FLAC file extension marks a file that was encoded by an open-source audio codec developed by Xiph.Org Foundation to challenge MP3 format. FLAC files are very similar to MP3 but they are lossless which means that those files are basically compressed without loss of audio quality.
FLAC format claims to be the first truly open-source lossless free format. This statement is generally true: one can use, view code, edit and reshape encoding and decoding methods of FLAC for free. And more: FLAC format supports not just metadata like titles, but cover images, album art, tagging and fast seeking.
Also, FLAC files are resistant to errors up to that matter that even if there is an error in one frame of the file, the rest of the stream will not be corrupted, unlike it’s common for many other formats. All of this makes FLAC reliable and worthy competitor to MP3 format.
The only disadvantage of FLAC files are their weight (approximately 5 MB per minute), but it's the price for all the benefits that this format holds.
How Do I Create, Open and Edit FLAC Files?
Although it’s not recommended to record audio in FLAC (it’s better to record audios either in WAV or AIF), if you still want to, there are ways to create FLAC files. To do so, check your recording program.
Since FLAC is a codec (set of rules how to encode data), you most definitely can pick FLAC as a format to save audio with. The other way to create FLAC file is to convert, for example, WAV file to FLAC, but we will return to it later.
FLAC files were created to be capable of surpassing MP3 file format in popularity, and this made the developers to design a format that is compatible with many devices and programs. FLAC is a free codec so the entirety of programs that can open FLAC files are also free ones.
In search for the best FLAC file opener, you should probably pick VLC viewer. This FLAC player is free, open-source and it works among various platforms including mobile devices, both Android and iOS supported ones.
You can also open FLAC file with Nullsoft Winamp, GoldWave, VUPlayer and aTunes. The last option opens FLAC files on Windows, Mac and Linux.
If you want to open FLAC files using Windows Media Player or Mac’s iTunes, you will need to install Xiph’s OpenCodec plugin for Windows and Fluke tool for Mac.
To edit FLAC file, you will need to install an editor program. Audacity is one of program that support editing FLAC files. You can crop, reduce noise, mix, add metadata and enjoy user-friendly interface at the same time.
While Audacity is the best FLAC editor, don’t worry if it didn’t work for you. Another option here is to install FL Studio, but this one is more complicated than the previous one and may take a while to figure out how it works.
To just cut FLAC audio online you can use Audio Trimmer – online tool that opts you from the need to download software to quickly edit a FLAC file. Just upload your file to the website and you can cut it as you find necessary.
How to Convert FLAC File to Other Formats
Back to conversion: it’s very easy to convert FLAC to other formats and vise-versa. You can pick from a variety of FLAC converters that can be found online.
VLC, Free Studio and Switch Sound File converters will help you to convert FLAC to the most common and well-known formats like AVI format, WMA and others. MediaHuman Audio converter adds ALAC to the available conversions list.
Still, it will be faster to use online converters. Convertio.com, online-audio-converter.com, convertio.co and many others online solutions will help you to transform your FLAC file to other formats.