ParrotNotes

WAV to FLAC Converter

Shrink a WAV without changing a sample. Drop up to 10 WAV files, pick how hard to compress them, and download FLAC files that decode back to the same audio. The WAVs are read on your own device and are not uploaded.

Drop your WAV files here or click to browse

WAV and other audio files. Up to 10 files, 100 MB and 30 minutes each.

The files are processed in your browser and are not uploaded.

How to convert WAV to FLAC

The page reads each WAV's header first and tells you whether the FLAC will be an exact copy.

  1. 1

    Drop the WAV files

    Add up to 10 at once. Under each name you see its length and sample rate, and a line saying what the settings will do to that file.

  2. 2

    Leave the bit depth on Auto

    Auto writes a 16-bit WAV at 16 bits and a 24-bit WAV at 24, and Same as the file keeps the sample rate. That pair is the exact copy. Level 5 suits nearly everything.

  3. 3

    Download the FLAC files

    Each result shows its size and what share of the WAV that is. Save them one by one, or as a ZIP when there are two or more.

Need the WAV back later? The FLAC to WAV Converter goes the other way, as 16-bit. For other source formats, use MP3 to FLAC.

Is WAV to FLAC really lossless here?

Yes for 16-bit and 24-bit integer PCM WAVs, the kind most recorders and editors export, at the file's own sample rate. FLAC is built so that decoded audio is bit-for-bit identical to what went in, and it stores an MD5 of the unencoded audio in its header.

That only helps if the samples reach the encoder unchanged. Browsers decode audio to floating-point numbers, and in Chrome and Edge the trip back to 16-bit moved noisy samples by one step when we measured it. So this page does not use the browser's decoder for these files: it reads the integers straight from the WAV. Our automated tests confirm that the MD5 in the FLAC matches the MD5 of the WAV's audio data, at 16 and at 24 bits.

A 32-bit or floating-point WAV is different, and the line under its name says so. The FLAC format allows up to 32 bits but stores only integers, and this page writes 16 or 24 bits. A 32-bit integer WAV is rounded to 24 bits. A 32-bit float WAV becomes 24-bit integers, and anything above full scale clips.

How long a WAV fits the 100 MB limit

WAV is large, so the 100 MB limit is usually reached before the 30-minute one. It exists because the file is held in your browser's memory.

WAV formatOne minuteLongest file
16-bit, 44.1 kHz, stereo10.1 MB9 min 54 s
16-bit, 48 kHz, stereo11.0 MB9 min 06 s
24-bit, 48 kHz, stereo16.5 MB6 min 04 s
24-bit, 96 kHz, stereo33.0 MB3 min 02 s
16-bit, 44.1 kHz, mono5.0 MB19 min 48 s
Uncompressed sizes worked out from the format. 1 MB = 1,048,576 bytes. For a longer recording, split it first or use desktop software such as the reference flac tool.

What does not carry over

A WAV can hold more than the samples. Check these before you delete an original.

  • Tags, markers and cue points

    The FLAC gets your audio and the file name, with no tags. Broadcast WAV chunks, markers, cue points and embedded artwork are not copied, so keep the WAV if you rely on them.

  • More than two channels

    The FLAC format allows up to 8 channels, but this page writes mono or stereo. A WAV with more channels keeps only its first two, so do not use it for a surround mix or a multitrack recording.

  • Size savings vary

    MDN puts FLAC at up to 40 to 50 percent smaller. On our 1 min 23 s speech sample at level 5 the FLAC was 59% of the WAV. A loud, dense master often saves less, and pure silence saves more.

  • Check one before you clean up

    Convert one file, play it, and compare its length with the WAV's before you remove a whole folder of originals. An archive is safer with a second copy.

For recording interviews and meetings: how to record an interview and recording devices for journalists.

A folder of WAVs is hard to search

FLAC makes a recording smaller, not easier to find your way around. When the recordings are interviews or meetings, ParrotNotes records on your phone and gives you a transcript and a summary of what was said, free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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Related tools

WAV to FLAC FAQ

Sources