Convert AIFF to M4A

Upload a AIFF file and get a M4A back. No signup, no watermark, no limit on how many.

Drop a AIFF file here, or click to choose one

What a AIFF file is

AIFF is Apple's uncompressed PCM format — WAV's opposite number, same audio, different byte order and a container that handles tags rather better.

Where you run into it: Logic and Pro Tools sessions, Mac recordings, older Apple software that wrote it by default.

What it costs you: As big as WAV, and outside the Mac world rather less widely accepted.

What you get as M4A

M4A is an MPEG-4 container holding AAC audio — the same codec as a bare .aac file, wrapped so that players, tags and cover art all behave.

Where you run into it: iTunes and Apple Music purchases, voice memos, Zoom and Teams recordings, most phone-recorded audio.

What it costs you: Outside Apple's ecosystem support is good but not universal, and a few older tools still refuse the extension on sight.

What this conversion actually does

This is the conversion that actually buys you something: AIFF holds the full signal, and M4A trades a slice of it for a file a fraction of the size. This is where the bitrate setting matters — 320 kbps for music you care about, 192 for general listening, 128 for speech. It is a one-way trip, so keep the AIFF original if it is the only copy you have.

How to convert AIFF to M4A

  1. Drop your AIFF file onto the box above, or click it and pick the file.
  2. Choose a quality if you want one — the default is the best the source can support.
  3. Press Convert. The file goes to our server, ffmpeg does the work, and the result comes straight back.
  4. Your M4A file downloads automatically. Both copies on the server are deleted as soon as the response is sent.

Frequently asked questions

Is converting AIFF to M4A free?

Yes, entirely, and there is no cap on how many files you convert. No account, no watermark, no trial.

Does converting AIFF to M4A lose quality?

Yes — that is the point of it. M4A discards part of the signal to get small. At the best setting the difference is inaudible to almost everyone on almost any equipment; at 128 kbps it is audible on music and fine on speech.

How big will the M4A file be?

Much smaller — commonly a tenth of the AIFF at 320 kbps, and less again at lower settings. That reduction is exactly what you are trading a slice of the signal for.

Can I convert M4A back to AIFF?

Not here. AIFF can be read but not written by this converter — ffmpeg decodes it happily, and encoding back to it would mean a format almost nothing plays. If you need the original AIFF, keep it rather than recreating it.

Is my file uploaded anywhere?

The file is uploaded to do the conversion — nothing here runs in your browser — and both your upload and the converted result are deleted the moment the file is sent back. Nothing is stored and nothing is logged beyond the request itself.

Other conversions