Step 1: Supply your M4A files using the button above or by haul and lay.
Step 2: Click the 'Convert' button to start the conversion.
Step 3: Get your converted AAC files.
M4A to AAC Conversion FAQ
Is the M4A to AAC conversion reversible?
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You can convert the AAC back to M4A on this site. If either format involved is lossy, the round-trip is not bit-perfect even though it is visually or audibly close.
What output quality should I expect from M4A to AAC?
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Default settings target broadcast / web quality — visually identical to the source for most viewers. For archival use, pick the highest quality option in the converter settings.
Is converting M4A to AAC a second round of lossy compression?
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Yes, and it is worth planning around. Both formats are lossy, so the AAC encoder is working from audio that has already been through one psychoacoustic pass, and its own decisions compound the first set. At 192 kbps or above the result is still transparent for most listening. If you have a lossless master anywhere, encoding the AAC from that instead avoids the double pass entirely. An M4A holds AAC in most cases, or Apple Lossless (ALAC) when it came from a lossless rip. AAC is lossy but more efficient than MP3, and it handles up to 48 channels natively rather than being bolted onto a stereo design.
What exactly is an AAC file?
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A bare run of encoded audio frames with no container wrapped around them. That is why two AAC files can usually be joined by simply putting one after the other, and equally why everything beyond the audio itself — a length, a seek index, cover art — has to be bolted on as a convention rather than being part of the format, so a player often has to read the whole file to work out how long it is. It is about the simplest thing that can be called an audio file, which is exactly why it turns up inside other containers more often than on its own.
Why did my phone or tablet record in M4A?
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Because it is what the hardware encoder on the device produces. Voice memos, screen recordings and the audio track of anything filmed on a phone come out as M4A without anyone choosing it, which is why so many files arrive in it and why the quality is usually better than the file size suggests. Nothing about that stops it converting; it just means the source was encoded once already, by a chip optimised for battery life rather than for fidelity. M4A is an MP4 container carrying audio only, and it is what iTunes, Apple Music and the iPhone Voice Memos app produce.
Why will some of my M4A files not convert?
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DRM. A subset of M4A files are encrypted by the store or the software that issued them, and encrypted audio cannot be decoded by any converter. Anything you ripped yourself, recorded, or bought without protection converts normally; a licensed purchase will not. M4A hides two very different things behind one extension — lossy AAC and lossless ALAC — and non-Apple hardware support is inconsistent.
Is there a licence attached to M4A?
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Not one you have to think about. The codec is covered by patent pools, and the licensing is settled by whoever ships the decoder — the phone, the browser, the operating system — long before a file reaches you. It is why the format is everywhere in hardware, and why royalty-free alternatives were built at all. It changes nothing about converting a file you already have, and it is only a live question if you are shipping an encoder yourself.
Who defines AAC?
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A standards body rather than a company, which is most of the reason it is everywhere. AAC was specified through the international process that produces the MPEG standards, so broadcasters, phone manufacturers, browser vendors and streaming services all implemented the same document instead of licensing somebody's product. The practical consequence is boring and useful: an AAC made by one tool decodes identically in another, and there is no vendor whose support could be withdrawn. AAC is Advanced Audio Coding, standardised in 1997 as MPEG-2 Part 7 and designed explicitly to replace MP3.
Is there a file-size limit when converting M4A to AAC?
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Free conversions have a size limit per file, set by the type of file, and the page tells you when a file is over it. A paid plan removes that limit, so much larger files can be converted.
Can I batch-convert several M4A files to AAC at once?
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Several files in one job need a paid plan. Free use is one file per conversion, one conversion an hour. On a paid plan you can add several files to one job, then download each result on its own or all of them in one ZIP.
What happens to my M4A files after the conversion?
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Uploaded files are processed on our own conversion servers, nobody looks at them, and they are not shared. The upload and the converted file are both deleted automatically about 24 hours after the conversion, which leaves time to download the result. See /privacy/ for the full policy.
What apps can play a AAC file?
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AAC plays in most music players, browsers, and media libraries. iTunes / Apple Music, VLC, Foobar2000, and phone media apps handle it natively.
