WAV to FLAC Converter

How to Convert WAV to FLAC Online

1. Upload Your WAV File: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to load .wav audio from your device. Batch uploads are supported, so you can convert an entire album in one pass.
2. Set Compression Level: Default is level 12 on our slider (FLAC's reference encoder defines levels 0-8; we map higher slider values to the slowest, smallest preset). Pick 5 for the FFmpeg/reference default balance, 8 for maximum compression with no quality difference, or 1-3 for fast encodes on large libraries.
3. Pick Sample Rate, Channels, or Trim (Optional): Leave Audio Sample Rate and Audio Channel at "Original" to keep a bit-perfect copy. Change them only if you need to downmix stereo to mono or resample (e.g., 96 kHz down to 44.1 kHz for CD-target archives). Use Trim to clip silence off the head or tail in HH:MM:SS format.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download the .flac. Files stay in your private session — no watermarks, no sign-up, no email required.

Why Convert WAV to FLAC?

WAV is uncompressed PCM — every sample stored verbatim, no decoder math needed. That makes it the editing/mastering exchange format, but it also means a 60-minute 16-bit/44.1 kHz stereo session is ~600 MB and a 24-bit/96 kHz session is ~2 GB. FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec, first released July 2001 by Josh Coalson and the Xiph.Org Foundation; standardised as RFC 9639 in December 2024) shrinks that to roughly 50-70% of the original size while remaining bit-for-bit reversible — decode the FLAC back to WAV and the SHA-256 of the PCM payload matches the source exactly.

• Library archival — A 1 TB hard drive holds ~1,700 hours of 16/44.1 WAV but ~3,000+ hours of the same recordings as FLAC. Tag support (Vorbis comments) means metadata stays embedded, unlike bare WAV's RIFF INFO chunks that many players ignore.
• High-resolution masters from DAWs — Pro Tools, Logic, Reaper, and Studio One all export WAV; FLAC compresses 24-bit/96 kHz and 24-bit/192 kHz stems for cloud backup without touching a single sample.
• Streaming-service deliverables — Tidal HiFi Plus, Qobuz, Apple Music Lossless, and Amazon Music Unlimited all stream FLAC (Apple wraps theirs in ALAC, conceptually equivalent). Aggregators (DistroKid, CD Baby, AWAL) accept FLAC as a master.
• HiFi playback — Hardware DACs and network streamers (Bluesound Node, Cambridge CXN, FiiO, Astell&Kern, Sonos S2) play FLAC natively over USB, DLNA, and Roon. Android plays FLAC system-wide; iOS 11+ added native FLAC playback in Files and many third-party players.
• Field-recording and concert tapes — A Zoom H6 or Sound Devices MixPre saves WAV; converting to FLAC before uploading to Internet Archive or etree.org is the community-standard archival step.
• Email and cloud sharing — A single 24-bit/96 kHz 5-minute song is ~85 MB as WAV but ~50-60 MB as FLAC, fitting under Gmail's 25 MB cap when split, or sliding into a Dropbox/Drive sync without eating quota.

WAV vs FLAC — Format Comparison

FLAC Compression Level Quick Guide

Higher levels take longer to encode but decode at the same speed — the file plays identically regardless of which level produced it. The audio data is mathematically identical at every level; only the encoder's compression search depth changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will converting WAV to FLAC lose any audio quality?

No. FLAC is mathematically lossless — decoding the FLAC back to PCM produces a bit-for-bit identical waveform to the source WAV. If you run a cmp or checksum on the PCM payload from a FLAC decoded with flac -d and the original WAV's data chunk, they match exactly. Compression levels affect file size and encode time only, not the decoded audio.

Why is the FLAC file still relatively large compared to MP3?

Because FLAC keeps every sample. A 3-minute song that's 30 MB as WAV becomes ~15-21 MB as FLAC but only ~3-7 MB as 192-320 kbps MP3 — MP3 throws away frequencies your ear is least likely to notice. If you need true archival fidelity, use FLAC. If you need small files for portable players or messaging, convert to MP3 instead.

Does my phone or car stereo play FLAC?

Most modern devices do. Android has played FLAC natively since version 3.1 (2011). iOS gained native FLAC support in iOS 11 (2017) — the Files app, VLC, Foobar2000 Mobile, and Doppler all play it. CarPlay and Android Auto stream FLAC from compatible apps. Older car head units, cheap Bluetooth speakers, and pre-2017 iPods may not — for them, keep an MP3 or AAC backup.

Should I pick compression level 5 or level 8?

Level 5 is the FFmpeg/reference encoder default and what most rippers (dBpoweramp, EAC, foobar2000) use out of the box. Level 8 squeezes another 1-3% off the file size at roughly 3-5x the encode time. Both produce identical audio when decoded. Pick 8 only if you're archiving once and storage matters more than encoding time; pick 5 for everything else.

Can I convert FLAC back to WAV without quality loss?

Yes. FLAC is fully reversible: decoding it gives you bit-identical PCM. Use our FLAC to WAV converter when you need to load the file into a DAW that doesn't natively read FLAC (older Pro Tools versions, some hardware samplers) or burn an audio CD.

What's the difference between FLAC and ALAC?

Both are lossless and produce identical decoded audio, but ALAC (Apple Lossless) is Apple's format, used in iTunes/Music and Apple Music Lossless tier; FLAC is the open-source Xiph format dominant everywhere else. Apple finally added FLAC playback to iOS/macOS in 2017 (iOS 11), so the practical interoperability gap has narrowed. FLAC typically achieves slightly better compression than ALAC on most material.

What sample rate and bit depth should I keep?

Leave both at "Original" unless you have a specific reason. Resampling 96 kHz to 44.1 kHz or converting 24-bit to 16-bit involves dithering and is technically lossy. Only downsample when the destination demands it (CD-targeted archives at 16/44.1, podcast publishing at 48 kHz). FLAC itself supports up to 32-bit integer samples and 1,048,575 Hz per RFC 9639, so it can hold any source you throw at it.

Does FLAC preserve metadata like artist, album, and album art?

Yes. FLAC uses Vorbis comments for tags (ARTIST, ALBUM, TITLE, TRACKNUMBER, DATE, GENRE, REPLAYGAIN) and a dedicated PICTURE block for embedded cover art (JPEG, PNG). This is markedly better than WAV's RIFF INFO/BWF metadata, which many players ignore or strip. Most rippers and tag editors (Mp3tag, MusicBrainz Picard, Kid3) handle FLAC tags natively.

Can I batch-convert a whole album or library?

Yes. Drop a folder of WAVs in at once and they'll all encode with the same compression level and sample-rate settings. For very large libraries (thousands of files), a desktop tool like FFmpeg, dBpoweramp Batch Converter, or foobar2000's Converter component will be faster than any web tool because they can use every CPU core for hours; for one-off albums and EPs, browser conversion is the simpler workflow.