Convert from FLAC to ALAC

Sites that sell lossless usually offer only FLAC files. To convert to ALAC for iTunes and iDevices using ffmpeg:


for f in `ls *.flac`; do ffmpeg -i $f -c alac ${f/flac/m4a}; done

This assumes the current directory is the directory containing the FLAC files.

Explanation:

  • For all .flac files
  • Call ffmpeg with the original file as input (-i $f)
  • Use the ALAC codec (-c alac)
  • Name the output file the same as the input file but with a m4a extension (${f/flac/m4a})

More on for loops in bash from the OS X command line.