Convert WAV to FLAC

Compress your WAV files to lossless FLAC to save space without losing valid audio data.

4.9/5 - 843 votes

Drag & Drop WAV files here

or click to browse from your device

TLS Encryption
Auto-Deletion
Custom Quality
Fast Compression

How to Convert WAV to FLAC?

Archive your master recordings efficiently with lossless compression.

1

Upload WAV

Drag and drop your uncompressed .wav files. Batch processing supported.

2

Set Compression

Choose from Level 1 (Fast) to Level 8 (Smallest). Level 5 is standard.

3

Download FLAC

Get your .flac files instantly. Same audio quality, half the size.

Pro Tip: Archiving

Always use FLAC Level 8 for archival. The conversion takes slightly longer, but you get the absolute smallest file size possible, saving disk space forever.

Engineering Philosophy

Lossless Compression
Perfectly Preserved.

WAV files are the gold standard for audio recording, but they are incredibly inefficient. They store silence and simple sine waves with the same massive bitrate as complex orchestral music.

Our converter uses the FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) algorithm to solve this. It works like a ZIP file for audio—finding redundant patterns in the waveform and compressing them mathematically.

The result is a file that is 50-70% smaller than the original WAV, but when played back, is bit-for-bit identical. Zero quality loss.

Crafted by Audio Engineers

Lossless

Bit-perfect copy of the original audio data.

Space Saver

Reduce file size by up to 50% without loss.

Metadata Support

Add Tags & Album Art

Why convert WAV to FLAC?

WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) is the raw, uncompressed audio standard used in recording studios. It's perfect for editing because it requires no processing to read. However, it takes up a huge amount of disk space—about 10MB per minute of stereo audio.

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) was invented to solve the storage problem without sacrificing quality. Unlike MP3, which throws away data to save space ("lossy"), FLAC keeps every single bit of audio data ("lossless"). It just packs it more efficiently.

Format Showdown

Feature
WAV (Input)
FLAC (Output)
Quality
original (100%)
Original (100%)
Compression
None (Uncompressed)
Lossless (~50%)
Metadata Support
Poor
Excellent
File Size
Huge
Moderate

Understanding Compression Levels

FLAC offers compression levels from 0 to 8. It is important to know that all levels are lossless. The difference is only in how hard the encoder processes the file to squeeze out size.

  • Level 0: Fastest encoding, largest file size.
  • Level 5: The default balance. Good speed, significant space savings.
  • Level 8: Slowest encoding (still seconds per song), smallest possible file size. Recommended for archiving.

Audio Jargon Buster

Lossless

Compression where the reconstructed data is mathematically identical to the original.

PCM

Pulse-Code Modulation. The raw digital representation of analog signals used in WAV files.

Metadata

Information about the audio (Artist, Album, etc.). FLAC supports this natively; WAV does not handle it well.

Checksum

A digital signature included in FLAC files to verify that the audio hasn't been corrupted.

Common Questions

Will I lose audio quality?

Absolutely not. FLAC is lossless. Converting WAV to FLAC is like ZIP-ping a document; when you unzip (play) it, it's identical.

Can I convert back to WAV?

Yes! You can convert FLAC back to WAV at any time and get the exact same file you started with.

Tool Specs
Input FormatWAV (PCM)
Output FormatFLAC
Quality100% Lossless
ChannelsStereo / Mono
Security TLS Encrypted

Secure Processing

Your data is handled with 256-bit encryption and deleted automatically.

Privacy Guaranteed

User Feedback

"I archived my entire studio library with this. Saved 400GB of space without losing a single bit."

D
David K.
Sound Engineer

"Finally, a tool that handles high-res WAV files correctly. The metadata tagging support is a huge plus."

L
Lisa M.
Audiophile

Frequently Asked Questions

Is FLAC better than WAV?
For storage and listening, yes. FLAC has the same audio quality as WAV but takes up half the space and supports better tagging. WAV is better only if you are actively editing the audio in a DAW.
What compression level should I use?
We recommend Level 5 for a good balance of speed and size. Use Level 8 if you want the absolute smallest file size and don't mind waiting a few extra seconds.
Does FLAC conversion lower quality?
No. FLAC uses lossless compression, similar to ZIP. When the file is played, it is uncompressed back to the exact original audio data.
Can I play FLAC on iPhone?
Modern iPhones support FLAC natively in the Files app, but you may need a third-party player like VLC to play them easily in a music library.

Explore RiseConvert Workspace

View All Tools
FLAC to MP3
FLAC to WAV
Video to MP3
Audio Converter