3 March 2026 | 4 min read
FLAC to WAV: when lossless still needs converting
FLAC to WAV is the rare conversion that costs you nothing in audio quality. It can still cost you metadata if you are careless.
FLAC compresses audio the way a ZIP compresses a document: smaller file, identical data when you unpack it. Decoding a FLAC to WAV therefore gives you exactly the samples that went in, bit for bit.
Why bother converting at all
- Many NLEs and DAWs handle FLAC poorly or not at all on the timeline.
- Broadcast and post delivery specs almost always ask for WAV or BWF.
- Sound libraries and plugin samplers expect uncompressed files.
What you can lose
Audio survives; tags may not. FLAC stores metadata in Vorbis comments, while WAV uses RIFF chunks and BWF fields. Titles, artist names and custom fields do not map across automatically, so note anything important before converting, or write it into the filename.
Keep the sample rate and bit depth
There is no reason to resample during a FLAC decode. If your source is 96 kHz at 24 bit, export 96 kHz at 24 bit. Any conversion you add is a separate, lossy-by-nature processing step that belongs later in the chain, if at all.
A quick local workflow
Drop the FLAC into the converter here, check the reported sample rate, bit depth and channel count, then export WAV at the same values. Everything is decoded in the browser, so large library files never travel over your connection.