FLAC vs WAV
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is lossless compression, roughly half the size of WAV with identical sound. WAV (Waveform Audio File (PCM)) is uncompressed, bit-for-bit PCM audio that every editor and DAW opens.
WAV is what you want when the audio is going into an editor, a DAW, a video timeline or a speech-analysis tool, because there is no decoding step and no further quality loss.
FLAC is lossless. MP3 at 256–320 kbps is transparent for most listeners, but keep the FLAC if you archive music.
Settings that work
- Output is 16-bit PCM at the source sample rate, the most compatible WAV flavour.
- Tick Mono for speech analysis or transcription tools that expect a single channel.
Questions
How do I convert FLAC to WAV?
Drop your FLAC files into the converter above. WAV is pre-selected; press Choose files and each converted file downloads automatically.
Will converting FLAC to WAV lose quality?
No further quality is lost: WAV stores the decoded audio exactly.
Is it safe to convert private recordings here?
Yes. Conversion runs entirely in your browser with the Web Audio API and a JavaScript encoder, and nothing is uploaded to a server.