Convert MOV to FLAC
Settings
No file yet
Settings appear after you choose a file.
Planning to edit the audio of a MOV, say an interview or a voice note? FLAC saves it as a lossless file to cut and mix from.
MOV or FLAC?
Keep MOV when
- Size matters. A FLAC of a video's sound is several times larger when the sound is AAC.
Pick FLAC when
- The sound goes through an editor and is saved many times without more loss.
- A player or a library only takes FLAC.
About MOV and FLAC
MOV
Apple's QuickTime video format. What iPhones and Macs record and edit in; other devices often need it converted first.
FLAC
Lossless compressed audio — CD quality at roughly half the size of WAV. The archival format of choice for music collections.
Questions
Will the FLAC sound better than the MOV?
No. The FLAC holds the sound exactly as it is in the MOV, including what the video's compression dropped. It only stops further loss.
Why is the FLAC so much bigger?
FLAC keeps every detail of the decoded sound, while a video's sound is stored in a smaller, lossy form. A lossless file made from a lossy one only gets bigger.
What happens to the video?
The FLAC holds only the sound. The MOV stays as it is.
Do the title and artist stay?
With the FFmpeg lines, yes: FFmpeg carries tags such as the title across to the FLAC. afconvert leaves them out.
Can I convert a whole folder at once?
Yes. Drop them all here. In Terminal, one line converts every MOV in the folder.