How to split a flac file into separate tracks?

Audrey Lee November 23, 2022 Audio Edit

Developed by Xiph.Org Foundation, FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, which is a lossless audio compression format designed to compress audio files without loss. What makes this format outstanding is its ability to perfectly and completely preserve the original audio quality. Therefore, songs in FLAC format are of good quality.

This advantage comes with the disadvantage of large file sizes. They can consume so much memory space which is the reason why users end up in a difficult situation. How to split a FLAC file into tracks ? To get down to business, we've reviewed some of the best and most worthy audio splitters. Read on to find out how these apps can help you.

Part 1. Why do you need to separate FLAC?
Part 2: Useful ways to split FLAC
Part 3: Frequently Asked Questions about FLAC Partitioning

How to play CUE files?

How to open a CUE file

On Windows: Nero, Roxio Creator NXT Pro, Foobar2000, Corel WinDVD Pro, SQIANG Easy Cue
Editor, Smart Projects IsoBuster, EZB Systems UltraISO, Alcohol 120%, Lightning UK! ...
On Mac OS: Roxio Toast, NTI Dragon Burn, Burn, Cog, VideoLAN VLC media player.
On Linux: VideoLAN VLC media player.

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Part 1. Why do you need to separate FLAC?

Undoubtedly, FLAC files can maintain the original audio quality without any loss of data or quality. On the one hand, songs of excellent quality in FLAC format, but on the other hand, they take up a lot of space. No matter what source you got your FLAC files from, whether you ripped them from CDs or the Internet, FLAC files are naturally large in size. Thus, many users find it necessary to learn how to cut FLAC files into multiple tracks. To save yourself time wondering which tool actually works, learn more about the audio cutters we've listed below.

find 10 differences

For example, let's compare two spectrograms of the same song (DAT ADAM - Hydra 3D): it is easy to see that MP3 seems to “cut off” high frequencies compared to lossless compression (on the left - MP3 320 kbps, on the right - FLAC spectrogram, obtained by digitizing a CD). But the question is: will you hear this difference?

A little anatomy: the human ear is theoretically capable of perceiving sounds from 16 Hz to 20 kHz. However, much depends on the age and individual characteristics of the listener. The author of this article can hear sound with a frequency of 16 kHz, but not 17 kHz and above, but there are adults (25 years and older) who are still able to perceive 18 kHz. All these frequencies are quite successfully supported by the MP3 format. If you have exceptionally acute hearing, you will be able to hear some difference in the high frequencies, but the difference is almost imperceptible to most people.

The vast majority of people cannot, for natural anatomical reasons, distinguish between high-quality MP3 320 kbps and FLAC (provided that both digital recordings are obtained from the same source). Of course, if you compress MP3 more, for example, to 96 kbps, the difference will be clearly audible even with inexpensive headphones. But in the era of terabyte storage devices, no one listens to music with such compression anymore.

Of course, the equipment used for listening also has a significant impact on the perception of music. With headphones that cost 300 rubles, it is impossible to hear all the high frequencies in a recording of a symphony orchestra, even if you have excellent hearing and a high-quality recording. However, many specialists are engaged in mixing music, taking into account the capabilities of the most popular audio equipment among consumers. Bill Ward (drummer of Black Sabbath) said that while working on his solo album Accountable Beasts (2015), he first tried to achieve a clean and distinct sound of each note, but then he realized that almost all listeners would use inexpensive equipment and would not hear all the shades and halftones. As a result, Bill bought several relatively inexpensive headphones from a nearby store and mixed the album using them.

How to split FLAC into separate tracks in software players?

Since APE and FLAC files are very similar to each other, we will consider them together. The steps to convert them into separate tracks will not differ much. And first, you should understand that cutting source files is not always advisable.

If you listen to music on your computer using software players like AIMP or Foobar, track information is extracted from the CUE file automatically, and then in the player itself you can switch between songs as easily as if they were separate files. All recent versions of AIMP work flawlessly with these formats, but for Foobar you may need to install an additional plugin.

