Free online WV to FLAC converter

Some players, editors, and hardware devices support FLAC but not WavPack, so a .wv recording may need conversion before playback, editing, or sharing. FLAC preserves lossless audio while offering broader compatibility.

What the WV format is

WV is the filename extension for WavPack, an audio codec that compresses PCM audio. WavPack supports lossless compression, lossy compression, and hybrid mode; it is used by audiophiles, CD-ripping applications, personal music archives, and cue-based album backups.

In hybrid mode, the .wv file contains a lossy base stream and a matching .wvc correction file. The pair restores lossless playback, so keep both files together when decoding or converting. A standalone WV file can also be lossy, so the extension alone does not prove that the source is lossless.

What the FLAC format is

FLAC means Free Lossless Audio Codec. It compresses integer PCM audio without discarding samples and normally occupies less space than an equivalent WAV file. FLAC supports common sample rates, bit depths, channel layouts, tags, and embedded album art, and is supported by many music players, media servers, tagging tools, operating systems, and hardware devices.

FLAC compression settings affect encoding time and file size, not decoded audio quality. WavPack-specific metadata, embedded images, replay-gain information, cuesheets, chapters, or nonstandard tags may not transfer perfectly.

How to convert WV to FLAC

For local conversion, FFmpeg or the official WavPack and FLAC command-line tools avoid uploading audio and work well for individual files or batches.

FFmpeg: Install a current FFmpeg build, open a terminal in the folder containing the WV file, and run:

ffmpeg -i input.wv -map 0:a:0 -map_metadata 0 -c:a flac output.flac

Replace input.wv and output.flac with the actual filenames. -map 0:a:0 selects the first audio stream, -map_metadata 0 copies readable source metadata, and -c:a flac selects the FLAC encoder. For files with a matching .wvc correction file, verify that the decoder uses it; the WavPack tools below provide explicit handling.

WavPack and FLAC tools: Decode the file to an intermediate WAV:

wvunpack input.wv -o intermediate.wav

When input.wvc is present beside input.wv, wvunpack can use the correction data during decoding. Then encode the WAV as FLAC:

flac --best intermediate.wav -o output.flac

--best makes FLAC search for better compression; it does not improve or reduce audio quality. Delete intermediate.wav only after checking the output, because WAV can require substantially more temporary storage.

For a graphical workflow, an audio application that supports both WavPack import and FLAC export can perform the same decode-and-encode operation. Select File → Export or the equivalent command, choose FLAC, and preserve the source sample rate, bit depth, and channel configuration unless a deliberate format change is required.

You can also convert the file for free on 101convert.com without installing software: upload the WV file, choose FLAC, start the conversion, and download the result. Use local tools for private recordings, very large files, or collections that should not be uploaded.

Quality and compatibility limits

Converting a genuinely lossless WavPack file to FLAC preserves the decoded PCM samples, but the FLAC file is not byte-identical to the WV file because the codecs use different container and compression formats. Converting a lossy WV file cannot restore information already removed during encoding.

Standard FLAC is intended for integer PCM. WavPack can store audio types that FLAC does not represent in the same way, including some floating-point or nonstandard source data; check the source before conversion if it is not ordinary integer PCM. After conversion, compare duration, sample rate, bit depth, channel count, playback, and tags before deleting the WV and any .wvc file.