Convert MOV to FLAC Online
Extract audio from Apple MOV videos (iPhone, iPad, ProRes cameras) and save as lossless FLAC. Free, in your browser, no file uploads.
.mov · up to 100 MB
What you can do
MOV to FLAC: Apple audio with no additional loss
No additional loss
FLAC preserves exactly the MOV audio — no extra degradation beyond what the source already had.
100% private
Your MOV file never leaves your device. Full in-browser processing with FFmpeg.wasm.
DAW-ready
Import directly into Logic Pro, Ableton, Pro Tools, or Reaper. FLAC is the interchange format for music production.
ProRes PCM truly lossless
If your MOV has PCM audio from a cinema camera, the resulting FLAC is bit-for-bit identical to the original.
How it works
Three steps, no hassle
Upload your MOV file
Drag or select your .mov file recorded with iPhone, iPad, a ProRes camera, or QuickTime. Up to 500 MB, no signup.
Decoding and lossless encoding
FFmpeg.wasm decodes the MOV audio to PCM and encodes it to FLAC in your browser. If the MOV has PCM audio (ProRes), the result is truly lossless.
Download your FLAC
FLAC file ready for archiving, DAW import, or music distribution. Download with one click.
FAQ
Got questions?
Not in strict terms. FLAC is a lossless compression codec, but if the source audio in the MOV was already encoded as AAC (the usual case in iPhone recordings), the data lost during the original AAC compression cannot be recovered. What you get is a FLAC containing exactly the same audio as the original AAC, without introducing any additional loss — but it does not restore the pre-AAC quality either. To get a truly lossless FLAC from the source, you need a MOV with PCM or ALAC audio, which is what cameras recording in ProRes format or Mac QuickTime Player screencasts with system audio produce. In those cases, MOV→FLAC is a completely lossless chain.
Several practical reasons. First: archiving audio from important recordings (interviews, live performances, production material) in an open, interoperable container that does not depend on Apple software. Second: importing audio into a DAW (Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools) that works better with FLAC or WAV than with AAC. Third: if the MOV comes from a cinema camera like an ARRI or Blackmagic recording ProRes with 24-bit PCM audio, FLAC preserves those 24 bits losslessly. Fourth: distribution on platforms that require FLAC as the archive format (Bandcamp, Internet Archive). In all these cases the tool is the first step in the workflow.
The MOV container (QuickTime File Format) can hold different audio codecs. iPhones record with AAC-LC at 44.1–48 kHz, 128–256 kbps — a lossy codec. Cinema cameras and production recorders (ARRI Alexa, Blackmagic URSA, Sony Venice) record in ProRes with 24-bit linear PCM at 48 kHz — lossless. QuickTime Player on Mac can generate MOV files with PCM audio when recording the screen. The tool detects the codec automatically: if AAC, it decodes AAC→PCM→FLAC; if PCM or ALAC, it transcodes directly PCM→FLAC, preserving all original bits.
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), developed by Xiph.org in 2001, is widely supported. It is supported by VLC, foobar2000, Winamp, Clementine, all professional DAWs, Android natively since Android 3.1, iOS via third-party apps (VLC, Flacbox), and platforms like Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Tidal, and Qobuz. Apple Music has accepted FLAC uploads since 2023. It is not natively supported in iTunes or older hardware players (pre-2010), but compatibility has improved enormously since the MP3 patent expired in 2017 and FLAC consolidated as the de facto standard for lossless audio.
Yes. FLAC is an accepted file format in all professional DAWs: Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Reaper, Cubase, and FL Studio. If the source MOV has 24-bit PCM audio (ProRes cameras or Mac screencasts), the resulting FLAC will be 24-bit at 48 kHz — perfectly adequate resolution for mixing and mastering. If the source is iPhone AAC (effectively 16-bit in practice), the FLAC will match the bit depth of the decoded AAC, typically 16 or 32-bit float depending on decoder settings. For import into a 96 kHz DAW project you will need additional resampling, but MOV→FLAC extraction is the correct preservation step prior to any processing.
