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Audio format

ALAC converter

ALAC, the Apple Lossless Audio Codec, compresses music with zero quality sacrifice, and the .alac extension is occasionally used to label such files explicitly even though the codec normally travels inside an .m4a container. Decoding reproduces the original samples exactly, making it Apple's counterpart to FLAC.

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Convert supported files

Runs on your device

Drop ALAC files here

Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.

Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.

Where ALAC comes from

Apple created the codec in 2004 so iTunes and iPods could offer lossless audio without adopting FLAC, and hobbyists reverse-engineered it within months. Apple open-sourced the reference implementation under the Apache License in 2011, and Apple Music's 2021 lossless tier streams in ALAC.

How ALAC works

  • Linear-prediction compression conceptually similar to FLAC, typically reaching 40 to 60 percent of PCM size
  • Handles up to 32-bit samples at rates to 384 kHz, covering Apple Music's hi-res catalog at 24-bit/192 kHz
  • Stored as an 'alac' codec box within the MP4/M4A atom structure
  • Decoding was light enough for the iPod hardware of 2004
  • Unlike FLAC, no per-frame checksums are embedded for integrity verification

When to use ALAC

  • Building a lossless library that syncs cleanly to iPhones and the Music app
  • Converting FLAC purchases for Apple devices without quality loss
  • Archiving masters inside an all-Apple production workflow
  • Feeding AirPlay endpoints with lossless sources

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Native on every Apple platform from iOS to HomePod
  • Mathematically lossless reconstruction
  • Open source since 2011
  • Full iTunes tagging through its .m4a wrapper

Limitations

  • Compresses slightly worse than FLAC on average
  • Non-Apple hardware support is player-dependent
  • Lacks FLAC's built-in checksum verification

Compatibility

Every Apple device and application plays ALAC natively, and cross-platform players such as VLC and foobar2000 handle it on Windows, Linux, and Android. Outside the Apple world support varies by player, which is why cross-platform archives still tend to favor FLAC.

Inherits the full iTunes metadata atom set from its MPEG-4 container, including artwork, composer, and grouping fields.

Convert ALAC to another format

Convert other formats to ALAC