What is the difference between FLAC and WAV?

FLAC compresses audio losslessly to roughly half the size of WAV, with the original samples fully recoverable. It supports proper metadata tagging, making it the standard choice for archival ripping and audiophile libraries. WAV stores uncompressed PCM audio — the raw samples, with nothing discarded. Quality is perfect and files are large: roughly 10MB per stereo minute at CD quality. It is the standard working format for recording and editing.

Will I lose anything converting FLAC to WAV?

A little. Both FLAC and WAV are lossy, so re-encoding discards a small amount of additional detail — this is generational loss. One conversion is usually imperceptible; repeatedly converting between lossy formats is not. Where you still have the original, convert from that instead.

Anything to watch out for with WAV?

WAV has no standard tagging scheme, so artist and album metadata often does not survive a conversion into it. The 4GB file-size ceiling comes from the 32-bit size field in the RIFF header; very long recordings need RF64 or a different container.

What bitrate should I use?

For music, 192kbps MP3 or 128kbps Opus is the point where most people stop hearing a difference from the source. For speech and podcasts you can go much lower — 96kbps MP3 or 64kbps Opus is transparent for voice. Going above 256kbps on a lossy codec mostly just makes the file bigger.

What should I know about starting from FLAC?

FLAC is losslessly compressed, so everything in the original recording is still present and can be re-encoded any number of times without compounding loss. More broadly: FLAC compresses audio losslessly — typically to 50-60% of the WAV size — with the original samples recoverable bit-for-bit. It is the standard format for archival ripping, audiophile distribution and anywhere a master needs to survive future re-encoding without generational loss.

When is WAV the right choice?

WAV suits: recording and editing, where repeated saves must not degrade quality; mastering sources and archival; short samples where size is irrelevant. It is the wrong choice when sharing, streaming or storing large libraries.

Is there a file size limit?

No hard limit — the constraint is your browser's memory. Files under 50MB convert in a few seconds. Larger files work but take longer, and a browser tab typically has 250-500MB to play with, so very large batches are better split into smaller groups.

Does this work on mobile?

Yes. The drop zone falls back to your phone's file picker, and the conversion runs on-device exactly as it does on desktop. Large files are slower on a phone because there is less CPU and memory available, but nothing about the workflow changes.

Convert FLAC to WAV

Unpack a FLAC to raw WAV for editing or sampling. Nothing is lost — FLAC is lossless — but the file gets roughly twice as big. Free, in your browser, no upload.

Drop audio files to convert

WAV, MP3, M4A (AAC), AAC, OGG, Opus, FLAC

Files stay on your device. Open DevTools' Network tab to verify.

MP3/AAC/Opus and decoding compressed input use browser WebCodecs; available in modern browsers only.

Overview

Why convert FLAC to WAV

Universal. Every operating system, editor and player reads WAV. That compatibility, rather than any quality gain, is usually why this conversion is worth making — both formats are lossy, so a single re-encode costs a little detail. FLAC is losslessly compressed, so everything in the original recording is still present and can be re-encoded any number of times without compounding loss.

Comparison

FLAC vs WAV: what actually differs

FLAC compared with WAV across encoding, fidelity, file size and support.
Attribute	FLAC	WAV
Full name	Free Lossless Audio Codec	Waveform Audio File Format
Encoding	Binary	Binary
Fidelity	Lossless — bit-for-bit identical to the source on decode	Lossless — bit-for-bit original samples
Typical size	Roughly 50-60% of the equivalent WAV	Very large — about 10MB per stereo minute at 44.1kHz/16-bit
Support	All modern browsers and players; Apple added support in iOS 11.	Universal. Every operating system, editor and player reads WAV.

How to

How to convert FLAC to WAV

01
Drop your FLAC file
Drag one or more FLAC files onto the drop zone above, or click to browse. Files stay on your device — there is no upload step.
02
Convert to WAV
convert.now parses the FLAC and writes it out as WAV in a Web Worker, so the page stays responsive even on large files. Nothing is sent anywhere.
03
Download the result
Download the WAV file, or a zip of all of them for a batch. Filenames are preserved, with the extension changed to .wav.

Why here

Why convert.now

Private
Files stay in your browser. No upload step. Nothing for anyone to see.
Fast
No queue, no upload wait. Conversion starts the moment you drop a file.
Free
No ads. No file-count limit. No sign-up wall. Just the converter.

FAQ

FLAC to WAV: common questions

No. The FLAC to WAV conversion runs entirely in your browser. Files never leave your device, and there is no server involved in the conversion at all. Open DevTools' Network tab and run a conversion if you want to confirm it — you will see the page and its code load, and no request carrying your file.

Related FLAC converters

Last updated 27 August 2026

Why convert FLAC to WAV

FLAC vs WAV: what actually differs

How to convert FLAC to WAV

Drop your FLAC file

Convert to WAV

Download the result

Why convert.now

FLAC to WAV: common questions

Related FLAC converters