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AIFF to M4A converter

Convert AIFF to M4A in your browser. No upload and no account: the file never leaves your device, so the only size limit is your device’s memory.

I want M4A
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Bytes of your files sent anywhere: 0 B

Related conversions

Need it the other way round? Convert M4A to AIFF

Other ways to convert AIFF

Convert other formats to M4A

Read more about the AIFF format and the M4A format, or see every audio tool and all audio conversions.

Should you convert AIFF to M4A?

A good trade for listening and sharing: M4A is a fraction of the size of AIFF, and at 192 kbps or more the difference is inaudible for most people. Keep the AIFF as your master if you’ll edit or convert again.

AIFF is uncompressed audio, Apple’s equivalent of WAV; M4A is AAC audio in an MP4 container, Apple’s everyday audio format. Use M4A for music and recordings on Apple devices, or anywhere AAC is accepted and size matters.

AIFF and M4A compared
Property AIFF M4A
Compression Uncompressed Lossy
Typical quality 16-bit PCM 128–256 kbps AAC
Support Opens almost everywhere Opens almost everywhere
Best for Audio production on Macs, and importing into Logic or GarageBand Good-sounding audio at small sizes
Introduced 1988 2003

How to convert AIFF to M4A

  1. 01

    Add your AIFF

    Drop your AIFF file onto the box, or click to choose it. It is read from your disk and stays there.

  2. 02

    Check the settings

    The output is already set to M4A. Change the bitrate if you want to; the defaults suit most files.

  3. 03

    Save the M4A

    Press convert and save the M4A. Several files come back together as a ZIP.

What changes when AIFF becomes M4A

From lossless to lossy

AIFF holds every sample; M4A keeps what the ear notices and discards the rest. Pick the bitrate by use: 128 kbps for speech, 192 to 256 kbps for music.

A one-time engine download

AIFF is decoded by FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly, a 31 MB download the first time. After that it is cached, and the conversion never leaves your device.

Expect a much smaller file

AIFF: About 10 MB a minute at CD quality. M4A: About 1 MB a minute at 128 kbps. Shrinking the file is often the main reason to make this conversion.

This page is put together from our notes on each format, choosing only what is true of AIFF and M4A, so every pairing states the same facts the same way. How these pages are made.

Why it doesn’t upload

Recordings are often private: interviews, voice notes, unreleased music. Your browser can decode and encode audio itself, so there is no reason to send it anywhere.

How to check for yourself

Worth knowing

  • About the AIFF. AIFF stores samples in the opposite byte order to WAV; tools that assume WAV turn it into loud static.
  • About the M4A. An .m4a can also hold lossless ALAC audio, several times larger; the extension alone doesn’t tell you which.
  • MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, Opus and FLAC are converted by your browser directly. WMA, AMR, APE, AC3 and the other specialist formats use the FFmpeg engine, a one-time 31 MB download.

Questions

Does converting AIFF to M4A lose quality?

M4A is lossy, so a little is discarded, but at the default bitrate the difference is inaudible for nearly everyone.

Will an M4A play in my car or on my phone?

M4A opens almost everywhere: Apple devices, Android, browsers and most players; some older car stereos, Windows apps and forms refuse it.

Read more about this

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