The Best FLAC Audio Converter – Aiseesoft Audio Converter Pro (Mac) Above FLAC Converters are all easy to install, use and convert, you may find that some FLAC Converters can support multiple audio formats, but can’t support the batch audio conversion. Though it’s a video player, VLC supports FLAC audio files too. Forget about other players, this. The majority of FLAC encoders capture only a single audio track – that is defined as major by the movies’ creators. Even so, if you would like to extract all audio tracks from a video, you have to use a special application. To FLAC Converter is an ideal tool for such occasion – it rips every audio stream from a video.

Try it, you can even import your CD's as uncompressed FLAC. XLD is good, but you have to configure a lot of stuff, and it doesn't have nearly the amount of options dBpoweramp has. Last edited: Jun 23, 2020. Step 3: Start Convert CD to FLAC, AIFF, OGG, MP3, WAV, M4A, etc on Mac. Click on the “Rip” button start ripping CD to FLAC, AIFF, OGG, MP3, WAV, M4A, etc. You may also like: 2018/2019 Top 5 Best FLAC Audio Converter for PC or Mac to Convert FLAC Files; Extract Audio from Video HEVC, H.265, WebM, MXF, AVCHD, MTS, SWF, VOB, 3GP.

Choosing the right audiophile playback software can be a daunting task. While audible differences can occur in going from an entry-level software like iTunes to one of the audiophile playback engines mentioned below, the transition between high-end software boils down to a preference between real cherry flavor and artificial cherry flavor. It should also be mentioned that with a properly designed and optimized music server or HTPC, the sonic benefits and differences between operating systems and playback software shrink and selection most often can be made based on form and function. However, the differences in supported file formats, file management systems, user experience vary greatly.

The Case for Specialty HiFi Software

Best Free FLAC Converter for Mac. Although there are many solutions to help you convert FLAC files, it’s not practical to try them one by one for the best option. All2MP3 for Mac is just the best FLAC converter for Mac you need, which offers stability and speed that most converters are short of. The Easiest FLAC MP3 Converter program provides you the best way to change FLAC files into MP3. FLAC MP3 Converter helps to convert FLAC and other video/audio files to MP3 for better playing on your iPod/iPhone and other music players. And it is not limited to FLAC and MP3 file converting. It supports converting video/audio in any format.

One of the main concepts behind high-end playback software is to aid in the elimination of background processes and improve the ability of non-real-time operating systems to process real-time audio information. Simply put, you want the operating system to focus on audio and not useless services, and you want the audio signal to reach the computers output with as little handshaking as possible.

Because many operating systems can be optimized outside of playback software, the benefits of these audio applications may diminish. This doesn’t mean they make no difference, it just explains why some people will hear a tremendous difference while others will not. There are lots of layers here, and I’ll talk about them more in-depth in our upcoming optimization guides.

Before diving into the software comparison, I need to address bit-perfect playback. There are three camps here. Conventional wisdom states that in order for a system to be bit perfect it must act as a pass-through device, not altering the digital data in any fashion through the use of matrixing, DSP, or other means. The idea behind this is to say the output is exactly the same as what was put in. This idea is supported by the camp's theory that bits are just bits and that digital is just ones and zeros, so if a one is a one and a zero a zero the data has passed un-fooled around with and is thus bit perfect. This means that all bit perfect signals should be created equal.

The second camp states that bit perfect means that the bits are exact, but jitter may still be introduced. When doing something in non-real-time (running an application) bit-perfect is applicable because the data are buffered and sent in packets that are just resent if there are any errors (otherwise you would have applications crashing constantly). Audio, on the other hand, is real time. Bit perfect implies that the data and sample rates match, it does not mean jitter isn't introduced within those same sample rates.

Author's Opinion on Bit Perfect Playback

Finally the third camp, my camp, gets two paragraphs because it's my camp and I'm writing this. Let's all start by agreeing that audio is areal-time process. Even if an application loads data into memory forprocessing, everything before and the whole operation after is a real timeoperation. Real time processes in a computer take the form of a square wave,specifically a pulse width modulation. This pulse width modulation is an analogrepresentation of what we conceptualize as a digital signal and is created byvoltage in the power supply. This PWM signal has both amplitude characteristicsand timing characteristics. The timing, or duty cycle, along with the amplitudedetermine the frequency response of that square wave. A computer is made up ofbillions of transistors, all switching very quickly to changes in logic(mathematical algorithms created by the operating system and software). Basedon the input voltages, logic switches create a new version, a duplicate, of thesquare wave (either theoretically identical or altered). That new version ofthe square wave is also created from power in the power supply. Because audiois real time, there is no error correction that can be done to this squarewave, any resulting wave form IS your music.

