WAV to FLAC converter
Drop in a WAV and get a FLAC back. WAV is audio stored exactly as it was recorded, with nothing thrown away. Your file never leaves your computer.
Need the other direction? Convert FLAC to WAV
How to convert WAV to FLAC
- 1 Drop your WAV .wav or .wave file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Check the options. Nothing is thrown away on the way to FLAC, so there is no quality dial to set.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the FLAC, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert WAV to FLAC
- Identical to the recording at roughly half the size of a WAV.
- Fast decoding and good tagging with embedded artwork.
- High resolution audio distribution.
- WAV: the classic format caps out at 4 GB per file.
WAV compared with FLAC
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | WAV | FLAC |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .wav | .flac |
| Compression | Uncompressed | Lossless |
| Colour depth | 8 to 32 bit, any sample rate | Up to 32-bit, up to 655 kHz |
| Typical file size | Largest | Larger |
| Browser support | Every browser | All current browsers |
| Introduced | 1991 | 2001 |
| Developed by | Microsoft and IBM | Xiph.Org Foundation |
Quality and what changes
Both sides are lossless, so every pixel survives the trip intact and converting back returns the same image. What changes is the size and what the file can carry: FLAC compresses the same data with a different algorithm, so the size can move in either direction.
- One FLAC limitation to keep in mind: no native support in Safari before recent versions or in older cars.
Questions about WAV to FLAC
Is my WAV file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your WAV is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as a FLAC. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several WAV files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate FLAC downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.