(The same is true with other uncompressed or lossless formats, such as WAV, AIFF, APE, SHN, and others.) While iTunes doesn’t support FLAC files, it’s very easy to convert them to Apple Lossless, or ALAC, an equivalent lossless format that iTunes supports. It’s all about whether you’re an Apple fanboy or not, but there’s no audible difference between the two.

They did it to have their own lossless format which they could distribute as an iTunes-supported lossless format.

To put it simply, ALAC is a lossless alternative to FLAC designed by Apple. Also make sure the disc you are burning is in the AccurateRip database. Insert a blank CD, hit “Ignore” if the “You inserted a blank CD” dialog comes up and hit “Burn CD.” First follow this to, at least, correctly set the read offset in the CD Rip tag in XLD’s preferences. Note that the verification process requires an offset correction, so both read/write offset value (in CD Burn pref) should be set correctly for the exact match. Apple’s standard CD burner GUI will appear and proceed. XLD wrote: Clicking “Burn CD” button in the toolbar of the track list window triggers a CD burner. In Preferences click on the Batch tab, and select “Preserve directory structures.” With this enabled, you can theoretically drag and drop your entire FLAC collection onto the XLD icon and wait while it does the rest. If you’re in a hurry or want to take a hands-off approach, there’s one more option you can set. XLD will start converting your FLAC files automatically.Next, select the FLAC files that you want to convert into Apple Lossless.In the Preferences dialog that pops up, change your output format to “Apple Lossless” under “General” tab! Here’s how to convert your FLAC files to Apple Lossless. The supported audio files can be split into some tracks with cue sheet when decoding. X Lossless Decoder(XLD) is a tool for Mac OS X that is able to decode/convert/play various ‘lossless’ audio files.

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