Easy way to convert OGG Vorbis to mp3 on Fedora

Antarctica · 09-17-2006, 10:44 AM

First off, I'd like to say that this thread isn't a question, but instead an answer to many questions Fedora users may have.

Recently I have searched for a way to convert OGG Vorbis to mp3 so that I could send mp3 files to Windows users so that they don't have to download an OGG player. I read that SoX (Sound Exchange) was a great program, but it was used only in the Terminal and you needed to enable mp3 support for it, which was a hassle to many users. So, I stumbled upon a simpler solution: Sound Converter.

Downloading Sound Converter

In this solution, I am assuming that you have GNOME as the default destkop environment. Go to Applications, Add/Remove Software. If you are not logged in as root, you will need to type in your password to open the program. After the Package Manager has loaded, go to Applications, Sound and Video, and click on the Optional Packages button. A new window will popup showing you all the available sound and video packages. Scroll down until you see soundconverter. A description of the program will appear beside it. Place a checkmark beside its name and click close. Then, click Apply and wait for the program to download and install. Once the installation is complete, you may now use Sound Converter.

Using Sound Converter

Sound Converter is a nice, easy to use program with a simple user interface. You can convert a single file, a multitude of files, or even a folder of files at once. To use, click on one of the buttons that say Add File or Add Folder. An open file dialog will appear. Choose a file and click Open. Then, to change your conversion options, go to Edit, Preferences. The Preferences dialog will appear. Under the heading "Type of Result?," you may choose from OGG Vorbis, MP3, FLAC, and WAV. Once you have chosen your conversion type, you may change your bitrate mode (MP3 only) or quality (OGG Vorbis and MP3 only). You can change several other options if you wish, but when you're finished, click Close. When you are ready to convert, simply click the Convert button. When you are finished, you may convert another file or folder or simply close Sound Converter.

Happy Converting!

bulliver · 09-25-2006, 04:10 AM

For those who are more CLI oriented you may like to try the script linked in my sig

Nylex · 09-25-2006, 10:02 AM

I thought converting Ogg Vorbis to MP3 (and vice versa) wasn't a good idea, since both are "lossy" formats and so converting one to the other means you get even more loss.. or something like that. If the Windows users you know were using Winamp (I'm sure there's other software, but this is used lots I imagine), then you wouldn't need to convert because Winamp can play Ogg Vorbis. Of course, people are free to use whatever software they want! Lastly, only the "O" in "Ogg" is capitalised.

bulliver · 09-25-2006, 05:01 PM

It's true Nylex...

However, some have more sensitive ears than others. I have been converting mp3s to ogg for a long time, and as long as the mp3 is a decent bitrate in the first place I cannot tell the difference. I suggest that anyone who is wanting to re-encode compare their new track with the original, and see if they can live with it. Like I said, maybe it was all the punk shows I went to as a kid, but my damaged ears can't tell a difference

Plus, there are some situation where you _must_ re-encode. What if you buy yourself an iPod but have GBs worth of Flac or Ogg Vorbis files? Are you going to re-rip all your CDs?

hand of fate · 09-26-2006, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bulliver

Plus, there are some situation where you _must_ re-encode. What if you buy yourself an iPod but have GBs worth of Flac or Ogg Vorbis files? Are you going to re-rip all your CDs?

Just an aside, but Flac is a lossless system, so converting from Flac to another MP3 would be no different to ripping to MP3 in the first place.

bulliver · 09-26-2006, 05:24 PM

Yeah, bad example...sorry.

rickenbacherus · 11-12-2006, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bulliver

For those who are more CLI oriented you may like to try the script linked in my sig

Hey I like it.

I've been looking for a sneetchalizer.
It seems to work well but I cannot get http://www.unixgods.org/~tilo/Ruby/I...ocs/index.html to load. So no mp3 tags.

I did find id3lib-ruby-0.4.1 here:
http://rubyforge.org/frs/?group_id=1384&release_id=6609
but I cannot get it to build. I have very little experience with Ruby so it could easily be a pebkac.

Code:

$ sudo gem install id3lib-ruby
Select which gem to install for your platform (i486-linux)
 1. id3lib-ruby 0.4.1 (mswin32)
 2. id3lib-ruby 0.4.1 (ruby)
 3. id3lib-ruby 0.4.0 (mswin32)
 4. id3lib-ruby 0.4.0 (ruby)
 5. id3lib-ruby 0.3.1 (mswin32)
 6. id3lib-ruby 0.3.1 (ruby)
 7. id3lib-ruby 0.3.0 (ruby)
 8. id3lib-ruby 0.3.0 (mswin32)
 9. id3lib-ruby 0.2.1 (ruby)
 10. id3lib-ruby 0.2.0 (ruby)
 11. id3lib-ruby 0.1.0 (ruby)
 12. Cancel installation
> 2
Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
extconf.rb:1:in `require': no such file to load -- mkmf (LoadError)
        from extconf.rb:1

ERROR:  While executing gem ... (RuntimeError)
    ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.
Gem files will remain installed in /var/lib/gems/1.8/gems/id3lib-ruby-0.4.1 for inspection.


