switch audio file converter software
Switch Sound File Converter 4.65 Beta
Switch Sound File Converter prepares your audio files for playback on any portable device. Because of its support for all popular audio formats, we can safely call it a universal audio converter.
When your music collection is populated with all sorts of audio types, except the ones you need, a third-party application is required to accomplish audio conversion without making a compromise in sound quality. If that’s the case, search no more. Switch Sound File Converter can perform this task for you at great speed, while maintaining a decent level in terms of quality.
It features support for a wide array of audio formats, among which there are the following: WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, AIF, AAC, AMR, AU to name the most important ones. Aside from performing flawless encoding, the application is also capable of extracting audio streams from video and DVD files.
Based on the preferred output format, the application allows you to customize the encoder options. For instance, if MP3 is your format of choice, you can customize the bitrate and the channel encoding mode (stereo / mono).
How does it work? You simply add the file or files you wish to convert, select the output directory and format, and hit “Convert”. You can convert one file at a time, but batch conversion is also a possibility. Also, you can listen to songs prior to conversion and you can edit tags for each audio file.
All in all, Switch Sound File Converter may be one of the simplest and most effective converters out there. With its aid, you can get your music collection ready for portable devices with very little effort.
Quick Specs
Switch Audio Converter for Mac is a sound-file format converter that takes files in a number of formats and recodes them in formats the Mac can handle. As it’s not available through the App Store at the time of review, we obtained our copy from the publisher’s Web site.
To use Switch Audio Converter for Mac you can add files to the interface through browsing or by drag and drop. The Switch Audio Converter for Mac interface is straightforward. The dialog box shows a list of files to convert, their existing format and size, and any metadata associated with the file. Icons at the top let you add more files or folders, as well as set conversion parameters and launch the conversion process on all queued files. By default, the input files are converted to MP3 format, but AIFF and WAV files are also supported. There’s the option to automatically normalize audio when converting, so volume differences can be accommodated. Also, there’s the ability to handle audio tracks from video files (AVI, MOV, and MPEG formats).
Switch Audio Converter for Mac worked as advertised, and we didn’t encounter any problems in testing. We liked the ability to create a long list of files to convert by searching folders and then trigger the conversion while we went off to do other things. While there are other apps available that provide more file format support, Switch Audio Converter for Mac has all the most commonly used formats, and we liked it.
Editors’ note: This is a review of the trial version of Switch Audio Converter 4.30.
Editors’ review
We see a lot of audio converters, and there’s really only so much that they can do to differentiate themselves from one another; we rarely see any that are particularly impressive. Switch Sound File Converter didn’t do anything that blew us away in terms of design or features, yet this lightweight, uncluttered program won us over with its simplicity and ease of use.
The program’s interface is quite basic and intuitive, with its features organized with well-labeled graphical buttons. Using the program couldn’t be easier; users simply select the files they want to convert, choose the output format and destination folder, optionally adjust the encoder options, and Switch does the rest. Although the program only supports MP3 and WAV input formats, users can convert files to 21 different file types. The program has a few nice extras, including the ability to access the freeDB Internet Database for track listing information and the option to run Switch in the background if other programs are being used. Most impressively, users can configure the program to be accessible via right-clicking; up to three right-click options can be set, and then users need only right-click on an audio file within Explorer to select the desired output format and start the conversion. The program comes with an HTML Help file that is well-written and thorough. Overall, we found Switch to be extremely simple, suitable for even file conversion novices, but customizable enough to suit more advanced users.
Switch Sound File Converter is free. The program installs a desktop icon without asking but uninstalls cleanly. We recommend this program to all users.
Publisher’s Description
Switch Plus is a professional audio file converter for Windows. It can convert mp3, wav or wma audio file formats and more to the audio file format of your choice. Switch Plus audio file converter is very easy to use. Just add the files you want to convert to the list, select the format you want to use, and then click the convert button.
Great audio file format converter
With a plethora of portable music players around and the different type of audio file formats they each play, you’re bound to have to convert your tracks every now and then - that’s where Switch comes into play.
Switch has the advantage of being free and allowing you to quickly batch convert audio tracks. Note that the free version of Switch only converts to MP3 and some of the functions are limited after 14 days, but the full version converts to more than a dozen, with all the common file types like MP3, WMA or AAC available.
You’ll also be able to set the bitrate . once again choosing from more than a dozen options and, more importantly, with a choice of variable or constant bitrate. Switch also features an error protection feature to enhance your recordings.
Switch’s toolbox feature is supposed to help you perform any audio task, but all it really does is automatically install extra software from the developer. We suggest using it only if you know precisely what you want to do and are ready to install a new application. Switch also has a feature to add CD album details from the freeDB database. Even though we tried it on a few well known tracks, it didn’t work well.
Despite these drawbacks, Switch is a speedy audio converter with many features.
Switch supports the following formats
Convert: WAV, MP3, AU, AIF/AIFF, GSM, VOX, RAW, OGG, FLAC, AAC, M4A
Also recognizes: MP2, WMA, RM/RA/RAM, DVF, MSV, DSS, CDA
