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FLAC to ALAC
Make your lossless library play natively in Apple Music, iTunes and on iPhone by converting FLAC to Apple Lossless
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Truly lossless: ALAC stores the identical PCM samples as FLAC. Decoding both gives bit-for-bit the same audio.
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Hi-res kept: 24-bit, 96 kHz and 192 kHz material stays at its original bit depth and sample rate.
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Apple compatible: The output is an .m4a file that Apple Music, iTunes, iOS, macOS and CarPlay play without extra apps.
You can upload up to 20 audios simultaneously.
Lossless audio
How FLAC becomes ALAC without losing anything
FLAC and ALAC are both lossless compressors for PCM audio. Converting between them is like unzipping a file and zipping it with another tool: the content is unchanged, only the packaging differs. FFmpeg decodes the FLAC to raw samples and encodes them with its ALAC encoder into an MPEG-4 audio container.
How to use Converter App
1
Upload FLAC files
Single tracks or a whole album; the files can come from your device or Google Drive.
2
Lossless re-encode
The PCM audio is encoded as Apple Lossless. Tags are copied to the M4A.
3
Download the M4A
Add it to Apple Music or iTunes; it plays and syncs like a purchased lossless track.
Key features
Bit-perfect
The decoded output of the ALAC matches the FLAC sample for sample, which you can verify with a checksum of the decoded audio.
Metadata preserved
Title, artist, album, track and disc numbers, year, genre and composer are written as iTunes-style M4A tags.
Album batches
Upload all tracks of an album in one go and get them back in a ZIP.
No software needed
No need for XLD, dBpoweramp or command-line tools. The conversion runs on our servers.
Experience & privacy
Built for reliable audio conversion.
Backed by 10+ years of engineering expertise in large-scale data and scientific computing, it’s built for real-world workflows that require uncompromised audio quality, accelerated processing speeds, and reliable, high-level performance.
Trusted by Users
Rated 5 stars on Trustpilot for speed, reliability, and ease of use.
User trust
Academic Use
Referenced in published research and used for interview transcription and qualitative data analysis.
Research use
FLAC and ALAC: two ways to store the same audio
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) was released in 2001 as an open format and is the default for lossless downloads, CD rips and streaming services such as Qobuz and Tidal's lossless tier. ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) was created by Apple in 2004 and open-sourced in 2011. It lives inside the MPEG-4 container with the .m4a extension, the same container Apple uses for AAC, which is why Apple's software treats it as a first-class citizen. Both use linear prediction and entropy coding to shrink PCM audio to roughly half its size without discarding any information.
What the converter does and does not change
FFmpeg decodes the FLAC stream to PCM at the original bit depth and sample rate, then encodes with its ALAC encoder. Channel layout is preserved, including multichannel files. Vorbis comment tags are mapped to the iTunes metadata atoms in the M4A. Nothing is resampled, dithered or normalised. The only data that is not transferred is embedded picture data and FLAC-specific extras such as cue sheets and ReplayGain tags that have no standard counterpart in M4A.
Getting the files into Apple Music
On a Mac, drag the M4A files into the Music app or use File, Import. On Windows, do the same in iTunes. Once imported they show the Lossless badge, sync to iPhone and iPad over cable or iCloud Music Library, and play in CarPlay. If you use iCloud Music Library, note that Apple matches tracks against its catalogue; your original ALAC files remain on the Mac, but what streams to other devices may be Apple's own lossless version of the same track.
When to keep FLAC instead
If your listening happens on Android, Windows media players, Plex, Roon or dedicated network streamers, FLAC is the better-supported format and there is no reason to convert. Keep one lossless master in whichever format your main player prefers and generate the other only for the devices that need it. Because the conversion is lossless, there is no penalty for doing so later.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ALAC really as good as FLAC?
Yes. Both are lossless: decoding returns the exact PCM samples that went in. The audible quality is identical by definition. FLAC usually compresses a few percent better and decodes slightly faster, ALAC has native support on Apple platforms. Choose by compatibility, not by quality.
Why does Apple Music not play my FLAC files?
Apple's media frameworks support ALAC but never added FLAC to the Music app or iTunes library (the Files app can play FLAC, the library cannot import it). Converting to ALAC is the standard way to get a lossless collection into Apple Music, where it can also sync to iPhone and iPad.
What happens to the cover art?
Embedded cover images are not carried over in this conversion; text tags are. Apple Music and iTunes can fetch artwork automatically for most albums, or you can paste the image into the track info. If embedded artwork is essential, add it after conversion with a tag editor such as Kid3 or MusicBrainz Picard.
Are 24-bit and high sample rate files supported?
Yes. 24-bit 96 kHz and 192 kHz FLAC files become 24-bit ALAC at the same rate. Apple Music on iPhone plays up to 24-bit 48 kHz natively and higher rates with an external DAC, which matches Apple's own Hi-Res Lossless catalogue.
Will the file be larger or smaller?
About the same. ALAC files are typically 2 to 5 percent larger than FLAC at the default compression level because FLAC's encoder is a little more efficient. A 30 MB FLAC track becomes roughly a 31 MB M4A.
Can I convert back to FLAC later?
Yes, with no loss, using our ALAC to FLAC converter. Because both formats are lossless, you can move between them as often as you like; only the tags need checking afterwards.