What is FLAC?
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an open-source lossless audio format that compresses audio without any quality loss. Unlike MP3 or OGG, FLAC preserves every bit of the original audio data — you can always convert back to WAV with zero quality loss.
FLAC is the preferred format for:
- Audiophile music libraries — perfect quality with 40–60% smaller files than WAV
- High-resolution audio — supports 24-bit, 96kHz, 192kHz recordings
- Lossless streaming — used by Tidal, Qobuz, and Amazon Music HD
- Long-term archiving — future-proof format with no patent restrictions