goes. If you have success and keep your sanity, I might be interested in giving it another go on a couple disks.

Not surprisingly, I remember tagging being pretty much full-manual. I still use MP3tag. I wish my library looked a little cleaner; keeping BOTH the flac and mp3 versions updated has proven to be quite uninteresting work.