FLAC to WMA Converter

FLAC or WMA — Which Should You Use?

The short answer: convert to WMA only when a specific Windows-era device or program insists on it, and keep the FLAC. FLAC is lossless, open and plays natively on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and every serious desktop player. WMA is Microsoft's lossy codec from 1999, wrapped in the Advanced Systems Format container, and it is at home on Windows Media Player, older Windows car head units, Zune hardware and legacy Windows Mobile devices — and awkward almost everywhere else.

So this conversion is a compatibility move, not a quality or convenience one. If the receiving device is modern, MP3 or AAC will do the same job with far better support. If it genuinely only lists WMA, this page produces exactly that.

FLAC and WMA Side by Side

Which WMA This Tool Writes

"WMA" is really a family of four Microsoft codecs, and only the first one is produced here. This matters because people often arrive looking for WMA Lossless and would end up with something quite different:

The Audio Codec control on this page offers WMA v2 and WMA v1. Leave it on WMA v2 — it is the default and what every WMA-capable player since 1999 expects. WMA v1 exists only for decoders old enough to predate the v2 bitstream tweak, and there is no quality reason to pick it.

When WMA Is the Right Call

• A car head unit, Zune, Windows Mobile device or set-top box lists WMA in its supported formats and does not list FLAC.
• You are matching an existing WMA library so that one Windows-based system plays everything the same way.
• A Windows-only application refuses your FLAC files outright and you would rather convert than install a codec pack.
• Someone specifically asked you for .wma and cannot accept MP3 or AAC.

When to Keep FLAC

• You are archiving. FLAC is lossless, open, and specified in RFC 9639, so it will still be readable in decades.
• Your players are modern. MP3 and AAC are also lossy but play on far more hardware than WMA, without any Windows dependency.
• You want lossless on Apple gear — WMA Lossless has very little support outside Microsoft's own stack, so ALAC or FLAC is the practical choice.
• You need more than two channels or a sample rate above 48 kHz. The standard WMA codec cannot carry either.

How to Convert FLAC to WMA

1. Upload Your FLAC File: Drag and drop your .flac files onto the page or click "+ Add Files". Several files can be queued and converted in one pass with the same settings.
2. Check the Audio Codec, then pick a bitrate: Leave Audio Codec on WMA v2 unless a very old decoder needs v1. Under File Compression, Constant Bitrate is the direct control (the dropdown runs 8 kbps to 384 kbps); Custom Bitrate, Specific file size and Quality Preset are the alternatives.
3. Set Audio Channel, Audio Sample Rate and Trim: Leave Audio Channel and Audio Sample Rate on "ORIGINAL" to mirror the source — the codec caps out at stereo and 48 kHz anyway. Switch to MONO for spoken word. Trim exports a single start time and duration.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and download the .wma. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, converted on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours later — no sign-up, no watermark.

What Bitrate You Actually Get

The WMA encoder rounds each request up to one of its own internal rate steps, so the finished file is usually a little larger than the number you selected — and substantially larger at the top of the scale. These are measured results for a 60-second 44.1 kHz stereo source:

The practical reading: 128 kbps and 160 kbps are the efficient rungs for music. Anything at or above 192 kbps jumps to the same 276 kbps output, so selecting 256 kbps buys nothing over 192 kbps, and 320 kbps doubles the file again for no audible return.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I lose audio quality converting FLAC to WMA?

Yes. FLAC reconstructs the original samples exactly; standard WMA is a perceptual codec that discards what its model judges least audible, and that data is gone for good. At 128–160 kbps the difference is hard to hear on typical Windows-era speakers and car systems, which is what this format is normally for. Converting the WMA back to FLAC later rewraps the degraded audio rather than repairing it, so keep the original FLAC as your master.

Does this output lossy WMA or WMA Lossless?

Lossy, always. The Audio Codec control offers WMA v2 and WMA v1, both of which are the standard lossy codec — WMA Lossless is a separate Microsoft codec and is not produced here. That is not much of a loss in practice: WMA Lossless plays on very little outside Microsoft's own software, whereas your FLAC already plays on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android. If lossless is the goal, keep the FLAC.

What is the difference between WMA v1 and WMA v2?

Both appear under Audio Codec, and both are the standard lossy Windows Media Audio codec; v2 arrived in 1999 shortly after v1 with minor bitstream changes and became the version everything supports. Use WMA v2 unless you are feeding a decoder old enough to predate it — a first-generation Windows Media Player install or an early portable device. There is no fidelity advantage to v1 at any bitrate.

What bitrate should I choose for FLAC to WMA?

For music, select 128 kbps or 160 kbps. As the measured table above shows, those land at roughly 138 and 184 kbps respectively and are the efficient points on the encoder's internal ladder. Selecting 192 kbps or higher all lands at about 276 kbps, and 320 kbps jumps to roughly 551 kbps — a big file for no audible gain from a codec designed around much lower rates. For audiobooks and spoken word, 64–96 kbps in mono is plenty.

Can I play WMA files on a Mac, Linux machine or iPhone?

Not natively in most cases. WMA support is strongest on Windows; macOS, iOS, Android and most Linux desktops do not decode it out of the box. VLC plays WMA on every major desktop OS and is the simplest fix, and foobar2000 handles it on Windows. If any part of your audience is on Apple or Android hardware, MP3 or AAC removes the problem entirely — that is the single strongest argument against choosing WMA today.

Does converting to WMA keep my tags and album art?

Text tags do. Title, artist and album from the FLAC's Vorbis comments are written into the ASF container's own tag fields, so Windows Media Player and File Explorer will show them. Embedded cover art does not survive — the audio pipeline exports only the audio stream, so a picture stored inside the FLAC is dropped. Re-add artwork in your player afterwards if it matters.

Why is my WMA bigger than I asked for?

Because the encoder allocates bits in coarse blocks and rounds your request up to the nearest rate it can actually produce. In our testing a nominal 128 kbps encode of a 60-second 44.1 kHz stereo file came out at 1,034,144 bytes — about 138 kbps rather than the arithmetic 960,000 bytes. The effect is small at the bottom of the range and dramatic at the top, where 320 kbps produces roughly 551 kbps of data. If a hard size limit matters, use Specific file size instead and let the encoder work backwards from your target.

How is my upload handled, and how long do you keep it?

Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection, converted on our servers, and both the upload and the result are deleted automatically a few hours later. Nothing is shared or made public, there is no account to create and no watermark is added. Want a more universal lossy file instead? FLAC to MP3 plays on essentially everything. Starting from an uncompressed master rather than FLAC? See WAV to WMA. Going the other direction, WMA to FLAC rewraps the audio losslessly without restoring what WMA discarded.