How to Play FLAC File on iPod Series? Two Accessible Methods Are Provided!

Updated on Aug 24, 2023

Although mobile phones and tablets have become common places, quite a lot of music lovers never desert the endangered iPod. But do you feel helpless with your FLAC music albums? "Can iPod play FLAC files?" This is absolutely an age-old question. No worries, this post will tell you how to smoothly play FLAC on iPod.

If your iPod runs iOS 10 or older, it's much wiser to use this handy tool to convert FLAC to iPod supported format:

https://www.videoconverterfactory.com/download/hd-video-converter.exe hd-video-converter.exe

Can iPod Play FLAC? It Depends!

Play FLAC on iPod

Apple iPod line has been upgraded many times: iPod, iPod Classic, iPod Mini, iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano. Now, even to this day, only iPod Touch is available and remains in production. Despite different models, however, the iPod line is capable of playing several audio file formats: WAV, AIFF, MP3 (CBR up to 320 Kbps, VBR), AAC (M4A/M4B/M4P, up to 320 Kbps), Apple Lossless (ALAC), Audible audiobook (AA/AAX).

You see, obviously, FLAC is not on the iPod audio format list, which means iPod cannot natively play FLAC file. But the good news is that FLAC playback support was introduced starting from iOS 11, so if your iPod Touch runs iOS 11 or newer, you can cheer for that! For other iPod models that run iOS 10 or older, in order to play FLAC files, you have to resort to the roundabout ways. Keep reading and learn the details.

Method 1 - Convert FLAC to Apple Lossless for Music Listening Once and for All

If you use old iPod models, you can head over to the music conversion. Why Apply Lossless, not MP3 or AAC? You know, both MP3 and AAC are lossy audio formats which means there will be a significant drop in quality if you convert FLAC to MP3 or AAC, while the Apple Lossless ALAC, as its name implies, it's a lossless audio format that is nearly identical with FLAC regarding audio quality. So there is no quality loss in the conversion between FLAC and Apple Lossless.

After the conversion, you can simply play the Apple Lossless files on any iPod model. Sounds great? To achieve this goal, I'll introduce 2 handy free audio converter programs and operation steps below to save your time.

1. Free HD Video Converter Factory

Download and installDownload and install the free FLAC to iPod converter on your PC.

Step 1. Fire up Free HD Video Converter Factory and open Converter. Click on Add Files to import your FLAC files, alternatively, just drag them into the program.

Step 2. Expand the output format list on the right side, select Audio category and choose ALAC profile.

Step 3. Specify an output folder on the bottom to save your converted files, lastly, hit Run button to convert FLAC to ALAC M4A.

Free HD Video Converter Factory

Optional. The free FLAC to iPad converter also allows you to open "Parameter settings" window to change audio bitrate, sample rate, channels and volume right there. Moreover, this program even equips some basic editing features that enable you to trim, split, and merge FLAC files easily. More surprisingly, it even helps download music/song/album/mixtape/audiobook from YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud, MixCloud and 500+ popular sites. Sounds great? Download and give it a shot.

2. MediaHuman Audio Converter

Download link: https://www.mediahuman.com/download.html

Step 1. Run MediaHuman Audio Converter. Click on the Plus, folder, music note icon to import FLAC files respectively. Also, you can simply drag files therein.

Step 2. Open the Profile dialog box, and select ALAC in the drop-down list. And press wrench icon to customize the output folder.

Step 3. Finally, hit the circle round arrow to start the conversion process.

MediaHuman Audio Converter

Method 2 - Play FLAC File on iPod Touch with a FLAC Player APP

Prior to iOS 11, you're able to install a FLAC Player from APP Store for the direct playback on iPod Touch. Most of these players allow you to import FLAC files directly on your device instead of the standard "Sync" feature in iTunes. For instance, VLC for iOS is completely free and open source which enables you to play FLAC files with ease.

Also, there are multiple similar choices for you, such as FLAC Player+, Flacbox, VOX, foobar2000, Radsone, etc. You just open the APP Store, input the corresponding name of FLAC player, install and have fun.

Install FLAC Player on iPod Touch

At last...

In a nutshell, if a problem can't be solved directly, don't go too far, try a roundabout method to flexibly sort it out. iPod is still a perfect device for music playback, with the simple methods above, you're able to play FLAC on any iPod model without a hitch. If there is any problem in the course of operations, you're welcome to contact me about the details when necessary. Enjoyed this post? Stay tuned with us!