Introduction
FLAC is a lossless audio format, which means it was designed to favor audio quality over file size. Since storage capacity is cheap nowadays, many music lovers prefer FLAC over formats like MP3. But FLAC is still fairly uncommon, overall, and not every music player out there supports it. Therefore, if you want to install such a program on your Mac, it makes sense to look for a FLAC player specifically. Although FLAC is niche, it is by no means unpopular; you will have no difficulty finding programs that can play FLAC files. But simply installing whatever you happen to find on the internet is not good enough – should not be good enough – for a discerning music listener. Only high-quality apps will do. With that in mind, we have reviewed several media players to find out which one of them deserves to be called the best FLAC player for Mac.
What is the best FLAC player for Mac?
Swinsian: the best overall
Swinsian is a music player aimed specifically at enthusiasts. It supports most audio formats, including FLAC, and includes some library management functions. These include folder watching (which means that Swinsian will automatically add files from specific folders to your music collection), album art fetching, duplicate detection, global search, as well as iTunes and Last.fm integration. Advanced computer users will find Swinsian very powerful – as it supports Regex search and can be controlled by scripts – but you don’t need to know these things to use it.
Overall, Swinsian offers decent functionality at a reasonable price. As both of these factors are important, we consider it the best FLAC player for Mac. You can visit its website for more information and to make a purchase. However, we recommend that you finish reading our article first; it may be worth your time to see what other programs have to offer.
Audirvana: the best functionality
Audirvana is a music library management program, which can be used to both organize your music and to play it. The program’s capabilities include both simple features – like creation of playlists – and more advanced ones, such as metadata editing. Technically inclined users will appreciate its complex settings menu, which can be used to choose which codecs, plugins, and audio enhancers should be utilized by the program. On the other hand, the ability to control playback remotely – via an Android or iOS app – can be appreciated by anyone.
All of these features are pretty useful, but the most notable one is the integrated streaming service. Audirvana is available both as a one-time purchase and as a subscription. Should you opt for a subscription, you will be able to access a massive library of online music in addition to local content.
You can learn more about Audirvana, its features and pricing by visiting audirvana.com. Although it is the most feature-rich FLAC player for Mac, the program is also very expensive. As such, you may wish to consider other options as well.
Foobar2000: the best free player
Although Foobar2000 was originally released all the way back in 2002, it remains relevant and continues to receive updates to this day. Though it may not look as pretty as Audirvana or Swinsian, it can play and organize music just fine, all for the low price of “completely free”. Indeed, its tagging capabilities are actually fairly advanced, and the user interface can be easily customized.
The most important feature of Foobar2000 is the support for plugins. They can greatly extend the functionality of the program. For example, “Tag Sanitizer” plugin can be used to remove unnecessary tags, while “Audio Stretch” can be used to speed up or slow down playback.
Foobar2000, as well as its numerous plugins, can be downloaded free of charge on its website.
IINA: the simplest option
IINA is for those of you who don’t have a large music library. While most people who use FLAC are music enthusiasts – people who want their music player to have library organization capabilities – not everyone is. If you want your music player to just play music and do nothing else, IINA is your choice. It’s a multimedia player – which means it can play both music and movies – with a sleek, elegant interface that fits the look of macOS.
Although IINA is simple to use, it does have its own share of advanced features. For example, it offers a fully customizable UI, and can be used to play content from YouTube and other online platforms in addition to locally-stored files.
IINA is a free open-source program. Visit iina.io for more information and download links.
Conclusion
We have reviewed four FLAC players for Mac, all of which have their own strengths and weaknesses. We recommend Swinsian to music enthusiasts, but if you’re someone who simply wants to play FLAC files, you will likely be happier using IINA.
While you’re here, why not read our article about downloading music from YouTube? After all, it’s a great way to expand your music library for free.