FLAC files are high quality lossless files. Sadly, iTunes (and thus all apple devices such as iPods or iPhones) do not support them either. This tutorial demonstrates easy to use free software that makes the conversion of FLAC files a snap.
FLAC is one of the most popular audiophile formats. It uses lossless compression and thus has quality that is extremely close to the original recording. Even as popular as it is, Apple does not support it through iTunes. This means that Apple devices such as iPods, iPhones, and AppleTVs can not play this file format.
FLAC files are much larger than Apple’s compression or the universal MP3 file format. Most people who want to listen to music on portable devices will gladly sacrificed a little audio quality for huge gains in storage space.
The youtube screencast below will walk through these steps.
1. Download and Install X Lossless Decoder (XLD)
2. Run XLD.
3. Under XLD menu select Preferences
4. Set your output format to be MP3 LAME. If LAME is not an option, you may need to download and install the LAME binaries. MP3 is not the only option here. XLD has a ton of file formats available.
5. Click the option button and set your conversion preferences. If you are not familiar with these options, the defaults will do fine.
6. Close the Preferences window
7. Drag the FLAC files onto the XLD icon in the dock.
8. Watch them convert!
