Convert FLAC to WAV

Drop FLAC files here

or click to choose — one track or a whole album, 16-bit, 24-bit and hi-res

Bit depth

Sample rate

Channels

On the defaults the WAV holds exactly the samples in the FLAC, and each result is compared with the checksum stored in the FLAC. Title and artist go into the WAV.

Convert FLAC files, or a whole album, to WAV for a DAW, a video editor, DJ software or a CD burner. FLAC and WAV hold the same samples, so this should be an exact copy, and here you can see that it is: each result is compared with the MD5 checksum stored inside the FLAC, which also exposes a damaged file. The original bit depth and sample rate are kept unless you choose otherwise. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

Nothing is uploaded — the file stays on your device
No file size limit
No sign-up, no watermark
Free, with no paid tier holding anything back

Why a FLAC to WAV conversion can still go wrong

FLAC is compressed without loss, so turning it into WAV should give you the same samples in a bigger file. It usually does, but only if the bit depth and sample rate are left alone, and many converters don't leave them alone. Several online tools write 16-bit WAV, either always or as a default you have to change. Plain ffmpeg does the same when you don't name a format.

We ran it on a 24-bit test FLAC. With no options, ffmpeg -i in.flac out.wav wrote a 16-bit WAV without any warning, and 99.6% of the samples changed. With -c:a pcm_s24le added, none did. If you're using ffmpeg, add that option for 24-bit files. Here, Match the original does it for you.

How the checksum check works

When a FLAC is encoded, the encoder stores an MD5 fingerprint of the original audio in the file's header. It is there for exactly this purpose, though few tools ever look at it. This page calculates the same fingerprint from the samples it decodes and compares the two. Each file then shows one of three results:

What you see	What it means	What to do
Checksum matches	The decoded samples are the ones that were encoded	Nothing, the conversion is exact
Checksum does not match	The file changed after it was made, usually a bad download or a failing disk	Get the FLAC again if you can. The WAV holds what could be read
No checksum stored	The encoder left the fingerprint empty, so there's nothing to compare with	The WAV is fine to use, but it couldn't be verified

We tested this by damaging a copy of a FLAC: 40 changed bytes in the middle, and another copy cut off at 60% of its length, like an interrupted download. Both files still opened and produced a WAV that played, and both were flagged. A converter that doesn't check would have handed you a damaged WAV and no reason to suspect it.

Which settings to choose

You want the WAV for	Bit depth	Sample rate
A DAW, mixing or mastering	Match the original	Same as the FLAC
An audio CD	16-bit	44.1 kHz
A video editor	Match the original	48 kHz if your project is 48 kHz
DJ software or an older player	16-bit	44.1 kHz

Anything other than the defaults changes the samples, so the result stops being an exact copy and says so. That's expected: a CD can't hold 24-bit audio. Keep the FLAC as your master, and make the lower-resolution WAV from it whenever you need one.

File size

WAV size depends only on the format and the length, not on the music. FLAC depends on how complex the sound is. In 8 real recordings we tested, the WAV was 1.4 to 4.6 times the size of the FLAC, and about 1.8 times in the middle of that range. FLAC vs WAV has the full table.

Format	WAV per minute	A 60-minute album
16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo (CD)	10.6 MB	635 MB
24-bit, 48 kHz stereo	17.3 MB	1.04 GB
24-bit, 96 kHz stereo	34.6 MB	2.07 GB

A single WAV can't go past 4 GB. That's about 6.7 hours at CD quality, or about 2 hours at 96 kHz 24-bit. If a FLAC would go over, this page tells you before writing anything; split it first with Split Audio. Very long hi-res files can also run out of browser memory on a phone or a small laptop.

Tags, album art and surround files

Title, artist, album, genre, year, track number and comment go into the WAV's INFO tags, and non-English characters are kept. WAV has no standard place for a picture, so cover art stays behind in the FLAC, and each result tells you when that has happened. Don't be surprised if the tags seem to be missing: Windows File Explorer showed the title and artist of our FLAC but nothing for the WAV, even though the tags were in the file, and the same happened with WAVs tagged by other tools. If tags matter on your phone or in a car, FLAC to MP3 keeps them all, cover art included.

Files with more than two channels, such as a 5.1 mix, are written with a proper channel layout, so the centre and surround channels stay where they belong. In our 5.1 test file the WAV matched the FLAC channel for channel.

Your music stays on your device

The conversion runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded, and unreleased tracks and private recordings stay on your device. Drop a whole album at once and Download all as ZIP names the ZIP after the artist and album when the tracks share them. Tested in Chrome and Edge. For other formats, see M4A to WAV and MP3 to WAV; to go the other way and save space, see WAV to MP3. All of them are listed under audio tools.

Frequently asked questions

Does converting FLAC to WAV lose quality?

No, as long as the bit depth and sample rate stay the same. FLAC is compressed without loss, so unpacking it gives back exactly the samples that went in. This converter checks that on every file by comparing the result with the MD5 checksum the FLAC encoder stored in the file. Choosing a lower bit depth or a different sample rate does change the samples, and the result says so.

Will my 24-bit FLAC stay 24-bit?

Yes, on the default setting. Not every converter does this: several online tools output 16-bit WAV, some only as a default you have to change, and plain ffmpeg writes 16-bit too unless you ask for pcm_s24le. In our test that default changed 99.6% of the samples in a 24-bit file. Here, Match the original keeps 24-bit as 24-bit.

What does the checksum check prove?

FLAC encoders store an MD5 fingerprint of the original audio in the file. After decoding, this page calculates the same fingerprint from the decoded samples. If the two match, the samples in the WAV are the ones that were encoded. If they don't, the FLAC was probably damaged in a download or on a failing disk. A few encoders leave the fingerprint empty, and then the result says it couldn't be checked.

Why is the WAV so much bigger than the FLAC?

WAV stores every sample uncompressed and FLAC packs them. In 8 real recordings we tested, the WAV was 1.4 to 4.6 times the size of the FLAC, typically about 1.8 times. A CD-quality minute of WAV is 10.6 MB, and a 96 kHz 24-bit minute is 34.6 MB. A single WAV file can't go past 4 GB, which is about 6.7 hours at CD quality.

Are tags and album art kept?

Title, artist, album, genre, year, track number and comment are copied into the WAV's INFO tags, and each result lists what it carried over. Cover art isn't: WAV has no standard place for a picture, so keep the FLAC if you want it. Windows File Explorer doesn't display WAV tags at all, even when they are in the file, though it shows a FLAC's.

What settings do I need for burning a CD?

An audio CD needs 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, stereo. A CD-quality FLAC is already that, so leave everything on the defaults. For a hi-res FLAC, choose 16-bit and 44.1 kHz; the result then tells you the samples were rounded and resampled, because a CD can't hold more.

Are my files uploaded?

No. The FLAC is decoded and the WAV is written inside your browser, so unreleased music and recordings never leave your device. There is no account, and the only size limit is your device's memory.