Convert AIF to WAV — Free Online Converter

AIF and WAV are sibling formats — both store uncompressed PCM audio, but with opposite byte orders. AIF (Audio Interchange File Format) was developed by Apple in 1988 using IFF's big-endian structure, while WAV (Waveform Audio) was developed by Microsoft and IBM in 1991 using RIFF's little-endian structure. They are functional equivalents: same audio data, different container byte ordering.

Converting AIF to WAV translates between Apple's and Microsoft's uncompressed audio standards. This is a lossless operation — the PCM audio samples are preserved perfectly, with only the byte order and container headers changing. The resulting WAV file is universally compatible across Windows, Linux, and virtually all audio software.

WAV is the universal standard for uncompressed audio on Windows, Linux, and cross-platform applications. While AIF is well-supported in Apple's ecosystem, many Windows applications, DAWs, audio editors, and embedded systems expect WAV format. Converting AIF to WAV ensures compatibility with the broadest possible range of tools and platforms.

WAV's RIFF structure is also the standard input format for CD mastering, audio analysis software, speech recognition engines, and most professional processing tools outside the Apple ecosystem. Many batch processing scripts, audio APIs, and hardware devices (recording studios, broadcast equipment) default to WAV as their interchange format.

FFmpeg reads the AIF container and identifies the big-endian PCM stream (pcm_s16be, pcm_s24be, or pcm_s32be). It then byte-swaps each sample to little-endian format (pcm_s16le, pcm_s24le, pcm_s32le) and writes the result into a RIFF/WAV container. The conversion is a lossless remux with byte-order conversion — no transcoding or re-encoding occurs. Sample rate, bit depth, and channel count are preserved exactly. This operation completes nearly instantly since only headers and byte order change.