Editing FLAC (section)

=== File structure ===
A FLAC file consists of the [[File format#Magic number|magic number]] <code>fLaC</code>, [[metadata]], and encoded audio.<ref name="format-about"/>

The encoded audio is divided into frames, each of which consists of a header, a data block, and a [[CRC16]] checksum. Each frame is encoded independent of each other. A frame header begins with a [[sync word]], used to identify the beginning of a valid frame. The rest of the header contains the number of samples, position of the frame, channel assignment, and optionally the [[sample rate]] and [[audio bit depth|bit depth]]. The data block contains the audio information.<ref name="format-about"/>

Metadata in FLAC precedes the audio. Properties like the [[sample rate]] and the number of channels are always contained in the metadata. It may also contain other information, the [[album cover]] for example.<ref name="format-about"/> FLAC uses [[Vorbis comment]]s for textual metadata like track title and artist name.