What is FLAC?
FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, an audio format similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, see supported devices) just like you would an MP3 file.
FLAC stands out as the fastest and most widely supported lossless audio codec, and the only one that at once is non-proprietary, is unencumbered by patents, has an open-source reference implementation, has a well documented format and API, and has several other independent implementations.
FLAC stands out as the fastest and most widely supported lossless audio codec, and the only one that at once is non-proprietary, is unencumbered by patents, has an open-source reference implementation, has a well documented format and API, and has several other independent implementations.
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Platform details
Android: FLAC tags are not always properly recognized: try Extended Media Scanner
Tags
- high-resolution
- Audio Codec
Lists containing FLAC
Windows • Audio Player, Editor, Converter, Tool • Multimedia & Composition • Linux ProgramsNo screenshots yet
FLAC
Summary
Our users have written 4 comments and reviews about FLAC, and it has gotten 583 likes
- Developed by Josh Coalson
- Open Source and Free product.
- 8 alternatives listed
Popular alternatives
View allFLAC was added to AlternativeTo by ruka_m on Mar 23, 2011 and this page was last updated Oct 2, 2021.
The best audio codec and file format (IMHO)
In my opinion, the best patent-free audio codec and audio file format. Good compression support, save in some cases, more audio data, compared to wav.
Oh, and if any of you is afraid of FLAC being open-source, consider that Apple released a Beatles complete works using FLAC 24 bit (a bit pricy, between 250 and 350 euros), quality higher than that of ordinary CDs.
I was moving my discs on my SE Xperia X10 running Android and I was using OGG Vorbis with what I call(ed) quasi-insanely high quality, that is using -q 9 (targets 320kb/s). And I've decided to give FLAC a spin: it kicks ass! I think I'll stop caring about the size of FLACs (on an average CD, around 350MB, compared to about 160MB for Vorbis -q 9). The sound is crystal clear in my Phillips Stretch headphones.
On Android support for FLAC tags is patchy, and you can use Extended Media Scanner to fix it (worked for me).