Looking at the concept of bit-perfect, it's arguablyimpossible to have bit perfect playback in a real-time system because there areno bits. If the power supply introduces noise or there is jitter on the squarewave this results in a square wave that is not identical to the original.Because the square wave is an analog signal it is still susceptible to noiseand distortion. A square wave, however, reacts a little differently than itssine wave counterpart. Jitter is an alteration of the duty cycle, when thatjitter hits the digital interface chips, a DAC for instance, that jitter isseen as an amplitude error and creates an alteration of the frequency response.Amplitude distortion itself is created by noise voltages that either add orsubtract from the amplitude of the square wave. This introduces harmoniccontent into the square wave that shouldn't exist in the music. The square wavemay still resemble a one or a zero, but it contains additional frequencycontent. So as far that bits are concerned, it's bit perfect, but withadditional harmonic content that shouldn't be there.

So, high-end playback software works to buffer the audio signal and keep as much of the processing in the non-real-time zone (memory playback) as possible. The next step is to create as few duplications of the square wave as possible and get it to the computer's output as quickly as possible so as to avoid the introduction of jitter and amplitude errors. All of the software below is bit perfect, the camp you pitch your tent in shouldn't affect the software you wish to use, just how you choose to integrate it into your system

JRiver Media Center

OS: Mac and Windows

Price: $49

Audio Capabilities: Standard audio formats plus FLAC, WAV, DSD

Video Capabilities: Blu-ray (now on both mac and windows) streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, and multichannel A/V formats

File Management: Self contained database with significant automatic organization and custom tailoring. Custom Playlists. Music stored locally, on external HDD, or NAS.

First up is JRMC (as the cool kids call it). It sports a sleek, easy-to-use interface, various GUI adjustments, and a settings menu with more options than a Vegas buffet line. It can play anything and offers access to a very powerful DSP engine.The feature set and sound quality improvements in this software make it a significant leap up over its windows media center alternative. The addition of ASIO, Direct Sound, Wasapi, and Kernel streaming is a big bonus over entry-level playback software. They have also integrated a memory playback feature, which was a big selling point on higher-end software available. For barebones enthusiasts this software may pack too many options, too many settings, and too much freedom. The good news is if you don’t want to mess with settings you don’t have to, it pretty much plays right out of the box. A similar (and free) alternative is Foobar2000, which has several plugins and nearly identical sound quality. The interface isn’t as nice and it’s not quite as easy to use, but many folks dig it. For an audio-only alternative you can check out CPLAY, which is simpler, open source, and sounds a little better too.

Ratings:

User Interface: 10

Customer Support: 9

Subjective Sound Quality: 8

Video Quality: 10

Trial Offered: YES

JPLAY

OS: Windows

Price: $129

Audio Capabilities: Standard Audio Formats plus FLAC, WAV, DSD

File Management: Utilizes JRMC Database organization or standalone playlists.

JPLAY is a relatively new introduction to the audiophile playback software market. Piggy-backing off the Jriver or Foobar2000 interfaces, it allows for use of the excellent file management of JRMC, but with improvements to sound quality.

This is an enthusiast level software, is a bit of a process to set up and tedious to use, but represents the most technically intelligent software available. If any software makes a difference, it would be JPLAY, but many people have claimed that it does not offer improvement over JRMC. In my test system I run a very high-end PC-based music server and the differences between JRMC and JPLAY were subtle, but I felt that I could hear them. Many of the optimizations that JPLAY does to the system I had already done manually (giving both JPLAY and JRMC Standalone an edge to begin with). There is a balance between folks claiming it to be revolutionary and other folks claiming it makes no difference (as is so often the case in the high-end marketplace). My recommendation is that the software makes sense, but you might want to try the trial version and see if it meshes well with your system. Of course if you plan to use it with JRMC it will require a JRMC license as well. JPLAY’s strength comes from its ability to isolate itself from the operating system. Setting itself up as a windows service allows it high priority thread access and when running, JPLAY disables background services to eliminate IO operations so that the only thing being worked on during playback is your music.

They have a slew of standard features including memory playback and direct sound, but integrating the software as a system activity is something unique to JPLAY. For more advanced users, you may choose to go the dual PC route, which involves using a processing PC and a Music PC separately to play back audio. In this setup the processing PC does all the heavy lifting and the music PC is designed to be ultra low power, low noise, and simple to output a streamed audio signal. To me this seems counter-intuitive to want to add a second computer to the signal path, but it is evidently a critical improvement to be made when using the JPLAY system.

Ratings:

User Interface: 6

Customer Support: 8

Subjective Sound Quality: 10

Trial Offered: YES

XXHighEnd

OS: Windows

Price: $96

Audio Capabilities: Primary audio formats plus FLAC, WAV

File Management: Standalone database, managed and organized manually by file folder.

XXHighEnd is a good-sounding software if you can get it to work. It requires a fairly powerful computer to get the most out of it and requires a fairly lengthy setup that may extend past your trial period. If you have the muscle, there’s a lot of potential here.