Results logged to /var/lib/gems/1.8/gems/id3lib-ruby-0.4.1/ext/gem_make.out
glenn@hestviken:~/Downloads/id3lib-ruby-0.4.1$ sudo cat /var/lib/gems/1.8/gems/id3lib-ruby-0.4.1/ext/gem_make.out

So much for the log file eh?
Try it another way:

Code:

$ sudo ruby setup.rb
---> lib
---> lib/id3lib
<--- lib/id3lib
<--- lib
---> ext
/usr/bin/ruby1.8 /home/glenn/Downloads/id3lib-ruby-0.4.1/ext/extconf.rb
/home/glenn/Downloads/id3lib-ruby-0.4.1/ext/extconf.rb:1:in `require': no such file to load -- mkmf (LoadError)
        from /home/glenn/Downloads/id3lib-ruby-0.4.1/ext/extconf.rb:1
setup.rb:655:in `command': system("/usr/bin/ruby1.8" "/home/glenn/Downloads/id3lib-ruby-0.4.1/ext/extconf.rb") failed (RuntimeError)
        from setup.rb:660:in `ruby'
        from setup.rb:1238:in `extconf'
        from setup.rb:1230:in `config_dir_ext'
        from setup.rb:1532:in `__send__'
        from setup.rb:1532:in `traverse'
        from setup.rb:1549:in `dive_into'
        from setup.rb:1530:in `traverse'
        from setup.rb:1524:in `exec_task_traverse'
        from setup.rb:1519:in `each'
        from setup.rb:1519:in `exec_task_traverse'
        from setup.rb:1223:in `exec_config'
        from setup.rb:991:in `exec_config'
        from setup.rb:812:in `invoke'
        from setup.rb:773:in `invoke'
        from setup.rb:1578

And from here I'm clueless. Debian Sid BTW.

robinst · 12-01-2006, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickenbacherus

And from here I'm clueless. Debian Sid BTW.

Hey.. In Debian, Ruby is divided into several packages, maybe you are missing one of those. Try installing ruby1.8-dev. You will also need libid3-3.8.3-dev. Good luck

joemacnz · 12-29-2006, 05:51 PM

All well and god, However when I go into "preferences" in sound converter the mp3 option is not available to me. I can click on the others but mp3 is dulled. How can I change that please?

rickenbacherus · 02-07-2007, 08:08 AM

IIRC you need lame installed to convert to mp3. Try firing up soundconverter from cli and it should tell you the problem.

Gazbo Satyr · 04-26-2007, 07:06 PM

You need to run:

Code:

$ sudo apt-get install ruby1.8-dev

Then you can re-try:

Code:

$ sudo gem install id3lib-ruby

Quote:

Code:

Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
extconf.rb:1:in `require': no such file to load -- mkmf (LoadError)
        from extconf.rb:1

ERROR:  While executing gem ... (RuntimeError)
    ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.
Gem files will remain installed in /var/lib/gems/1.8/gems/id3lib-ruby-0.4.1 for inspection.

Tischbein · 10-22-2007, 05:08 PM

Re converting ogg to mp3 on the command line:

Quote:

Originally Posted by bulliver

For those who are more CLI oriented you may like to try the script linked in my sig

wot sig?

I'm sure you meant:

oggdec file.ogg && lame file.wav

where:
* oggdec is in the vorbis-tools package available from xiph.org and
* lame is an mp3 encoder available from sourceforge.

I'm sorry, but just now I don't know of a decent way of playing .ogg from inside a web page. VLC plays vorbis movies nicely from inside a page but for audio it behaves as if it's chopping off the first few hundred bytes of data. Three cheers for the ogg team but they have just a li'l further to go before I can convert completely.

bulliver · 10-22-2007, 08:40 PM

Quote:

wot sig?

I'm sure you meant:

Nope. I mean the script linked in my sig:

Quote:

sneetchalizer: the Swiss-Army Knife of audio conversion tools.

Tischbein · 10-23-2007, 07:45 PM

Sorry, had a blind moment. Thought you were saying that once you've gone to ogg there should be NO RETURN. Eventually I'm sure that'll be right.