Part 2: Useful ways to split FLAC

Vidmore Video Converter

The first tool you can use to cut FLAC files is Vidmore Video Converter. It is a versatile multimedia package that has impressive tools for editing video and audio files. You can use this program on both Mac and Windows PC without any complicated setup. With it, you can cut audio files by simply specifying the duration in seconds or by moving the markers to the part you want to keep. On the other hand, it has a split feature that allows you to trim the introductory part of the audio with one click.

This is especially useful if a long ad is included at the beginning of a long intro to an audio clip. Moreover, it allows you to convert your audio/video files to your desired format with support for various media formats. The best part is that you can unleash your inner artist using a video editor tool with multiple video editing features. Indeed, Vidmore Video Converter is a functional and useful program that can help you cut FLAC files. Follow the guide below to learn how to operate this tool.

Step 1: Get the app installer.

First of all, get the program installer by clicking one of the Free Download buttons below. Quickly install and launch it on your computer.

Step 2: Add a FLAC file

Then load the FLAC file you want to split or cut by clicking the Plus signature button on the main interface. Additionally, you can drag and drop the file for your convenience.

Step 3: Trim FLAC Files

Once the target FLAC file is loaded, click the Cut icon and you will be redirected to its music editor. At the bottom left of the interface, click on the Quick Split button. In the dialog box, check Divide by Average and enter the appropriate number of tracks in the text box. Hit Chop and the track will be cut according to the specified number of tracks. Then click the Save button to confirm the changes.

Step 4: Save the final result.

Listen to the trimmed audio and click the Save button to confirm your changes. Go back to the Converter tab and then click the Convert All button to save the file to your computer.

Medieval CUE Splitter

Medieval CUE Splitter is a free software that allows users to cut, split and trim audio files while offering support for uncompressed PCM such as FLAC, WAVE, OGG, WMA and many more. As a result, users can cut FLAC files into multiple smaller tracks or chunks. For audiophiles who are into editing parameters, you can also change the volume and bitrate to achieve excellent sound quality.

The only downside of this tool is that it only supports a few audio formats. Additionally, these audio files must contain an embedded CUE text file in order to be manipulated by the program. Now, to know how to split FLAC files with CUE using this tool, you can refer to the steps below.

Step 1: Download Medieval Cue Splitter

Firstly, go to the official webpage of the tool and download CUE splitter on your Windows computer. Follow the onscreen instructions and launch the software.

Step 2: Download the FLAC file.

From the top menu, go to File > Open CUE File... Then select the CUE files you want to split using this program. You can also add more than one FLAC CUE file if you want to split your audio files into groups.

Step 3: Split FLAC Using CUE

Once the FLAC file is loaded, simply click the Split button in the lower left corner of the panel to split the file into individual tracks.

foobar2000

foobar2000 is also a good program that can help you split or cut audio files, including FLAC files. The program has an intuitive and universal interface that allows you to effectively organize media files. Apart from trimming FLAC files, it also works great as a CD ripper, allowing you to rip tracks from discs. Additionally, foobar2000 cab cut long FLAC files into separate tracks. By the way, here's how you can manage this application.

Step 1: Get foobar2000

Firstly, purchase foobar2000 on your Windows computer by visiting its official website. Click the download link below the latest download. Follow the installation wizard and launch the application after successful installation.

Step 2: Add FLAC to the application.

Open the program and download the file by going to File > Open. Import CUE files into the application.

Step 3: Split the FLAC File

Once the FLAC file is loaded, you will find that it is automatically split into multiple tracks. To save the split audio, right-click the track and hover over Recycle and select Quick Conversion. By then the transformation process should begin.

Preparing for the test

2.1 Equipment

Processor: Intel Core i3 530, 2933 MHz (x86, x86-64, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2) Mat. board: Asus P7H55-V RAM: 4x2Gb DDR3-1333 Video card: nVidia GTX460 MSI Hawk 1GB DDR5

All power saving technologies and HyperThreading are disabled in the motherboard BIOS. To eliminate delays associated with writing/reading the HDD, a RAM disk (Z:, 3 GB) is used for tests.

