Free online AVR to FLAC converter

What the AVR format is

In the Audio category, AVR is an audio container associated with Audio Visual Research and older computer-based recording systems. AVR files normally contain uncompressed PCM samples plus information such as sample rate, bit depth, channel count, and audio length.

You may encounter .avr files exported by legacy audio applications, archival systems, or older Atari-compatible and desktop audio workflows. Modern media players and editors do not consistently recognize the format, so conversion is usually needed before playback, editing, or long-term storage.

What the FLAC format is

FLAC is a lossless audio format. It reduces the size of PCM audio by encoding repeated and predictable sample data, then reconstructs the original samples exactly during decoding.

FLAC is suitable for archiving, editing intermediates, music playback, and distribution when WAV-sized files are inconvenient. It supports common sample rates, mono and multichannel audio, and integer sample depths. Unlike MP3 or AAC, FLAC does not discard audio information.

How to convert AVR to FLAC

For local conversion, SoX (Sound eXchange) is a practical choice when it is built with AVR support. Install SoX using your operating system’s package manager or an official desktop distribution, then run:

sox input.avr output.flac

SoX reads the AVR header, detects the sample rate, channels, and sample depth, and writes a FLAC file using those values. Use quoted filenames when they contain spaces:

sox "old recording.avr" "old recording.flac"

Check the source properties before conversion with:

soxi input.avr

To set a compression level without changing the decoded audio, use:

sox input.avr -C 8 output.flac

FLAC compression levels range from 0 to 8. Higher levels generally make encoding slower but can produce slightly smaller files; they do not improve or reduce audio quality.

If SoX does not recognize AVR, try the sndfile-convert utility from libsndfile-tools:

sndfile-convert input.avr output.flac

Before converting a batch, test one file and verify the result with:

soxi output.flac

You can also use the free converter on 101convert.com: upload the AVR file, select FLAC as the output format, start the conversion, and download the resulting file without installing software.

Quality, compatibility, and limitations

If the AVR file contains uncompressed PCM, conversion to FLAC is lossless: the decoded FLAC samples match the AVR samples. It cannot restore quality already lost in the original recording, and it does not increase the source’s bit depth or sample rate.

AVR implementations may differ in supported sample formats, and some converters lack support for unusual headers, byte order, or compressed variants. If a file fails to open, confirm that it is an audio AVR file and try a current SoX or libsndfile build. Compare duration, channel count, sample rate, and bit depth after conversion; do not judge success only by the new filename extension.

Some AVR-specific metadata may not transfer to FLAC. Preserve the original files if embedded labels, recording notes, or non-audio header fields are needed for archival purposes.