convert

Convert audio files between formats and update the Rekordbox database to point at the new files. Your cues, analysis, beatgrids, and all metadata are preserved.

Supported Formats

Input: FLAC, AIFF, WAV (hi-res formats only — lossy-compressed sources are skipped)
Output: AIFF (default), FLAC, WAV, or MP3 (320kbps CBR)

Tracks already in the target format are skipped, as are tracks whose output file already exists (override with --overwrite).

Bit Depth and Sample Rate

All conversions target 16-bit / 44.1 kHz, with a few nuances:

A source already at the target bit depth and sample rate converts losslessly.
A higher-resolution source (say 24-bit or 96 kHz) is down-sampled to the target, and is considered lossy even between lossless formats.
Other than conversion to MP3, which always encode to 44.1 kHz, a source with a lower sample rate than the target fidelity keeps its original sample rate.

Originals: Delete or Keep

--delete-originals controls what happens to the source file after a successful conversion:

lossless (default) — delete the original only when the conversion lost no audio information; keep it when the conversion was lossy (MP3 output or down-sampled hi-res output)
all — always delete the original
none — never delete the original

Examples

# Preview conversion
rbe convert --format-out aiff --format flac --dry-run

# Convert and skip confirmation
rbe convert --format-out wav --artist "Burial" --yes

# Convert to MP3 but delete originals
rbe convert --format-out mp3 --playlist "Export" --yes --delete-originals all

# Keep originals when converting to AIFF
rbe convert --format-out aiff --format flac --yes --delete-originals none

# Get just the IDs of files that would be converted
rbe convert --format-out aiff --format flac --print ids --dry-run

# Convert everything a search finds
rbe search --artist "Lauryn Hill" --print ids | rbe convert --yes

Guardrails

Without flags, convert shows every planned change and asks once before applying. --interactive confirms each track individually; --dry-run previews without writing; --yes confirms the default choice for all prompts without asking.
Editing while Rekordbox is open risks corrupting your database. By default convert warns and asks for confirmation (defaulting to no, so a --yes would exit); in a non-interactive mode (e.g. --print ids) it throws an error.

Reference

rbe convert

Convert hi-res audio files between formats and update RekordBox database.

Supports conversion from any hi-res format (FLAC, AIFF, WAV) to: AIFF, FLAC, WAV, or MP3. Skips lossy formats and files already in the target format.

Lossless conversions target 16-bit/44.1 kHz: higher-resolution sources are down-sampled, and sources below the target keep their own sample rate rather than being up-sampled.

Usage:

rbe convert [OPTIONS] [TRACK_IDS]...

Options:

  --delete-originals [none|lossless|all]
                                  When to delete original files after
                                  conversion: 'lossless' deletes them only
                                  when no audio information was lost (down-
                                  sampling and MP3 output count as lossy),
                                  'all' always deletes them, 'none' never
                                  deletes them (default: lossless)
  --overwrite                     Overwrite existing output files instead of
                                  skipping them
  --format-out [aiff|flac|wav|mp3]
                                  Output format (default: aiff)
  --dry-run                       Show what would change without writing to
                                  the database or filesystem
  -y, --yes                       Skip confirmation prompt
  -i, --interactive               Confirm each item individually before
                                  applying changes
  --track-id TEXT                 Filter by the given Database Track ID
  --title TEXT                    Find track names that include this value
  --exact-title TEXT              Find track names that are exactly this value
  --playlist TEXT                 Find tracks in playlists whose names include
                                  this value
  --exact-playlist TEXT           Find tracks in the plalist whose name is
                                  exactly this value
  --artist TEXT                   Find tracks whose Artist names include this
                                  value
  --exact-artist TEXT             Find tracks whose Artists names are exactly
                                  this value
  --album TEXT                    Find tracks whose Album names include this
                                  value
  --exact-album TEXT              Find tracks whose Album names are exactly
                                  this value
  --path TEXT                     Find tracks whose file paths include this
                                  value
  --exact-path TEXT               Find tracks whose file paths are exactly
                                  this value
  --format [mp3|flac|aiff|wav|m4a]
                                  Find tracks of this format
  --first INTEGER RANGE           Return only the first N results  [x>=1]
  --last INTEGER RANGE            Return only the last N results  [x>=1]
  --match-all                     Results must match all given filters
  --print [silent|ids|info|debug|json]
                                  Configures the kind of console output you
                                  want from the command, if any. Use 'ids' to
                                  pipe a list of resulting content IDs or
                                  'json' to pipe full track records into
                                  another command.
  --database-path PATH            Path to master.db. Bypasses Rekordbox
                                  installation discovery.
  --help                          Show this message and exit.