When you'd do this
You're archiving recordings or a CD collection and want them lossless, but WAVs take too much room.
What to expect
A 4-minute CD-quality WAV is about 40 MB. The FLAC comes out at about 30 MB at most, and usually nearer half the WAV — music compresses less than speech or silence, but it's always the same sound.
Recommended settings
Use the WAV's own bit depth: 24-bit for studio recordings, 16-bit (the default) for CD audio. A 24-bit WAV made 16-bit is rounded, which is no longer lossless.
Where it plays
Android phones, Windows, VLC, foobar2000 and most music players; on iPhone in the Files app. iTunes and Apple Music don't play FLAC.
Good to know
- A FLAC made here can be up to 60 minutes long.
- A rate FLAC's encoder doesn't take (11.025 kHz, say) is resampled, and the row says so.
- Tags you'd want in an archive aren't added — tag the FLACs afterwards.
How to do it
- Choose your WAV files, or drop them on the page — as many as you like.
- Each is set to FLAC. Change one on its own row if you like, and the bit depth and the channels in Settings.
- Convert all, then download each FLAC, or all of them in one .zip.
Questions
- Is FLAC really lossless?
- Yes. Decoded, a FLAC gives back exactly the samples that went in.
- How much smaller is FLAC than WAV?
- Usually a half to two thirds of the WAV for music; more for speech and quiet recordings.
- Will FLAC play on my iPhone?
- In the Files app and apps like VLC, yes; in Apple Music, no.