Topic: Transferring, Tracking, Tagging, FLACing for dummies?

[cottle]

Apologies in advance for the newbie post.  Is there an all-in-one FAQ somewhere that explains (in layman's terms) the process of what to do with your WAV files once you've finished taping the show?  I've read through the sticky notes on this page, and I've tried to read through the etree FAQ's, but I still feel clueless.
How many different programs do I really need to be able to track, tag, FLAC, dither, resample or whatever else I'll need to do?  I've downloaded Audacity and CDWave, but haven't expiremented with either one yet, as I haven't taped a show yet.  If there is one program that can do everything, that's probaby the one I'd like to use.  I don't mind paying for decent software, but if I can get away with using shareware, that'd be great too.

I'm thinking that I should just record everything in 16/44.1 until I'm a little more comfortable, so that I can save myself the steps of resampling/dithering, but at the same time, I'd love to be able to record in 24 bit and offer up 24 bit FLACS/torrents as well as the good old fashioned 16-bit audio discs.

I can't remember what program I used to use to transfer DATs, I think it was whatever software came with the M-Audio 24/96 soundcard.  But then again, that was all recorded in 16/44.1, so I never had to deal with re-sampling, I just split the tracks and burned the discs.  I never bothered converting to SHN (FLAC wasn't around yet back then), so that whole part of the process is brand new to me.

Thanks in advance for any assistance, and for reading through this ridiculously long post.

[Scooter123]

EQ and Processing

I use a program called Gold Wave which is $30 and is very simple.  And the end of the process I save the file to 16b 44htz. 

Tracking

I also use Gold Wave for this, and one puts markers at the beginning of each song, called a "cue."  One names the cue, e.g., "I Want to Hold Your Hand."  When you are done, there is a track splitting program which automatically splits and names the files to your protocol.  Mine is Beatles - 01 I Want to Hold Your Hand.wave.

Flac Conversion

I use a program called Media Monkey and you simply highlight the files you want to convert, and preso in about 2 minutes they are converted to flac.

[cottle]

Thanks for the advice!  I'll have to check that GoldWave out. 

[Brian Skalinder]

There are lots of different apps for transferring, tracking, tagging, and FLACing.  In addition to Goldwave, some of the more common audio editors include freeware Audacity, inexpensive but powerful Samplitude SE, and more expensive WaveLab, Sound Forge, and others.  Check the stickied thread at the top of the forum for links to many apps, under Software, General. 

[cottle]

Thanks B.  I went back and thoroughly read the sticky notes, and I think I've found answers for most of my questions.

[sanaka]

FWIW, I love Audition and use it for everything post recording. I record at 24bit, which Audition performs edits on at 32bit (and Ozone plugin, which is awesome, even deals w/ at 64bit). It can resample/dither down to CD or whatever, and there's a plugin that lets it read and write flac files too. I guess buying Audition outright is kinda expensive now that it's an Adobe product - I've just followed the upgrade path since it was CoolEdit - but well worth it. Actually I'm still at Audition ver. 1.5, haven't been convinced I need to upgrade from there yet.

Peace,
Sanaka