fre:ac fre:ac 1.1.6 for Windows

by Robert Kausch

Avg. Rating 4.7 (189 votes)

File Details

File Size 22.0 MB
License Open Source
Operating System Windows (All)
Date Added
Total Downloads 23,666
Publisher Robert Kausch
Homepage fre:ac
Other Versions

Publisher's Description

fre:ac is a free audio converter and CD ripper which integrates various popular formats and encoders. It currently supports MP3, MP4/M4A, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, AAC and Bonk files.

fre:ac makes it easy to convert your audio CDs to MP3 or WMA files which you can use in your hardware player or with your favorite audio software. The program supports the CDDB/freedb online CD database and CDText and automatically writes song information to ID3V2 or Vorbis comment tags.

Latest Reviews

breebree

breebree reviewed v1.0.32 on Mar 14, 2018

got out my cd disks and converted. did them all in good time. added a few this Christmas and again it just worked , put them where i told it, as i wanted the layout for title/artist/ect.. this one works fine

BANDIT-

BANDIT- reviewed v1.0.28 on Feb 24, 2017

Hats Off to Devs & Contributors Alike. Afraid the Flintstones
Nicked my A/v Converters years Ago... & WTF is a CD Ripper..??
Maybe A Big "Comeback" is Happening.. Can't wait for Win95... Yup. Win1895.

Absurd & 1*

carlvui

carlvui reviewed v1.0.21a on Oct 2, 2013

Works fine without incidents, won't appear in the Windows control panel, add remove section and uninstall is only possible through its own uninstaller.
I would suggest using a third party uninstaller. I am not going to remove it, though

kerimachin

kerimachin reviewed v1.0.21a on Jul 22, 2013

great program. could use a solid update though.

DrTeeth

DrTeeth reviewed v1.0.21a on Jul 20, 2013

Does what it says on the tin. I just wish the interface was more coventional.

DudeBoyz

DudeBoyz reviewed v1.0.19 on May 12, 2011

1019 is performing better than 1018 to be sure, with no crashes when dragging and dropping to the joblist, but 1016 is still working faster and it seems better.

But it does appear 1019 is getting back on track.

Historically, I'm one of this apps biggest fans - it just veered off course a bit over time is all. Until and unless this app gets to be as good as 1016, I can't grade it higher.

anomoly

anomoly reviewed v1.0.19 on May 12, 2011

I've always loved this program but the last two times I grabbed the zip version from the site, the plugins folder is renamed differently from the last version I grabbed. Doesn't matter really because it still works.

pjafrombbay

pjafrombbay reviewed v1.0.19 on May 11, 2011

DudeBoyz I have had no problems running fre:ac on my AMD + Windows 7 Home Premium x64 based PC. It is IMHO one of the best CD rippers available. The fact that it is free is just a bonus.

I have just up-graded to this latest version but not tried it yet. That said, I have no reason to believe it will cause any problems.

I hardly ever give software products a 5* rating but this one deserves it.

Regards,
Peter

DudeBoyz

DudeBoyz reviewed v1.0.18 on Apr 10, 2011

1.0.16 is the last version that I have had success with. Both 1.0.17 and now 1.0.18 I have had problems with, so I will stick with 1.0.16 and probably go no further for the foreseeable future.

I liked it better when the product was called Bonk Encoder anyway, and 1.0.16 was, I believe, the last version still named Bonk Encoder.

Not sure where this product is going, but it seems to be leaving me, and stability, behind. :)

DudeBoyz

DudeBoyz reviewed v1.0.14 on Oct 29, 2009

This version is much more stable than 1013, though it does still have bugs, even a glaring one in the interface involving the Total Time computation.

That said, many of the MP3 files that used to make BonkEnc choke and crash do not do this with 1014. Perhaps they updated the Decoder to a newer version or something that fixed that. Regardless, it looks like it does a better job than before with those troubled MP3 headers.

It's not keyboard friendly in the main "Job List" interface, and that's a pain. I don't like how it forces a pop-up "Info Box" when you move the cursor over an entry in that list - it's distracting and should be allowed to be toggled off.

A more detailed Change Log would be welcome as well.

Converting of some actual MP3's seems agonizingly slow, but I can't pin down what that's all about yet. I'll need to do more testing.

Still, it is a step up over 1013 and the interface feels fast like it used to be in 1012. I hope the positive trend continues.

Avg. Rating 4.7 (189 votes)
Your Rating

Someone reviewed v on Mar 19, 2023

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breebree

breebree reviewed v1.0.32 on Mar 14, 2018

Pros: works fast for me
is updated
VBR works as its supposed to

Cons: for what i need , none
interface is clean but some think dated , but if it works why do you have to make it bling filled to say its new? it works and is easily understandable that is what counts.