2.2 Software

Where possible, 64-bit versions of encoders are used. For the test, the latest version of the portable foobar2000 with the necessary plugins and encoders was specially installed, after which converter profiles were previously created for each encoder.

OS:

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Video driver:
ForceWare 385.41 WHQL

——————————————————foobar2000:

Core (2017-07-10 05:24:08 UTC) foobar2000 core 1.3.16 foo_benchmark.dll (2017-09-04 20:26:52 UTC) Decoding Speed Test 1.2.3 foo_bitcompare.dll (2017-09-04 20:26:52 UTC) Binary Comparator 2.1.1 foo_converter.dll (2017-07-10 05:22:28 UTC) Converter 1.5 foo_input_la.dll (2010-12-08 22:45:00 UTC) Lossless Audio(La ) Decoder 0.01 FOO_inPut_Monkey.dll (2017-09-04 20:26:54 UTC) Monkey's Audio Decoder 2.7 FOO_inPut_OFR.DLL (2017-09-05 14:18:58 UTC) Optimfrog Losslas/Dualol Stream Decoder 1.31 Foo_input_std.dll (2017-07-10 05:22:04 UTC) FFmpeg Decoders 3.2.4 Standard Input Array 1.0 foo_input_tak.dll (2017-09-04 20:26:54 UTC) TAK Decoder 0.4.7 foo_input_tta.dll (2017-09 -04 20:26:54 UTC) TTA Audio Decoder 3.4 foo_ui_std.dll (2017-07-10 05:22:34 UTC) Default User Interface 0.9.5 foo_verifier.dll (2017-09-04 20:26:54 UTC ) File Integrity Verifier 1.1.2

——————————————————Coders:

FLAC 1.3.2 GIT20170314 x64 ICL Flake 0.11 FLACCL 2.1.6 Lossless Audio (LA) Compressor v0.4b Monkey's Audio Console Front End v4.22 OptimFROG Lossless Audio Compressor v5.100 x64 refalac 1.64 TAK v2.3.0 TTA 2.3 64-bit SSE4 WMA 0.2.9c 64-bit WavPack v5.1.0

(4.79 MB)

The player process (as well as the converter in its settings) had real-time priority set.

2.3 Musical material

For the test, a disk image of one of the modern electronic music composers was chosen. The recording has a wide frequency and relatively good dynamic range.

Artist/Album: Armin van Buuren — Mirrage File path : D:\lossless comparison\Image.wav File size : 804MB (843,702,428 bytes) Duration : 1:19:42.893 (210925596 samples) Sample rate : 44100 Hz Channels : 2 Bits per sample : 16 Bitrate : 1411 kbps Codec : PCM Encoding : lossless

2.4 Selection of encoding parameters

Initially, I planned to conduct a comparison at the maximum compression settings for each encoder. But for some reason this seemed impossible, and the meaning of such a test would be very doubtful. For example, to encode a 30-second segment of standard audio material with the OptimFROG codec with maximum parameters, it takes 230 seconds (encoding speed about 0.13x). Thus, I formulated the following requirements:

encoding speed at least 1x
decoding speed at least 2x
ability to use scrolling for compressed files.

Since the compression gain decreases as the parameters increase, the compression ratio with the parameters I selected is practically no different from the maximum.

General converter parameters: Output bit depth:
Auto Dither: Never Output folder: Source track folder Fiilename pattern: %filename% Processing: None When finished: Do nothing
Encoders and parameters

Note: For coders without the ability to encode on the fly, the input file was specified directly in the parameters (instead of the %s variable). This is done so that encoding occurs directly from the source file to the final one, without creating a temporary one (which takes a significant amount of time and distorts the results). Below the parameters for the mentioned encoders are listed with the %s variable.

Human hearing and its limits - psychoacoustics

The fact is that the main task of the Fraunhhofer Society is the development of psychoacoustic models of human sound perception.
And there are many subtleties here. The main thing is that we are not dolphins. Secondly, there are certain restrictions on the number of simultaneously perceived sounds. A person can simultaneously hear no more than 250 sounds from 24 ranges (and the number of simultaneous sounds in the range is also quite small).

