Tranzcode

Audio file conversion is a task that is not too common for the regular user and only in special instances does one need to turn a music track form one format into another. Working at the level of sound channels is even more rare and for this reason utilities like Tranzcode are better suited for advanced users and experienced professionals.

The purpose of this particular program is to obtain mono audio tracks from a selected multichannel source, like DTS or Dolby Digital files. More precisely, Tranzcode is able to decode 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 and any similar type of input into individual mono sound files that correspond each to a channel (front, left, right center, front left, etc.).

This tool is designed to be deployed from Command Prompt as a basic rule and through the use of proper commands and parameters you should be able to complete the task fairly easily. It is very important to pay attention to the instructions and learn the accepted syntax in order to get the desired results.

There are some required parameters and some optional ones, that can be inserted to obtain, for example, a certain output prefix for the mono sound files that will result after the transcoding is complete.

To make it easier for those who are reluctant to use Tranzcode from command-line, a small executable with a graphical interface is also bundled. This utility is more friendly for less experienced users and only needs to have the input file and output location specified.

Tranzcode has some nifty tricks up its sleeve, but you can use them only if you stay in the Command Prompt realm. These extra functions allow it to change the sample rate to 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz or 96 kHz and also change the bit depth inside a range that starts from 8-bit integer output and can reach 64-bit floating point output.

As a transcoding tool this software solution seems somehow unfinished. The command-line usage is not to tricky, but the GUI mode has some glitches while the very limited support for input formats is clearly to its disadvantage when compared to similar programs.