Format
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)
Summary
- Name
- FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)
- Version
- 1.2.1
- Identifiers
-
- MIME: audio/flac
- PUID: fmt/279
- Format type
- Audio
- Description
- FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, an audio format similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. The basic structure of a FLAC stream is: •The four byte string "fLaC" •The STREAMINFO metadata block •Zero or more other metadata blocks •One or more audio frames The first four bytes are to identify the FLAC stream. The metadata that follows contains all the information about the stream except for the audio data itself. After the metadata comes the encoded audio data.
- File extensions
-
flac - Source
- The National Archives and Records Administration / The National Archives and Records Administration
Internal signatures
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)
- Note
- BOF: 'fLaC' with optional byte (80|00) followed by '.."'
Byte sequences
- Min Frag Length
- Absolute from BOF
- Offset
- 0
- Max offset
- 4
- Byte Sequence
664C6143(80|00)000022- Endianness
- None
Changelog
-
Updated in V98
- Release date
- 27 October 2021
FLAC: Signature updated with an either or (80|00). Signature developed and samples provided by Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen.
-
Updated in V92
- Release date
- 20 September 2017
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) 1.2.1: Added MIME type.
-
Updated in V72
- Release date
- 12 November 2013
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec): Improved internal signature through PRONOM Research.
-
Added in V38
- Release date
- 1 August 2010
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec): Signature developed from FLAC documentation
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec): Outline entry added