4 Easy Ways to Convert FLAC to ALAC on Windows or Mac

Chloe LEE
March 06, 2024 Preview 155 Preview 0
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FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) are both popular lossless audio formats that offer CD-quality sound and good compression. However, FLAC is not compatible with Apple Music/iTunes. So you may need to convert FLAC to ALAC to sync your lossless music collection via Apple software or devices. This article will show you 4 simple ways to convert FLAC to ALAC in seconds, no complex tools or technical skills required.

*Before we dive into the tutorial, please note that M4A is the file container for ALAC codec compression, so converting FLAC to ALAC will produce a .m4a file.

Batch Convert FLAC to ALAC With Professional Converter

iFunia Video Converter is a dedicated video and audio converter application for Windows & Mac that is able to convert between hundreds of codecs and formats, including FLAC, ALAC, AAC, WAV, AIFF, OGG, MP3 and more. It lets you convert unlimited FLAC files to ALAC simultaneously with a few clicks and merge multiple files into one if needed.

Besides, this versatile media converter can also rip DVD and CD to any digital format you like, and download music and video from websites such as SoundCloud, YouTube, Bandcamp for offline listening. It’s a best option for converting FLAC to ALAC if you prefer a simple and multifunctional media converter.

How to easily convert FLAC to ALAC on Windows and Mac:

Step 1. Download and install iFunia Video Converter, then open it.

Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.11 or later

Step 2. On Windows, click menu icon in the upper right corner and choose "Add Files"; or click File > Add File(s) on Mac to import your FLAC audio file to the app. Alternatively you can simple drag and drop them into the main interface.

add FLAC files to iFunia Video Converter

Step 3. Click “Convert all tasks to” at the bottom, and select “Apple Software” on the left side and then choose “M4A Audio” as the output format.choose M4A Audio output

Step 4. Click the settings icon icon after the M4A Audio to adjust the audio codec, change Codec from AAC to ALAC, and click OK.

choose ALAC codec

Step 5. Click the Convert convert button button at the bottom right corner to start converting FLAC to ALAC on your computer.

Converting FLAC to ALAC

Tips:

  1. You can set a save location for the converted ALAC files by clicking Save to (for Windows) or File > Save Convert Folder to (for Mac).
  2. If you want to combine multiple audio files into one, check the Merge option before converting.

 

Convert FLAC to ALAC With XLD (Mac Only)

XLD stands for X Lossless Decoder, a tool for Mac OS designed to transcode lossless audio files. It supports FLAC, Apple Lossless (ALAC), APE, AIFF, WAV and lossy formats such as AAC and MP3. It lets you preserve the FLAC metadata or edit it yourself. It’s quite easy to use but it doesn’t have a graphical user interface, which can be confusing at first.

How to use XLD to convert FLAC to ALAC on Mac:

Step 1. Get XLD from Sourceforge and run it. XLD is unverified by Apple, so to open it, you need to find it in the Finder, then right-click on it and select “Open”. And XLD won’t display a window, but will show in the Dock at the bottom of your screen.

Step 2. Go to XLD > Settings to set it up. Choose “Apple Lossless” from the “Output format” drop-down list, and specify a directory to save the output files.

XLD settings

Step 3. Open your FLAC audio files with XLD to convert them to ALAC. There are three ways to do it:

  • Drag FLAC files/folder onto XLD icon in Dock and it will start converting to M4A(ALAC) files automatically.
  • Right-click on FLAC files and choose Open With > XLD.
  • Go to File on the toolbar of XLD and choose Open, then select FLAC files and click on the Open button.

XLD convert FLAC to ALAC

 

Convert FLAC to ALAC With Foobar2000 (Windows Only)

Foobar2000 is a free audio player for Windows that supports a wide range of audio formats. It can rip audio CDs and convert various audio formats with its Converter component and Encoder Pack. With Foobar2000, you can convert FLAC to ALAC with lossless quality, preserving all metadata tag including art cover. And although there is a Mac version of foobar2000, it does not have a conversion feature as of now.

How to convert FLAC to ALAC on Windows for free:

Step 1. Download and install Foobar2000 and its Free Encoder Pack from the official website.

Step 2. Add the FLAC file(s) you want to convert by clicking File > Add files.

