What is WAV?
WAV stores uncompressed PCM audio — the raw digital waveform exactly as it was captured or rendered.
Defined by Microsoft and IBM in 1991.
- Bit-perfect, lossless quality with zero encoding artefacts
- The standard interchange format for studios, editing and mastering
- Instant to decode, with no CPU cost during playback
What is FLAC?
FLAC is lossless compressed audio: the waveform is reconstructed bit-for-bit, but the file is 40-60% smaller than the WAV it came from.
Released in 2001 as a free, open codec.
- Lossless quality at roughly half the size of WAV
- Rich tagging, cover art and cue-sheet support
- Open, royalty-free and the standard for hi-res music sales
Why convert WAV to FLAC?
- FLAC is the better fit for archiving music collections without giving up any quality, while WAV is built for recording, editing and mastering before a final compressed export.
- It sidesteps the main drawback of WAV: roughly 10 MB per minute of stereo CD-quality audio.
- You gain lossless quality at roughly half the size of WAV.
- Compatibility improves where it counts: VLC, foobar2000, Plex, Android, macOS and Most modern browsers.
Quality and file size after conversion
Both formats are lossless, so nothing is thrown away. The output is a byte-faithful representation of the input; only the container and the compression scheme change, which is why sizes differ while the content does not.
Compatibility
WAV opens in Every DAW, editor, operating system and browser. FLAC opens in VLC, foobar2000, Plex, Android, macOS, Most modern browsers.
If the file has to work for someone else, choose the format their software already understands rather than the one with the best specification.
Limitations to know about
- Still much larger than MP3 or AAC
- Not supported by older car stereos or some Apple hardware paths
When to keep WAV instead
WAV is still the right choice for recording, editing and mastering before a final compressed export. Keep the original alongside the converted copy whenever you might need to re-export at a different size or quality — conversion is quick, but recovering discarded detail is impossible.
How to convert WAV to FLAC
- 1
Drag your WAV file onto the drop zone above, or click to browse. Up to 20 files can be queued at once.
- 2
FLAC is already selected as the output format — change it in the dropdown if you need something else.
- 3
Press Convert and watch the per-file progress bar.
- 4
Download the FLAC result, or grab everything as a single ZIP when you converted a batch.
Frequently asked questions
Is this WAV to FLAC converter free?
- Yes. Every conversion on Convert Always is free, with no account, no watermark and no daily download cap. The site is funded by advertising rather than subscriptions.
Are my WAV files uploaded to a server?
- No. WAV to FLAC runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly, so the file never leaves your device. You can even disconnect from the internet after the page loads.
Will converting to FLAC reduce the quality?
- Both formats are lossless, so nothing is thrown away. The output is a byte-faithful representation of the input; only the container and the compression scheme change, which is why sizes differ while the content does not.
Can I convert several WAV files at once?
- Yes. Add up to 20 files to the queue, convert them in one pass and download the results individually or bundled into a single ZIP archive.
What is the maximum WAV file size?
- Files up to 100 MB each are accepted. Browser-side conversions are limited mainly by your device's memory, so very large video files convert faster on a desktop than on a phone.
Does it work on mobile?
- Yes. The converter is built mobile-first and works in Safari and Chrome on phones and tablets. Heavy media conversions are slower on mobile hardware but still run locally.
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