Convert iPhone Ringtone (.m4r) to Free Lossless Audio Codec (.flac) online for free. Fast, secure audio conversion with no watermarks or registration.
Conversion settings — add a file to adjust
Upload your .m4a file by dragging it into the upload area or clicking to browse.
Choose your output settings. The default settings work great for most files.
Click Convert and download your .flac file when it's ready.
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is the open standard for lossless audio compression, supported by Android, Windows, Linux, and most streaming services. Converting iPhone ringtones from M4R to FLAC decodes the AAC audio and re-encodes it in FLAC's lossless compression, creating a file that can be converted to any other format in the future without additional quality loss.
Unlike ALAC (Apple's lossless codec), FLAC is universally supported across non-Apple platforms. Android plays FLAC natively, Windows 10 and later include a built-in FLAC decoder, and streaming services like Tidal and Amazon Music use FLAC for their lossless tiers. If you are moving your ringtone collection away from the Apple ecosystem, FLAC is the most portable lossless format available.
FLAC gives you a platform-neutral lossless archive of your ringtone audio. While the quality ceiling is set by the original AAC encoding in the M4R file, the FLAC output preserves the decoded audio without any additional compression artifacts. You can convert FLAC to any format later — MP3, OGG, WAV, AAC — with only one generation of lossy encoding, rather than the double lossy encoding you would get converting directly between lossy formats.
FLAC also supports rich metadata (Vorbis comments), including artist, title, album, genre, and embedded artwork. This makes it suitable for organizing a curated sound library where you want proper tagging. The metadata system is more flexible than M4R's limited tag support, letting you add detailed descriptions and categorizations to your audio clips.
FFmpeg decodes the AAC-LC audio from the M4R container and re-encodes it using the FLAC encoder at compression level 5 (default). Output is 16-bit, 44.1 kHz. FLAC compression is lossless — the decoded PCM samples are preserved bit-for-bit. Compression level affects encoding speed and file size but not audio quality. For short ringtone clips, typical FLAC compression achieves 50-70% of the uncompressed WAV size, depending on audio complexity.
FLAC encoding is mathematically lossless. The decoded AAC audio is preserved perfectly in the FLAC container. However, the quality ceiling is the original AAC encoding inside the M4R. A 128 kbps AAC source will produce a FLAC file that decodes to exactly the same PCM as the AAC would — no better, no worse. The advantage is that future conversions from this FLAC file introduce only one generation of lossy encoding instead of two.
| Device | M4A | FLAC |
|---|---|---|
| Windows PC | Partial | Partial |
| macOS | Partial | Partial |
| iPhone/iPad | Partial | Partial |
| Android | Partial | Native |
| Linux | Partial | Native |
| Web Browser | No |
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 320 kbps
OGG Vorbis preferred
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 256 kbps
AAC format required
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 128 kbps
Lossless FLAC/WAV for best quality
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 128 kbps
MP3 mono for spoken word
M4R to FLAC conversion provides the best cross-platform lossless preservation of your ringtone audio. FLAC plays natively on Android, Windows, and Linux, and serves as an ideal archival format for future conversions without generational quality loss.
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| No |
| Ominaisuus | M4A | FLAC |
|---|---|---|
| Koko nimi | MPEG-4 Audio | Free Lossless Audio Codec |
| Tiedostopääte | .m4a | .flac |
| Paras käyttökohde | Better than MP3 | Lossless compression |