Convert AIFC to AAC — Free Online Converter
Convert AIFF-C Compressed Audio (.aifc) to Advanced Audio Coding (.aac) online for free. Fast, secure audio conversion with no watermarks or registrat...
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How to Convert
Upload your .aifc file by dragging it into the upload area or clicking to browse.
Choose your output settings. The default settings work great for most files.
Click Convert and download your .aac file when it's ready.
About AIFC to AAC Conversion
AIFC (AIFF-C) is Apple's compressed variant of the Audio Interchange File Format, supporting codecs like IMA ADPCM, MACE 3:1/6:1, u-law, A-law, and uncompressed PCM. It was the standard compressed audio format on classic Mac OS and NeXTSTEP before AAC and MP3 became dominant. Most modern audio software cannot open AIFC files, making them effectively trapped in legacy archives.
AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is the successor to MP3 and the default lossy audio codec across Apple devices, YouTube, Android, and all major streaming platforms. Converting AIFC to AAC modernizes legacy Apple audio into a universally playable format with excellent quality-to-size ratio. At 256 kbps, AAC delivers perceptually transparent audio from a clean PCM or ADPCM source.
Why Convert AIFC to AAC?
AIFC has virtually no playback support on any modern platform — you cannot open AIFC files on an iPhone, in a web browser, or on Android without specialized software. AAC, by contrast, plays natively on every Apple device, every Android device, and in every modern browser. Converting AIFC to AAC makes your legacy Mac audio accessible everywhere.
For AIFC files containing uncompressed PCM, the conversion to AAC achieves roughly 80% file size reduction at 256 kbps with virtually no audible quality loss. Even AIFC files using MACE compression benefit from the conversion, since AAC's psychoacoustic model is vastly superior to the crude waveform coding in MACE 3:1 or 6:1.
Common Use Cases
- Modernizing a legacy Mac sound library from AIFC to a universally playable format
- Making vintage NeXTSTEP audio recordings accessible on iPhones and iPads
- Converting archived AIFC voiceovers for use in modern podcast production
- Preparing AIFC music files from classic Mac applications for streaming platforms
- Migrating AIFC audio assets from HyperCard stacks to modern web applications
How It Works
FFmpeg identifies the AIFC compression type (NONE for PCM, ima4 for IMA ADPCM, MAC3/MAC6 for MACE, ulaw/alaw for G.711) and decodes to raw PCM samples. The AAC encoder (libfdk_aac or FFmpeg native) applies psychoacoustic modeling to allocate bits across frequency bands, producing an AAC-LC bitstream. The output is wrapped in an M4A (MPEG-4 Audio) container with full metadata support including artist, album, and cover art fields.
Quality & Performance
For AIFC files containing uncompressed PCM, AAC at 256 kbps produces perceptually transparent output — indistinguishable from the source in blind tests. AIFC files using IMA ADPCM (4:1 compression) already have some quantization noise; the AAC encoder preserves this faithfully without adding significant further degradation. MACE-compressed AIFC files are the most degraded sources, but AAC still encodes them efficiently. The single encoding step from AIFC to AAC avoids the generation loss that would occur from transcoding through an intermediate format.
Device Compatibility
| Device | AIFC | AAC |
|---|---|---|
| Windows PC | Partial | Partial |
| macOS | Partial | Native |
| iPhone/iPad | Partial | Native |
| Android | Partial | Partial |
| Linux | Partial | Partial |
| Web Browser | No | No |
Recommended Settings by Platform
Spotify
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 320 kbps
OGG Vorbis preferred
Apple Music
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 256 kbps
AAC format required
SoundCloud
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 128 kbps
Lossless FLAC/WAV for best quality
Podcast
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 128 kbps
MP3 mono for spoken word
Tips for Best Results
- 1Use 256 kbps AAC-LC for transparent quality — this matches the Apple Music download standard
- 2Wrap AAC output in M4A rather than raw ADTS for full metadata and Apple ecosystem compatibility
- 3Batch convert entire AIFC folders in one operation since quality settings apply uniformly to all files
- 4Keep original AIFC files if they contain uncompressed PCM — they serve as lossless archival masters
- 5If the AIFC source uses MACE compression, 192 kbps AAC is sufficient since the source quality is already limited
AIFC to AAC is the definitive path for modernizing legacy Apple compressed audio. AAC's universal support and superior compression make it the ideal successor to every codec stored in AIFC containers.