Format
WAV, uncompressed audio.
A WAV file holds the samples of a recording as they are. It is simple and exact, and it is large.
Flex Convert reads WAV and writes it, and turns it into FLAC without losing a sample.
Facts
The record.
Extensions
.wav and .wave.
What it is
A Microsoft and IBM format from 1991, built on the RIFF container, usually holding uncompressed PCM.
Size
About 10.6 MB a minute for CD-quality stereo, and several times that at 24-bit and 96 kHz.
Limit
A standard WAV stores its length in 32 bits, so it stops at 4 GB, about 6.7 hours of CD-quality stereo.
Metadata
Possible, but handled loosely: there is no standard place for a cover picture.
In Flex Convert
Read and written. The bit depth of the source is kept.
Measured examples
What we measured.
Three generated WAV files converted to FLAC on this site.
| Test file | Size | Change | Time | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 s musicChrome | 16 MB → 2.9 MB | 82 percent smaller | 570 ms | Samples identical |
| 60 s noise, 24-bit 96 kHzChrome | 35 MB → 14 MB | 59 percent smaller | 1.1 s | Samples identical |
| 90 s of near silenceChrome | 16 MB → 140 kB | 99 percent smaller | 560 ms | Samples identical |
Measured on November 7, 2026 in Google Chrome 157, on Apple M1 Pro. Times run from pressing Convert to the result being ready, with the page already loaded. Likeness is PSNR against the original: higher is closer, and above 40 dB the difference is hard to see. Every test file was generated for these measurements, none is anyone else's work, and each is described on the About page.
The music-like file was 16 MB as WAV and 2.9 MB as FLAC. Ninety seconds that were nearly silent became 140 kB. The 24-bit noise file went from 35 MB to 14 MB. All three decoded back to identical samples.
Good to know
What to know about WAV.
Simple and exact, at the price of space.
Why WAV is still around
It is the working format of audio software and hardware: every editor and sampler reads it, and nothing needs to be decoded while you work. That is also why the size does not matter to the people who use it.
The 4 GB ceiling
The size is stored in 32 bits, so a long, high-resolution session can exceed what a standard WAV can hold. Extensions such as RF64 exist, and not every program reads them. FLAC has no such limit in practice.
Tags and covers
WAV can carry text tags, but support is patchy and there is no cover picture. Converting to FLAC gives the file a better home for them.
Choosing
When to pick it, and when not to.
A format is a trade. These are the trades this one makes.
Keep WAV when
you are still editing, or the destination accepts only WAV.
Convert to FLAC when
you want to store or send the finished recording in less space with nothing lost.
Convert to M4A when
the file goes to a phone and a small size matters most.