Media Player · Windows 10 and 11
Play FLAC and lossless music
FLAC keeps every bit of a CD or a studio master in half the space. Octoolo's Media Player plays FLAC as it is, and the other lossless formats too: Apple Lossless, APE, WavPack and AIFF are turned into FLAC as they play, so nothing is thrown away on the way to your speakers.
How to play FLAC files
- 1
Open the Media Player
Open Media Player in Octoolo. The first time, it downloads FFmpeg (77 MB).
- 2
Drop the album in
Drag the FLAC files or the album's folder onto the window. Songs play in order, with the cover shown.
- 3
Check the quality
Under the artist and album, a line shows the format, channels, bit depth and sample rate, such as FLAC, stereo, 24-bit, 96 kHz.
Lossless all the way
FLAC files are decoded exactly, sample for sample. Lossless formats that Windows' own engine does not decode (Apple Lossless in M4A, Monkey's Audio APE, WavPack, TTA, AIFF) are repackaged as FLAC while they play, which is also lossless: what reaches Windows is the same sound the file holds.
Lossy formats are different: WMA, AC-3 or DTS are turned into AAC at a high bit rate as they play, since Windows' engine does not decode them either.
What you hear
The sound goes to your speakers or headphones through Windows, like any app's. Windows plays it at the sample rate your sound device is set to, so a 96 kHz file on a device set to 48 kHz is resampled by Windows. To hear the full rate, set your device's format in Windows' sound settings. The player has no exclusive or bit-perfect mode.
Volume goes up to 200%; above 100% the sound is amplified and can clip on loud masters.
FLAC for your phone
To take an album on a phone or into a car, make smaller copies: FLAC to MP3 converts whole folders and keeps the tags and covers. FLAC to ALAC makes lossless files for Apple Music, and FLAC to WAV uncompressed ones for editing.
Questions, answered
Does it play hi-res FLAC (24-bit, 96 or 192 kHz)?
Yes. The file is decoded at its full resolution; Windows then plays it at the rate your sound device is set to.
Does it support CUE sheets?
No. An album saved as one long FLAC with a CUE file plays as one long track.
Are tags and covers read from FLAC files?
Yes: the Vorbis comments (title, artist, album, date) and the picture inside the file, or a cover.jpg or folder.jpg beside it.
Is playback gapless?
Not yet: there is a short pause between songs, which live albums and DJ mixes make noticeable.
FLAC player, and 16 more apps.
Download for Windows7 days free, then from $3.99 a month for all 17 apps. Windows 10 and 11.