FLAC

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. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, see supported devices) just like you would an MP3 file.

FLAC stands out as the fastest and most widely supported lossless audio codec, and the only one that at once is non-proprietary, is unencumbered by patents, has an open-source reference implementation, has a well documented format and API, and has several other independent implementations.

http://flac.sourceforge.net/

If you want to play FLAC files, here is how with some popular players:

• Winamp - Winamp plays FLAC out of the box (download the Full version to also get FLAC encoding).
• dbPowerAMP Audio Player - Install the FLAC plugin.
• Media Center/Media Jukebox - Install the in_FLAC plugin.
• MediaMonkey - Plays FLAC out of the box.

If you want to rip CDs to FLAC, here is a short list of the most popular programs.

• dbPowerAMP CD Writer - Install the FLAC plugin.
• Burrrn - Supports burning from FLAC out of the box.

If you want to convert audio files to/from FLAC, there are quite a few programs:

• Winamp - Winamp can convert to/from FLAC out of the box since version 5.31 if you download the Full version (not Lite).
• dbPowerAMP Music Converter - Install the FLAC plugin.
• FLAC Frontend - A simple GUI that comes in our FLAC Installer for Windows. Also includes our command-line programs for converting FLAC files and editing metadata.
• foobar2000 - A swiss army knife that supports FLAC out of the box.
• MediaMonkey