FLAC to OGG for Music Production

Keep OGG out of the session itself. Lossy files inside a project mean the DAW decodes on import and re-encodes on export, and any processing you apply — EQ, compression, limiting — amplifies the codec's artifacts rather than hiding them. OGG is a delivery format: reference mixes, client sends, demos on a phone.

One trap catches people out: lossy encoding can push peaks slightly above the source, so a mix sitting exactly at 0 dBFS can clip once it becomes a OGG. Leave about -1 dBTP of headroom on the bounce you encode from — standard practice for masters, and it applies to reference files too.

Never send a lossy file to a distributor or streaming platform. They transcode whatever you upload into their own formats, so handing them an already-compressed file stacks a second lossy generation onto what your listeners actually hear. Deliver lossless; convert to lossy for humans.

A minute of FLAC is about 5 MB; the same minute as OGG is roughly 1.2. Across an album or a long recording that difference decides whether it fits on a phone. Keep the FLAC. It's the archival master; the OGG is the copy that travels. Re-encode from the master whenever you need another format or bitrate.

Where does a FLAC file even come from? Usually CD rips, hi-res download stores, and archival libraries. The catch is that FLAC is lossless but poorly supported outside audiophile software — Apple's Music app won't touch it. OGG is the destination because it plays essentially everywhere — game assets and every ordinary phone, browser, and player. The size drop is the point — around 4× less data, which is what turns an unsendable file into an attachment. Because FLAC is lossless, encoding to OGG here is the clean, single-generation case — the encoder sees the whole original signal, so this OGG is as good as the format gets.