Fre:ac for Windows

By the fre:ac project
Free
User Rating

Key Details of Fre:ac

Rip CDs, tag, and convert audio files into different formats
Last updated on 06/23/20
There have been 4 updates within the past 6 months
The current version has 0 flags on VirusTotal

Developer's Description

By the fre:ac project

Rip CDs, tag, and convert audio files into different formats.

fre:ac is a free audio converter and CD ripper with support for various popular formats and encoders. It currently converts between MP3, MP4/M4A, AAC, FLAC, Opus, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, WMA and other formats. With fre:ac you easily rip your audio CDs to FLAC or MP3 files. Files can be automatically tagged to include artist and title information obtained from the CDDB/freedb online CD database. The user interface is available in several languages.

Fre:ac for Windows

By the fre:ac project
Free
User Rating

Explore More

Full Specifications

GENERAL

Release: June 23, 2020

Latest update: June 23, 2020

Version: 1.1.2a

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Platform: Windows

Operating System

Windows 10
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows XP
Windows 2003
Windows 8
Windows Server

Additional Requirements: None

POPULARITY

Total Downloads: 1,075,207

Downloads Last Week: 4

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User Reviews

4.4/5

87 User Votes

Nice software
k_liamNovember 11, 2015
Pros
Free Clean Easy to use Very good results
Cons
Very simplistic No *.ape support
Summary
Outstanding for big batch conversion of MPEG-4 to MP3
RogueWave9April 28, 2015
Pros
I had ~10,000 hard files in MPEG-4 format (iTunes' handiwork ...bleah) that I needed to convert to MP3, so that I could listen to them in Xbox Music via OneDrive cloud storage. User reviews had warned me away from other converters that CNET had endorsed, because they come with malware and other unwelcome hitchhikers. So I went for this one instead. It's great! There seems to have been no malware, etc. And it converted 1000's of files at a time to MP3 without a glitch. (Of course, this takes a while.) I was able to tell it to put these new MP3's in their original folders (i.e., artist by artist, album by album), and I was able to tell it to delete the original MPEG-4's from those same folders ...but be aware that you have to select this option manually for each batch you run. To get decent quality bitrates and files sizes comparable to the MPEG-4 originals, I set the encoder to "Fast, Extreme." I was so pleased with the results that I donated $5 on Fre:ac's website.
Cons
The only negative is that the buttons and options aren't always given intuitively comprehensible names ...at least not for a non-techie like me. Free advice: Before jumping into big batch conversions, start small and fool around with the options till you're sure you know it's going to do what you want. And then make sure those options are set correctly for each batch you run.
Summary
A++++. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the developer.
Easy, Good encoding options
nzcdogJanuary 24, 2015
Pros
I needed something to convert m4a's to mp3... does a great job, plenty of encoding options or simply use presets... thumbs up! Even better No adware, bloatware or hijacks or spam screens.
Cons
None I have discovered
Summary
I have only used it to covert m4a's to mp3s. Works great, highly recommended.
Quick and intuitive
tgonMay 5, 2014
Pros
Minimalist appearance, yet fully capable of many tasks.
Cons
No problems yet. I chose this program mainly for flac to mp3 conversions.
Summary
it's a pretty good program
sonnyboy66April 4, 2014
Pros
It coverts pretty quickly for the ones I tried to convert, so give it a try
Cons
I have not used it enough to find any cons.
Summary
I think that I will enjoy it the more I use it.
Not for me
hateucnetDecember 18, 2013
Pros
recognized CD Drive
Cons
Can't easily edit file names. CDDB is dodgy at best.
Summary
uninstalled. Prefer to use windows media player.
Great Program That Works Great And Very Fast
joeyrockleanOctober 10, 2013
Pros
Ripped CDs easily
Cons
nothing right now
Summary
Not everything obvious but works well and is simple
cedricgannetAugust 11, 2013
Pros
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Cons
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Summary
Almost Ready For Prime-Time
Smeaga31July 13, 2013
Pros
Easy and fast install. Many Codecs to choose from. Makes great quality sounding rips/conversions. Very intuitive layout and options. One of the better ones I've tried but......
Cons
When I converted some properly tagged and labeled FLACs to MP3s it didn't carry over completely. My album art was missing. The Album Artist Was Left Blank. It Doesn't Tell you what disc number it is and doesnt tell you the total tracks. All of this information was included in the source files and other converters I've tried work better in this regard.
Summary
This really does create some very high quality rips/conversions but the tagging is just to incomplete for me. I have worked literally hundreds of hours tagging and labeling my rips. I even make my own thumbs for album art purposes and embed them in the rips. I don't want to have to recreate the wheel. It is very important to me to have all possible data in the tags. This just doesn't do it. Let's just say Fre:AC is almost ready for prime-time! For now I'll just stick with Easy CD-DA Extractor even if it cost a little.
Free and Competent Converter AND RIPPER
rodmoyerMay 6, 2013
Pros
This is a competent and user friendly audio file converter supporting a great many formats. Some of the popular & free media converters out there do well with video and audio both. I use one such, but it does not rip audio from CDs. This software does that, well, with extensive configurability.
Cons
Have not discovered any issues yet.
Summary