With that said, this is one of the more tweaky playback software programs. Being able to adjust page size, latency, and utilize memory playback make it a software that has a lot of potential. The software can also do some fairly sophisticated digital filtering algorithms. This is paramount when using the software with the Phasure DAC, which relies on the XXHighEnd software to operate.

The GUI is purposefully minimal and high-contrast. The volume is a lossless DSP-based volume, and there are some cool unknown features like phase alignment that claim to greatly improve the sound. The phase alignment is a unique feature to XXHighEnd and one that sets this apart, as long as your amps aren’t DC-coupled. To learn more, check out the Phasure website.

Personally it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I prefer a little more versatility in my playback software, like DSD support. But this software and JPLAY are top contenders for the best playback software and sound very similar. XXHE also plays standalone, which gives it a bonus point in my book. Simpler is better.

Ratings:

User Interface: 5

Customer Support: 8 (tons of resources on the forum)

Subjective Sound Quality: 9

Trial Offered: YES

by Christine Smith • 2020-09-29 10:42:52 • Proven solutions

FLAC, short for Free Lossless Audio Codec, not only offers the same quality as the original audio file but takes up much less space on your hard drive. However, its limited compatibility often pushes people to convert FLAC to MP3 or other more widely-used audio formats. Such inconveniences seem to be exaggerated for Mac users as Apple devices can't recognize nor play it. We collect 6 FLAC converters for you to convert FLAC to Mac supported formats without any hassle to help you out.

Part 1. Recommend FLAC Converter to Convert FLAC Video on Mac/Windows

If you want to convert your FLAC audio file with great and high-quality results, Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) is the best FLAC converter for Mac and Windows. It stands out among other video converter programs with 30X times faster speed without quality loss. If you often visit video-hosting sites like YouTube, you'll love their one-click download, which allows you to download videos directly for offline playback.

Wondershare UniConverter - Best FLAC to MP3 Converter

• Convert FLAC to MP3 and other 1000+ audio formats like M4A/WAV/M4B/AAC with simple Mac steps.
• Compress FLAC files to a smaller size without losing any quality.
• Download YouTube videos and playlists to MP3 and other audio formats by pasting the URL.
• Edit FLAC audio files before converting with trimming and adjusting volume.
• Transfer audio and video files from Mac to iPhone/Android devices easily via a USB cable.
• Convert FLAC audio files in batch with super fast speed.
• Versatile toolbox combines fixed video metadata, GIF maker, cast video to TV, CD burner, and screen recorder.
• Supported OS: Mac OS 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14, 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, 10.10, 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6, Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista.

How to Convert FLAC to MP3/AIFF with Wondershare FLAC Converter

The following guide will show you how to convert FLAC files on Mac within 3 simple steps.

Step 1 Add FLAC Audio to Convert

Launch Wondershare FLAC Converter on your Mac, then click the Add Files button on the upper left to add FLAC video to convert to MP3. Or you can also directly drag and drop your desired FLAC audio to the FLAC to MP3 converter.

Step 2 Choose MP3/AIFF as Output Format

Click on the down-arrow button on the bottom and choose MP3 or other audio formats as you like under the Audio tab. The output audio quality can also be chosen here. If you want to batch convert all FLAC files to the same audio format, you can click on the Start all button.

Step 3 Start Converting FLAC to Other Formats

Now click on the Start All button to start converting FLAC to MP3, AIFF, or any format you want on your Mac system, the converting process will be finished within a few seconds, and you can switch to the Finished tab to locate the converted .flac files on your Mac.

If you want to know how to play FLAC files directly, here are Top 30 Flac Player for Windows/Mac/iOS/Android >> you cannot miss.

Part 2. 5 Common Free FLAC Converters for Mac

1. All2MP3

Key Features: Using AppleScript, this MP3 audio converter converts PC, APE, WV, FLAC, OGG, WMA, AIFF, and WAV files to MP3, which is one of the most popular and compatible audio formats available.

Pros:

• It's free
• Easy to use
• Supports drag and drop

Best Flac Player For Mac

Cons:

• It can only convert to MP3, which excludes many other, better, Apple compatible formats with better quality
• You can't convert large batches of FLAC files at once

2. Switch Audio File Converter Software

Key Features: Switch is a free audio converter program that converts multiple audio formats, including FLAC to MP3. Its paid version offers more versatility, but the free one is limited to converting only to MP3.

Pros:

• It is totally free to use
• Various formats can be converted
• Easy to use

Cons:

• The free version only converts to MP3, limiting your options
• Additional features are only free to try out
• It installs additional software behind your back

3. X Lossless Decoder

Best Flac Converter Free

Key Features: This music converter can decode, convert, or play various 'lossless' audio formats on Mac OS, and help to convert FLAC to MP3 and other more compatible audio formats.

