| FLAC | WAV | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless | Lossless |
| Metadata | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open / royalty-free | ✓ | - |
| Defined by | - | Microsoft / IBM |
| Since | 2001 | - |
| Best for | archiving music losslessly | recording and editing |
FLAC
Lossless compression, about half the size of WAV.
WAV
Uncompressed PCM. Lossless, large, editable everywhere.
Questions
FLAC or WAV: which is smaller?
It depends on the content; see our measured benchmarks on the conversion pages.
Can I convert FLAC to WAV?
Yes, in your browser, nothing uploaded.
And WAV to FLAC?
Yes, as well.