No matter in which format you'd keep your audio files, it comes a time when you just need something else, a time when you had MP3 and needed AAC or proudly used OGG but had not the required WAV file and so on. I guess there is no point in me explaining further such things as your daily experience with audio should be enough proof and explanation... shortly, this is why encoder softwares, conversion softwares and similar codes have been produced. And while some are rated as being high-end and are (sometimes) expensive, other codes such as the present PowerEnc are offered for free while retaining all the processing power of their inner technology.

The Looks

Again, "looks" is just a generic term for what we have this time: the more objective and neutral term to be used would be the impersonal "GUI" as the PowerEnc has more the appearance of a DLL's frontend rather than of a proper software. Don't get me wrong and think that it sucks because it doesn't: it's just the fact that it looks very, very XP thus the rather little design-effort is visible.

Despite this (possibly) pessimistic beginning in the description of the GUI, the PowerEnc looks very neat and extremely easy to understand and learn; technically, there is nothing confusing in the interface – everything has a very clean design and the buttons are very large, with both graphical elements and text so they are pretty intuitive. For example, the red squares containing the "+" and the "-" signs clearly speak about the Add/Remove files functions on the respective buttons.

Most of the PowerEnc’s space is dedicated to the tracklist, be that the CD's one or simply, the "to do" list. As the size of PowerEnc’s window isn't scalable under a certain dimension (but enlargeable up to fullscreen) the titles and other info remain readable, which is very good! The tracklist supports dragging and dropping very well as the user can drop entire folders in it thus making generic operation for larger amounts of files a much easier task. Switching the tracklist (and whole functionality) between file mode and disc mode is extremely easy as all the user has to do is click one of the corresponding tabs; still, the same non-complicated procedure perfectly fit for every kind of user...

The Encoder button makes this even easier: one click on it and you can directly and instantly choose the file format to which you want either your CD ripped to or your files converted. The encoders' settings may be a bit hard to find as you have to right-click and choose the corresponding field in the opening menu. Once here, all is rather clear as drop down menus and checkboxes will do for everything. Altogether, the GUI for PowerEnc is luminous and has true clarity, making things very easy; even if lacking the appealing looks of an eye-candy software, it is still perfectly usable and even better for beginners.

The Works

Basically, there are 2 things PowerEnc has been built for: ripping the content of audio CDs and converting different file formats in each other. No matter which of these would you choose, you'll smile in joy as you see the speed PowerEnc is capable of. Be it ripping to WAV or high-quality AAC, or simply batch-processing different files to a certain file format, PowerEnc will deliver very good results in a very satisfactory amount of time so this is one feature which will add good points to the final result of this review.

The nice thing about loading files in the tracklist is that PowerEnc supports full drag-and-drop: you can drop entire folders in it, regardless of the file formats’ differences – just drop them all in there and set the resulting format. Then press Start and have a cup of tea as PowerEnc will do its job! Truly easy steps that any user can take in order to get the desired results.

One also nice feature is that you can not only set the output folder for the processed audio but as well, you can set the filename of this location and even the subdirectories, if needed, thus obtaining already grouped items, should you need to rip/create albums and so on. Accessing the FreeDB data is not automatic but the response after a manual request is very fast and accurate info is thus instantly available; if you want to further add information to the resulting tracks, it's easy: press the Info button and you can edit the tags directly in a very simple and convenient manner.

Besides a little mishap with the translation of the shortcut commands, the PowerEnc does no seem to be flawed by anything. The Settings menu is rather poorly-gifted but really, I guess that PowerEnc has sufficient resources by itself already as to be able to run smoothly and deliver audio as good as possible... I sincerely hope you'll download it, especially that it's totally free and give it a thorough spin to convince yourselves that it is a really nice piece of code.

The Good

It's freeware, it's fast, it's easy to use and learn, even for beginners or first-time users! What more?

The Bad

The translation isn't yet ready from German but that's nothing to impede your work; maybe some more accurate settings and obviously more accessible encoder settings access would fit just well...

The Truth

PowerEnc is surely not a groundbreaking software nor a huge step in human technology. But it's the small pleasures that make life good – and looks like in IT, things aren't different either...

Download PowerEnc but first take a look at the screenshots I prepared for you: