Free FLAC to iPod Music Fast converts your lossless FLAC audio files into AAC or MP3 tracks that your iPod can play. The extreme simplicity of both its functionality and interface makes it the perfect utility for non-expert users. Though its lack of batch capabilities will force you to convert your FLAC files on a one-by-one basis.
The reason why Apple’s range of mobile phones and players do not support a free, open, and highly widespread lossless codec such as FLAC is beyond me. However, it is a fact that many users archive their music in FLAC and enjoy using iPod or iPhone at the same time. Well, this free, small, and intuitive conversion tool might well be what you need. However, it seems to have been designed to re-encode the odd FLAC file into iPod-compatible audio, so if your FLAC collection is a large one, you may want to move to a tool with batch-conversion capabilities.
The output quality provided is also fairly limited – actually, you can choose between AAC and MP3 at 96 Kbps. Personally, I would go for the first one without hesitation, even though it is impossible to know the bit rate and the sample rate chosen by the developer for this codec (the sample rate used for MP3 is below the “unofficially accepted” minimum quality required for compressed music, which is 128 Kbps). No other output quality options are available. However, despite its limitations, many iPod users may find that this free tool is all they need.
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