.flac

What does .flac mean?

.flac, short for Free Lossless Audio Codec, is a Digital Audio format designed for lossless data compression of audio data. Unlike Lossy compression methods, which discard data in order to achieve a smaller File Size, FLAC compresses audio data in a way that preserves all of the original audio information. This means that FLAC files are typically much larger than lossy files, but they also offer much higher audio quality.

FLAC uses a combination of linear prediction and Huffman coding to achieve its lossless compression. The linear prediction algorithm predicts the next sample in a sequence based on the previous samples, and the Huffman coding algorithm then encodes the difference between the predicted sample and the actual sample. This process is repeated for each sample in the audio data, resulting in a compressed file that contains all of the original information.

Since it preserves all of the original audio data, FLAC is considered to be a high-fidelity audio format. FLAC files are often used for archival purposes, as they can be stored and played back without any loss of quality. FLAC files are also popular among audiophiles, who appreciate the high quality of the audio reproduction.

Applications

FLAC is used in a variety of applications, including:

• Archiving: FLAC files are often used for archival purposes, as they can be stored and played back without any loss of quality. This makes them ideal for storing valuable audio recordings, such as live concerts, studio sessions, and field recordings.
• Audio editing: FLAC files are also popular among audio editors, as they can be edited without losing any audio quality. This makes them ideal for editing multi-track recordings, creating mixdowns, and mastering audio projects.
• Streaming audio: FLAC is also used for streaming audio, as it offers a good balance of audio quality and file size. FLAC files can be streamed over the internet or played back on a variety of devices, including computers, smartphones, and streaming media players.

History

The FLAC format was developed in 2001 by Josh Coalson. Coalson wanted to create a lossless audio format that was free and open source, and that could be used to compress and decompress audio data without any loss of quality. The FLAC format was quickly adopted by the audio community, and it is now one of the most popular lossless audio formats in use today.

The FLAC format has been updated several times since its initial release, and the latest version of the format is FLAC 1.3.2. FLAC 1.3.2 includes several new features, including support for high-resolution audio, gapless playback, and metadata tagging.