The best case for FLAC: PCM on DVD
Some music DVDs, concert recordings and camcorders store sound as PCM, the same uncompressed audio as on a CD, often at 48 kHz. That sound is truly lossless, and FLAC is the ideal way to keep it: every sample is preserved, but the file is roughly half the size of a WAV. When you convert MPEG to FLAC from such a source, you get audio that is identical to the disc, in a format that music players, hi-fi streamers and archive software support.
FLAC from MP2 or Dolby Digital
More often, the sound in MPEG files is MP2 (digital TV, Video CDs) or Dolby Digital (most DVDs). Both are lossy. FLAC keeps their decoded sound exactly, but cannot restore what their encoders removed. FLAC still makes sense in these cases:
- You want to edit or restore the sound and save it several times without adding new losses.
- You archive TV or radio recordings and want one open, future-proof format from which you can make MP3 or AAC copies later.
- Your music library is already FLAC and you want everything consistent, with tags and covers.
For listening only, a lossy file is smaller and sounds the same: try MPEG to M4A.
Compression level
FLAC levels only affect file size and saving time. The default is a sensible choice; the highest level saves a few more percent of space. The sound is bit-for-bit identical at every level, so you cannot choose wrong.
How it works
The sound track is read and decoded by the built-in converter engine, because browsers do not decode MP2, Dolby Digital or MPEG program streams. The FLAC file is then written in your browser, with the title, artist, album and cover you set in Trim & tags. Nothing is uploaded, and a batch of VOB files can be processed in one go.
Practical tips
A DVD concert is often one long file. Extract each song separately with Trim & tags to get a proper album. Keep in mind that a concert in FLAC still takes several hundred megabytes. If your editor does not accept FLAC, use MPEG to WAV.