AIFF to FLAC Converter

AIF to FLAC Converter

.aif is simply Apple's AIFF format under its three-letter, Windows-safe extension — the bytes inside an .aif and an .aiff are identical, so this page handles both. AIFF stores uncompressed PCM, which makes a CD-quality stereo file run to roughly 10 MB per minute; FLAC keeps every sample bit-for-bit while typically shrinking it to around half that size. Converting .aif to FLAC is a lossless-to-lossless move that buys you smaller files and far richer tagging.

AIF (AIFF) Format at a Glance

FLAC Format at a Glance

How to Convert AIF to FLAC

1. Upload Your AIF File: Drag and drop your .aif or .aiff file onto the page, or click "+ Add Files" to browse. GarageBand and Logic bounces, ProTools renders, and Mac CD-rips all work, and you can queue several files in one batch.
2. Set the Compression Level: Open Advanced Options and use the Compression level slider (1 to 12). A higher level produces a smaller FLAC and takes a little longer to encode; it never changes the audio, because FLAC decodes back to the exact original PCM.
3. Adjust Audio Sample Rate or Channel (Optional): Leave Audio Sample Rate and Audio Channel on "Original" to preserve the source exactly, or change them if you specifically need to resample or downmix. Set Trim (default "Unchanged") to export only part of the track.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your FLAC file. No sign-up, no watermark.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is .aif the same format as .aiff?

Yes — the bytes inside are identical. Apple specified the format as AIFF in 1988, but cross-platform and Windows tools of the FAT/8.3 era needed a three-letter extension, so .aif became the common spelling for the very same file. macOS, iTunes, GarageBand, and Logic Pro read both interchangeably, and the FLAC you get out is identical regardless of which extension your source carries. If you have the four-letter spelling, the AIFF to FLAC page does exactly the same conversion.

Will I lose any audio quality converting AIF to FLAC?

No, not for a normal .aif. Standard AIFF holds uncompressed PCM and FLAC is lossless, so the conversion is lossless end to end — FLAC compresses the PCM the way a ZIP compresses a document, and the decoded waveform is bit-for-bit identical to the original. The one edge case: a .aif that is secretly an AIFF-C carrying a lossy codec was already degraded before you uploaded it. FLAC will preserve that audio exactly without adding more loss, but it cannot regain detail an earlier codec discarded.

Could my .aif actually be a compressed AIFF-C file?

It is possible but uncommon. In July 1991 Apple extended AIFF as AIFF-C, which adds a four-character codec name in the file's COMM chunk; those files usually carry the .aifc extension, but some tools save them as .aif. Codecs named NONE, sowt, fl32, or fl64 are still uncompressed (PCM or float), so the conversion stays fully lossless. Names like ulaw, alaw, ima4, MAC3, or MAC6 mean the audio was already lossy. If your source is specifically AIFF-C, the AIFC to FLAC page covers that variant in more detail.

How much smaller will the FLAC be than the AIF?

It depends on the music — dense, complex audio compresses less than sparse or quiet recordings — but FLAC commonly lands around half the size of an uncompressed AIFF source. In our testing, a 16-bit / 44.1 kHz stereo album that was roughly 300 MB as AIF came down to about 180 MB as FLAC with no change to the audio. Pushing the Compression level higher squeezes out a little more at the cost of encoding time.

Does the compression level change how the FLAC sounds?

No. The Compression level slider only trades encoding time against file size. Every level from 1 to 12 produces a perfectly lossless file that decodes to identical audio; a higher level just works harder to make the file a bit smaller. There is no audio-quality setting to lose, because nothing is ever discarded.

Can I play FLAC files on my Mac or in Apple Music?

Not in Apple's own apps. iTunes, the Music app, and older iPods do not play FLAC — Apple's lossless format is ALAC. FLAC plays natively in VLC, foobar2000, and most modern non-Apple players and portable DAPs, and in current versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. If you live entirely inside the Apple ecosystem you may prefer to keep the AIFF source or convert back with FLAC to AIFF. For a small, universally playable copy instead of a lossless one, use AIF to MP3.

Will my tags and metadata carry over from AIF to FLAC?

FLAC supports rich Vorbis-comment tags and embedded cover art, so it can hold more metadata than AIFF, whose NAME / AUTH / COMT tagging is limited and inconsistent between applications. Standard tags present in the AIF are preserved where a direct FLAC equivalent exists; older .aif files burned from CDs or saved by legacy tools often have no embedded tags, in which case the output FLAC will also be untagged.

Are my uploaded files kept private?

Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public.