by Brian Fisher •
FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec and it is an open source audio compression format that is free and has royalty-free licensing. The format supports album cover art, metadata tagging, and other features. The files compressed using FLAC can be reduced by 50-70% in size without any quality loss. So if you have a number of MP4 videos for which you only need the audio part, MP4 to FLAC conversion is the best solution.
To get your MP4 files converted to FLAC on Mac, UniConverter is great software. This flexible program supports an array of formats that can be converted to over 150 files in lossless quality. The program also supports converting 4K and HD videos. In addition to Mac, the Windows version of the software is also available.
Below is the video tutorial for converting MP4 to FLAC on Mac, you can watch it first before following the detailed instructions.
Launch UniConverter on your Mac system. By default, the program opens in Convert tab. To browse and import local MP4 files, click on +Add Files button. Files can also be added from other devices by connecting them to your PC.
Click on Convert all tasks to: option on the top-right corner. From the new window, select FLAC format from the list of supported Audio files. Also, select the output file quality as needed.
The location on Mac for saving converted file can be select at Output tab. To start the conversion process, click on Convert All button on the bottom-right corner.
UniConverter has both Mac and Windows version. So on a Window PC, you can do the same as on Mac. Below we will show you the detailed steps.
Open UniConverter on your Windows PC. Click on +Add Files button on the Convert tab to add local MP4 files.
To select target format open drop-down menu at Convert all files to: option on the interface. Select FLAC from the Audio tab.
Click on Convert All button to start with the conversion process. The processed files can be checked at Converted tab. The PC location where converted file is saved is show at Output tab and this can be edited as well.
A number of online tools for converting MP4 to FLAC are available as well. Listed below are the top-rated programs for the process.
This free to use online program allows converting your MP4 and other files to FLAC in decent quality. The program needs no download or registration and works from the browser. Local files, online files, and files from the cloud can be added for the conversion process. The program has an option to change the audio bit rate and the sample rate if needed.
Step 1. Click on Choose file button to add local, online, or cloud file.
Step 2. At Target format, select FLAC as the desired format.
Step 3. Select and change audio bit rate and sample rate if needed.
Step 4. Click on Convert Now! button to start the process. Once the files are uploaded and converted, they can be downloaded from the program.
This is another popular online tool that is simple and quick. 200MB is the maximum file size allowed to be uploaded to the program for the conversion. In addition to local, online files can also be added using their URL.
Step 1. Click on Choose file to add local or online MP4 video that needs to be converted.
Step 2. Click on Convert button that will start uploading and converting the added MP4 files.
To convert your MP4 files to FLAC in a quick and simple manner, this is another online tool. The program needs no installation or registration and allows adding a maximum of up to 5 files at a time. Maximum file size supported is 300MB for all 5 files. In addition to FLAC, a number of other audio, video, and image formats are supported by the program.
Step 1. Click on Choose file button to add MP4 files.
Step 2. At the Output format tab, select FLAC from the list of supported Audio formats.
Step 3. Click on Convert button that will start uploading MP4 files for the conversion process. The converted files can be downloaded from the interface of the program.
FLAC, MP3, and WAV are among the most popular and widely used audio formats. All the three formats have their own set of features. Depending on your requirements, you can choose to keep your audio files in one of these formats. To help you with the same, differentiation between these 3 formats is listed below.
FLAC: As discussed in the starting part of the article, FLAC is an open and royalty-free licensing format that facilitates file compression while maintaining quality. If you are looking for best quality audio files, FLAC is just apt.
MP3: This is the most widely and commonly used format that is compatible with almost all types of devices and players. The format is compressed in nature with lossy audio files. If you can compromise on quality, MP3 is the best format for file transfer, storage, and playback.
WAV:This Waveform Audio File format is developed by Microsoft and is the standard format for Windows-based PCs. WAV is an uncompressed format with lossless quality. The format is compatible with a number of software apps and is mainly used for archiving and editing. If space is not a constraint, WAV is a good option for storing audio files in high quality.
Brian Fisher
staff Editor