Bottom Line: got out my cd disks and converted. did them all in good time. added a few this Christmas and again it just worked , put them where i told it, as i wanted the layout for title/artist/ect.. this one works fine

BANDIT-

BANDIT- reviewed v1.0.28 on Feb 24, 2017

Hats Off to Devs & Contributors Alike. Afraid the Flintstones
Nicked my A/v Converters years Ago... & WTF is a CD Ripper..??
Maybe A Big "Comeback" is Happening.. Can't wait for Win95... Yup. Win1895.

Absurd & 1*

carlvui

carlvui reviewed v1.0.21a on Oct 2, 2013

Works fine without incidents, won't appear in the Windows control panel, add remove section and uninstall is only possible through its own uninstaller.
I would suggest using a third party uninstaller. I am not going to remove it, though

kerimachin

kerimachin reviewed v1.0.21a on Jul 22, 2013

great program. could use a solid update though.

DrTeeth

DrTeeth reviewed v1.0.21a on Jul 20, 2013

Does what it says on the tin. I just wish the interface was more coventional.

DudeBoyz

DudeBoyz reviewed v1.0.19 on May 12, 2011

1019 is performing better than 1018 to be sure, with no crashes when dragging and dropping to the joblist, but 1016 is still working faster and it seems better.

But it does appear 1019 is getting back on track.

Historically, I'm one of this apps biggest fans - it just veered off course a bit over time is all. Until and unless this app gets to be as good as 1016, I can't grade it higher.

anomoly

anomoly reviewed v1.0.19 on May 12, 2011

I've always loved this program but the last two times I grabbed the zip version from the site, the plugins folder is renamed differently from the last version I grabbed. Doesn't matter really because it still works.

pjafrombbay

pjafrombbay reviewed v1.0.19 on May 11, 2011

DudeBoyz I have had no problems running fre:ac on my AMD + Windows 7 Home Premium x64 based PC. It is IMHO one of the best CD rippers available. The fact that it is free is just a bonus.

I have just up-graded to this latest version but not tried it yet. That said, I have no reason to believe it will cause any problems.

I hardly ever give software products a 5* rating but this one deserves it.

Regards,
Peter

DudeBoyz

DudeBoyz reviewed v1.0.18 on Apr 10, 2011

1.0.16 is the last version that I have had success with. Both 1.0.17 and now 1.0.18 I have had problems with, so I will stick with 1.0.16 and probably go no further for the foreseeable future.

I liked it better when the product was called Bonk Encoder anyway, and 1.0.16 was, I believe, the last version still named Bonk Encoder.

Not sure where this product is going, but it seems to be leaving me, and stability, behind. :)

DudeBoyz

DudeBoyz reviewed v1.0.14 on Oct 29, 2009

This version is much more stable than 1013, though it does still have bugs, even a glaring one in the interface involving the Total Time computation.

That said, many of the MP3 files that used to make BonkEnc choke and crash do not do this with 1014. Perhaps they updated the Decoder to a newer version or something that fixed that. Regardless, it looks like it does a better job than before with those troubled MP3 headers.

It's not keyboard friendly in the main "Job List" interface, and that's a pain. I don't like how it forces a pop-up "Info Box" when you move the cursor over an entry in that list - it's distracting and should be allowed to be toggled off.

A more detailed Change Log would be welcome as well.

Converting of some actual MP3's seems agonizingly slow, but I can't pin down what that's all about yet. I'll need to do more testing.

Still, it is a step up over 1013 and the interface feels fast like it used to be in 1012. I hope the positive trend continues.

DudeBoyz

DudeBoyz reviewed v1.0.13 on Jul 29, 2009

I'm not having good results with the altered codebase on Intel dual core machines. It's taking longer to encode / convert in some cases and there are crashes that were simply not there in 1.0.12

On a general note, the MP3 Decoder can be a bit iffy. I understand that they will be switching to a more robust decoder that can handle MP3 files that have non-standard headers, are in bad shape from "Trim and Cutter" operations and the like. I hope that works out well.

XeNdO

XeNdO reviewed v1.0.13 on Jul 25, 2009

this is a sweet proggie. works as described with nice options - easy for noobs but, good tweakability for pwr users. clean install and sleek interface. luv it.
thanx 2 the devs.

DudeBoyz

DudeBoyz reviewed v1.0.12 on Jun 23, 2009

Still the very best at what it does, at least for me.

Only weak point I have found is that the converter sometimes chokes on MP3 files that may not be fully in compliance with the spec. It's not very forgiving with those so when it does gack on those, I convert them to WAV with Music Match then encode those to MP3 with the built-in Lame encoder.

I have heard that the next phase of the development will introduce a more forgiving MP3 reader, so I'll be looking forward to that.

1012 feels nimble and stable and is a breeze to use. Please keep up the good work.

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