What is a FLAC file?
Lossless audio compression - CD quality at half the size
Free Lossless Audio Codec file (FLAC) is an audio format similar to MP3, but lossless. What does this mean? The audio in a FLAC file is compressed without any loss in quality, whereas a MP3 file compresses the audio but usually lowers the quality of the file by excluding certain frequencies. A FLAC file works similar to how a ZIP file is compressed. Since FLAC is highly optimized for audio, you’ll receive a better compression ratio when compared to the ZIP compression algorithms. You can play compressed FLAC files in your favorite media player (including VLC, your car, or home stereo, or computer) just like you would an MP3 file (without having to uncompress it separately).
FLAC files are one of the fastest and most widely supported lossless audio codecs and is one of the few that are non-proprietary and has a well-documented open-source reference implementation. There are no attached patents for FLAC files. It was developed in 2000 and FLAC files discourage developers to not include any DRM features.