Step3. Select the added audio file(s), right-click on it and choose Convert > Quick convert.

foobar convert option

Step 4. In the new window, select “Apple Lossless” as the output format, and click Convert.

convert to Apple lossless

Step 5. Select a save folder when prompted, then it will start converting FLAC to ALAC one by one.

foobar2000 converting progress

 

Convert FLAC to ALAC Online

If you just need to convert a few FLAC files and don’t want to install any software, online FLAC to ALAC converters are handy options, but they compromises on speed and security. Online tools will take a rather long time to upload a FLAC file and convert it to ALAC will take another few minutes. Converter.app is one of the online audio converters that supports converting to lossless formats like ALAC. It’s easy to use and the ads are not too intrusive.

Step 1. Go to converter.app/flac-to-alac/ using any web browser.

Step 2. Upload a FLAC audio file or drag it to the drop zone. The conversion will start automatically after the file is uploaded.

Step 3. Once it’s complete, click the Download button to save the converted ALAC file to your device.

converter.app

Alternative option: onlineconverter.com/flac-to-alac

 

Comparing 4 Best FLAC to ALAC Converters

  iFunia VC XLD Foobar2000 Converter.app
Compatibility Windows & Mac Mac Windows Web-based
Supported Formats 400+ formats ~12 audio formats ~14 audio formats major audio & video formats
Batch Conversion Yes Yes Single-threaded No
Preserve Metadata Yes Yes Yes Yes
Adjust Audio Parameters Sample rate, Channels & Quality Sample rate & Bit depth Bit depth Non
Convert Speed Ultra fast Fast Fast Slow
Ease of use Intuitive Easy but no GUI Easy Easy
Download Online Music Yes No No No
Extract Audio From Video Yes No No No
Rip DVD Yes No No No

 

To Conclude

Above are four easiest ways to convert FLAC to ALAC on both Windows and Mac. With these desktop or online audio converters, your high-res FLAC music can be converted with lossless quality for optimized playback in Apple devices and software. And compared to online tools, desktop converters like iFunia seem much more efficient and secure, and offer more advanced features you may need.

If you have more questions about converting FLAC to ALAC, do check out the following two sections for answers or leave a comment below.

 

About Lossless Audio Formats

What’s the difference between FLAC, ALAC and other lossless music formats? And which one is the best choice? Well, there are four most common lossless audio formats, FLAC & ALAC and WAV & AIFF. They offer equal sound quality but differ in their compression ratio and compatibility.

FLAC is both an audio codec and a container, and ALAC is like the Apple version of FLAC but stored within an M4A container. Their file sizes are very close, with ALAC being 5~10% larger than FLAC.

WAV and AIFF are lossless and uncompressed audio formats that are typically 60%~ larger than FLAC & ALAC. WAV is commonly used on PCs and is also compatible with Apple software, while AIFF is developed by Apple and works mostly on Macs.

Therefore, if you manage your music library in iTunes/Apple Music, ALAC is the first choice that saves storage and offers studio quality.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there quality loss when converting from FLAC to ALAC?

No, they are both lossless formats so the output audio quality is the same as the source file. And converting FLAC to a lossy format like AAC and MP3 will certainly lose quality.

Can I convert FLAC to ALAC with Mac built-in feature?

No. If you right-click on a FLAC audio file and choose “Encode Selected Audio Files” on your Mac, you can only get an error code-2700 as FLAC is not supported by Apple. But you can still convert ALAC to AAC, iTunes Plus or other supported formats with it.

How to convert FLAC to ALAC using FFmpeg?

FFmpeg is a cross-platform command-line tool designed for converting video and audio files. It’s not included above because it’s too complex for this task and require a steep learning curve. Although I managed to convert some FLAC files to ALAC using FFmpeg, some files with tag information failed.

  1. Install FFmpeg.
  2. Open the Command Prompt (on Windows) or Terminal (on Mac), and drag the FFmpeg tool to the interface. This way you don’t need to remember the directory.
  3. Tell FFmpeg where to find the FLAC file and convert it to ALAC with the -acodec option: ffmpeg -i input.flac -acodec alac output.m4affmpeg convert FLAC to ALAC
  4. Press Enter, and it will start the conversion process.
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Chloe LEE

Chloe LEE is good at explaining and solving complex technology problems to her readers. Since joining iFunia Studio, she has focused on writing articles about video and DVD software, and how-to tutorials.

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