Thirdly, the audible range ranges from 16 Hz to 20 kHz and decreases by almost half by the age of 60. Ideally, and with training (yes, yes, it needs to be trained!).

All frequencies below 100 Hz are perceived not by auditory cells, but... by the skin. Then the low waves are reflected in the auditory canal - these waves are perceived as infrabass. (This is from the area of bone conduction.)

Moreover, the number of cells that record acoustic waves is different for each person. Why, for each individual person their number in the right and left ear is different.

By the way, the perception of each ear is different. Swap the channels in your favorite song and get a new sound.

If you dig deeper, it turns out that each frequency of sound is perceived only at a certain volume. When it is reached, silence is replaced by a sharp and quite distinct sound. Afterwards, a person can hear a quieter sound of this frequency.

Another interesting property of hearing is that the lower the volume level, the lower its resolution and the smaller the number of perceived sounds. When the volume is lowered, high frequencies are better perceived, and when the volume is increased, low frequencies are better perceived. And they do not complement, but replace each other.

A person does not perceive some sounds, concentrating attention on others. Please note - usually one instrument or vocal is heard clearly and consciously

Everything else turns into a background or a single consonance. And no matter what we concentrate on in the composition, we cannot increase the number of perceived basic sounds.

MediaHuman Audio Converter

Considering all the main decisions regarding how to split FLAC into FLAC tracks or use another format as an output, you cannot ignore the MediaHuman Audio Converter program, which performs the required actions just as well and allows you to change the output format in a fairly wide range. In the application, you just need to drag the source file into the work area.

If there is a CUE card in the catalog, the program will offer to split it into tracks automatically. Next, you can specify the output format and click the start conversion button. As you can see, everything is simple.

Note: when installing the main application, pay special attention to offers for installing additional Yandex components, which you can refuse if necessary. Otherwise, they will be installed automatically, so then do not be surprised that you will have unnecessary services, active processes or links (shortcuts) on the “Desktop”. In addition, some settings regarding the default browser used on the system may change.

Part 3: Frequently Asked Questions about FLAC Partitioning

How to split FLAC files using CUE?

It's easy with the right tool. You can choose between Medieval CUE Splitter and foobar2000. For ease of use, you would probably choose Medieval CUE Splitter.

How to split FLAC files without CUE?

In this case, the best program for you is Vidmore. The tool does not require the FLAC file to have CUE in order for you to cut FLAC files.

How to split FLAC on Linux?

Consider using a Linux-compatible program such as Audacity. This program is easy to use and can be used on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.

What is MP3

MP3 is a codec for recording and storing audio. The most common format for music. Supported on all computers, tablets, phones, players, TVs. The files have the extension .mp3.

Format characteristics:

Bitrate 8-320 kbps.
Sampling frequency up to 48 kHz.
The maximum number of channels is 2.
Quantization 16-24 bits.

MP3 was developed by the German Fraunhofer IIS Institute for Integrated Circuits in 1993. With the support of THOMSON, it was implemented inside the MPEG1 and MPEG2 video formats. The format works with streaming files if it encodes them one at a time.

MP3 uses the Layer 3 algorithm. It compresses the source file, depending on the settings, by 80% and takes into account the following points:

Mathematical sample compression.
Features of human hearing.
Replacing inaudible frequencies.

The quality depends on the degree of compression and bitrate: the more compression, the worse the sound. an audio track of 256 kbit/s will be of higher quality than at 128 kbit/s.

At a bitrate of 320 kbps, only the final compression is used, in which the difference in quality between the original and the processed file is not felt, because only inaudible frequencies change. And the file size is reduced by a maximum of four.

Pros:

High compression with relatively little loss of quality.
Compression is adjusted during processing and listening.
Meta tags to indicate information about the artist.
Supported by all devices from computer to old phone.

Minuses:

Low bitrate up to 320 kbps.
Small number of channels, only 2.
Sequential channel processing.
Reduced sound quality when compressed.

Sound quality

If the CUE FLAC division is performed without resampling, in order to preserve maximum quality, the Don't make DSP... should have been unchecked.

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