FLAC and AIFF explained
FLAC compresses audio losslessly, typically to about half the size of WAV. Decompressed, it is bit-for-bit identical to the original — the compression is mathematical, not perceptual.
AIFF is Apple's uncompressed audio format, functionally equivalent to WAV but with better metadata support and big-endian byte order.
- Where FLAC files come from
- Hi-fi music libraries and archival rips of physical media.
- Where AIFF is used
- Mac audio production and older Apple software.