AUDIO FORMAT

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)

CONTAINER Lossless

Specifications

FamilyCONTAINER
Bit depth16-32
Sample rate1 Hz
Bit ratevariable (compressed)
Lossless?yes
Extensions.flac
SpecificationXiph.Org FLAC format (RFC 9639)
DeveloperXiph.Org

Overview

Free Lossless Audio Codec — the dominant open-source lossless compression container. Compresses PCM source material to roughly 50–60% of its original size with no audible data loss whatsoever; the original PCM bitstream can be reconstructed bit-perfectly from the compressed file.

Used by Qobuz, Tidal (Max tier), Bandcamp’s lossless downloads, and most personal lossless music libraries. Decoder is computationally cheap — every DAP and streaming endpoint supports it natively.

Container for PCM rates from 16/44.1 through 32/384. ALAC is the Apple-specific equivalent.

Typical use cases

  • lossless music libraries
  • streaming (Tidal HiFi, Qobuz, Apple Music Lossless)
  • studio interchange

Supported on these devices

DEVICE

Reference Portable Digital Audio Player (Dual ES9038Q2M)

Dap

DEVICE

Mid-Tier Compact Balanced DAP (ES9219C)

Dap

DEVICE

Desktop Reference DAC (Dual ES9038Pro)

Desktop Dac

DEVICE

USB-C Dongle DAC with Dual CS43131 and Balanced Out

Portable Dac

DEVICE

Desktop Integrated DAC + Headphone Amp (ES9039Pro)

Dac Amp

DEVICE

Network Audio Streamer / Renderer (Roon-Ready)

Streamer