FLAC and WAV are both lossless formats, but FLAC offers lossless compression (reducing size 40–60% vs WAV without losing any bit), native metadata support (equivalent to ID3v2 tags via FLAC's VORBIS_COMMENT block), and data integrity checksums via the STREAMINFO and SEEKTABLE blocks. WAV lacks compression and has limited metadata support (only the RIFF INFO chunk). For 24-bit 48 kHz audio from a video recording, a WAV can occupy 500 MB per hour while the equivalent FLAC occupies 250–300 MB. For long-term archiving, FLAC is the better choice: open format, public specification, royalty-free, with built-in integrity verification tools.
Convert MOV to FLAC: extract Apple audio with no additional loss for archiving and DAW
Converting MOV to FLAC is the correct workflow when the goal is preserving audio from Apple recordings with maximum possible fidelity — whether for long-term archiving, import into a professional DAW, or distribution on platforms that require lossless audio. The MOV container (QuickTime File Format), developed by Apple alongside QuickTime in 1991, can hold various audio codecs: AAC-LC in iPhone and iPad recordings, 24-bit linear PCM in production cameras recording in ProRes format (ARRI Alexa, Blackmagic URSA Broadcast, Sony FX9 with ProRes module), and ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec, standardized in ISO/IEC 14496-3:2009 as part of MPEG-4 Audio) in some QuickTime Player configurations on Mac. FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is the open-source lossless compression standard developed by Josh Coalson at Xiph.org, with specification 1.0 published in 2001 and version 1.4.0 in 2022 with performance improvements. The MOV→FLAC conversion has distinct technical meaning depending on the audio codec in the MOV: if the source is PCM (the case for ProRes recordings), the operation is a truly lossless transcode where all original audio bits are preserved in the FLAC; if the source is AAC (iPhone and iPad), the data lost during the original AAC compression is irrecoverable, but the resulting FLAC captures exactly the audio that was in the AAC without introducing any additional loss.
The most demanding use case for MOV to FLAC conversion is independent film and television production. Cinema cameras such as the ARRI Alexa 35 (released 2022), Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K, and Sony VENICE 2 record video in ProRes or BRAW with 24-bit PCM audio at 48 kHz in the audio channel of the MOV or MXF container. This production PCM audio, recorded directly from field mixers (Sound Devices 888, Zoom F8n Pro) connected to the camera, has a theoretical dynamic range of up to 144 dB at 24-bit — sufficient to capture from the softest whisper to the most intense sound effects without clipping. Converting that MOV with PCM audio to FLAC archives the production audio in an open format independent of Apple software, reducing file size 40–50% compared to keeping it as PCM in WAV, with data integrity verification via the MD5 checksum that FLAC stores in its STREAMINFO block. Another relevant scenario is recording musical performances with iPhone Pro: although the resulting audio is AAC (not PCM), extracting it to FLAC instead of MP3 or M4A avoids introducing a second generation of lossy compression — important when the material will be processed, normalized, or distributed afterward.
Convertir.ai runs MOV to FLAC conversion entirely in the browser via FFmpeg.wasm, a WebAssembly compilation of the FFmpeg libraries. The technical process begins with parsing the QuickTime atom tree: the ftyp atom identifies the exact type (qt, M4V, isom), the moov atom contains metadata for all tracks, and the mdat atom contains compressed media data. The audio track is located in the moov→trak (handler_type=soun)→mdia→minf→stbl tree. Depending on the codec identified in the stsd atom, FFmpeg selects the appropriate decoder: mp4a/aac for AAC-LC, lpcm for linear PCM, alac for ALAC. After decoding to 32-bit float PCM in memory, the FLAC encoder in libavcodec compresses the PCM at compression level 5 by default (optimal balance between speed and compression ratio), generating the FLAC stream with STREAMINFO, SEEKTABLE blocks for efficient random access, and VORBIS_COMMENT for transfer of MOV metadata. The resulting FLAC file includes the MD5 checksum of the decoded PCM audio in the STREAMINFO block, allowing integrity verification at any future point with tools like flac --test or foobar2000.