Flipping To FLAC, Turning To Torrents

I've been mulling over this for a while now, but I've decided to take the plunge and start encoding my rips as FLACs rather than MP3s. It's the best way of ensuring as flawless a copy as possible of the original vinyl (within the restrictions of the kit I use). With a FLAC file you're getting the full package, without the audio compression you get from MP3s. FLAC files can be converted back to WAV files (for burning CDs) to give you a perfect copy of the original audio. What's more, you can compress FLACs to MP3s if you want smaller files for your pocket player, just as you would a normal CD.

The big drawback with FLAC files is their size – although they're about 30% smaller than WAV files, they're also around 4 times as big as MP3s. For that reason, I've also decided to use torrents to share them. In part, this is due to my normal free host (MediaFire) being a right pain to use since they 'upgraded' and uploads constantly failing. Folders also tend to disappear if they're not accessed after a certain time. I'll keep trying to upload to MF, but I can't guarantee making files available this way any more.

If you don't know a thing about torrents, don't worry, there was a time when I didn't either. If an old fart like me can work it out, then there's hope for everyone else.

You'll need a piece of software called a torrent client – I use uTorrent. There have been reports of problems with the 2.x release of the program at the time of writing, so I would suggest grabbing a 1.x version from FileHippo until they get it sorted (I'll let you know when I know).

Read through this guide and follow the steps carefully. If you use a router, you will need to pay close attention to setting up a static IP and forwarding your ports (!) – don't worry, it's a lot easier than it sounds if you're methodical and follow the instructions.

That's it.

To get my torrents, click on the torrent link at the bottom of the post. This will take you to another post containing the actual torrent file in my torrent forum. Click on the torrent file and select 'Open With uTorrent' (or whatever other client you use) if the dialogue box appears.  If you don't want to do this every time, you should be able to set uTorrent as your default torrent program and avoid this step. uTorrent's beginner's guide should give you all the details you need.

If you can't work it out, let me know and I'll see what I can do to help.