Pros:

• You can choose from multiple output formats when converting
• It's free

Cons:

• Interface is complicated
• You can only convert lossless audio formats, which limits its functionality

4. MediaHuman Audio Converter for Mac

Key Features: MediaHuman Audio Converter is a free FLAC converter that helps you convert FLAC to AIFF, AAC, WAV, OGG, WMA, and other popular or lossless audio formats.

Pros:

• It's 100% free to use
• It supports multiple file conversion at once
• You can use it to extract audio track from videos.

Cons:

Flac Audio Converter For Mac

• This program is not easy to use
• Slow and unreliable at times

5. fre:ac

Key Features: fre:ac is a professional FLAC converter Mac, which combines free audio converter and CD ripper into Mac OS. Apart from FLAC, it also supports MP3, MP4/M4A, WMA, AAC, WAV, OGG, and Bonk audio formats to convert your FLAC file.

Pros:

• A totally free FLAC converter program
• Integrated option to rip audio CDs

Mac Flac To Mp3

Cons:

• Supports a few audio formats

Part 3. External Knowledge on Limitation of Free FLAC Converter

It doesn't take a genius to notice that almost any free FLAC converters share the following limitations although they are easy to use:

• Various limitations prevent you from enjoying the full features of FLAC converter Mac.
• Slower converting speed than desktop FLAC converters, especially when converting large or multiple files
• Poor support of development results in unstable user experience
• Inevitable audio quality loss after free FLAC conversion

Unlike free FLAC converter, Wondershare UniConverter provides an ultra-fast and smooth experience of converting FLAC to MP3 Mac. Seeing is believing; come to give it a free shot!

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is the most popular lossless format. FLAC is usually used for music recording and playback because it delivers great sound quality. This post gives you the 4 best free FLAC converters to help you convert to/from FLAC files.

Want to convert your audio files to FLAC or convert FLAC to MP3 or other formats? This post will show you how to convert to/from FLAC files with the 4 best free FLAC converters. (To download YouTube in MP3, try MiniTool Video Converter.)

Top 4 FLAC Converters to Convert FLAC Files

1. Format Factory
2. MediaHuman Audio Converter
3. Online Converter
4. CloudConvert

1. Format Factory

Format Factory is a free FLAC converter that can convert MP3 to FLAC, WAV to FLAC, WMA to FLAC, FLAC to MP3, FLAC to WAV, and more. You can also use this software to cut your FLAC audio file.

Take the following steps to convert to/from FLAC files.

1. Download and install Format Factory. Launch it.
2. Click on Audio. Then choose FLAC to convert your file to FLAC or choose another output format.
3. Click the Add File to import the audio file.
4. Click on OK and tap on Start to start the conversion.

2. MediaHuman Audio Converter

MediaHuman Audio Converter is the best FLAC converter for Windows and macOS. With its simple interface, you can easily convert your music file to FLAC or convert FLAC to other popular formats.

Flac To Mp3 Converter Mac

Here’s how:

1. Open MediaHuman Media Converter after installing it on your computer.
2. Drag and drop the FLAC file to the program. Or click the + to add the FLAC file.
3. Select the wanted output format and adjust its audio quality.
4. After that, hit the Convert button to convert the FLAC file.

3. Online Converter

Online Converter is an online converter for video & audio conversion. It can be used as a FLAC converter to convert any audio format to FLAC such as MP3 to FLAC, MP4 to FLAC, WAV to FLAC, ALAC to FLAC, and more.

Here’s how:

1. Visit the Online Converter.
2. Go to Audio Converter > FLAC Converter.
3. Click on Choose File to upload the audio file you want to convert.
4. Tap on Convert to convert audio to FLAC.
5. Download the converted file when the conversion is done.

Related article: Top 3 Ways to Convert FLAC to ALAC for Free

4. CloudConvert

Another online, free FLAC converter to convert to/from FLAC files is CloudConvert. It allows you to upload audio files from your computer, URL, Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox.

Here’s how:

1. Open the CloudConvert website.
2. Tap on Select File to upload the target audio file.
3. Click the three dots and choose an output format.
4. Click the Convert button and save the converted file.

Tip: How to Convert YouTube Videos to FLAC Online

Want to convert YouTube video to FLAC? Try a YouTube to FLAC converter. Loader.to is an online YouTube converter that can convert YouTube videos to various formats.

Here’s how to convert YouTube to FLAC.

Convert Flv To Mp3 Mac

1. Copy the YouTube video link.
2. Go to the Loader.to website and paste the link into the URL box.
3. Select FLAC as the output format and click on Download.
4. When the converting process is finished, download the FLAC file from the website.

Conclusion

The above-mentioned FLAC converters are free to download. If you need to convert to/from FLAC files, choose any of them and have a try!