Convert Audio Interchange File Format (.aif) to MPEG-4 Audio (.m4a) online for free. Fast, secure audio conversion with no watermarks or registration.
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AIF is Apple's uncompressed PCM audio format from 1988, storing big-endian audio data in an IFF-derived container. As the classic Mac OS standard for high-fidelity audio, AIF preserves every sample at full quality. M4A is the audio-only MPEG-4 container that holds either AAC (lossy) or ALAC (lossless) audio — it is the modern Apple audio standard used by iTunes, Apple Music, iPhone recordings, GarageBand exports, and Voice Memos.
Converting AIF to M4A moves audio from Apple's legacy uncompressed format to Apple's modern container. The M4A container supports both lossy AAC (for small files) and lossless ALAC (for perfect preservation), making this a flexible upgrade path that keeps your audio within the Apple ecosystem while gaining better metadata support, smaller file sizes, and universal Apple device playback.
M4A with AAC at 256 kbps reduces AIF's ~10 MB/minute to approximately 2 MB/minute — an 80% size reduction with virtually transparent quality. M4A with ALAC reduces to ~5 MB/minute while preserving every sample losslessly. Either way, M4A offers significant space savings over AIF's raw uncompressed PCM.
M4A also provides superior metadata capabilities over AIF. The MPEG-4 container supports embedded album art, lyrics, chapter markers, gapless playback flags, iTunes rating/grouping tags, and Soundcheck data — none of which AIF's simple AIFF container can match. For Apple ecosystem users, M4A is the strictly superior format in every dimension.
FFmpeg decodes the AIF container's big-endian PCM stream and encodes it as either AAC-LC (lossy, configurable bitrate) or ALAC (lossless) within an M4A container. The M4A container (technically MP4 with audio-only tracks) stores moov atoms for seeking, udta atoms for metadata, and covr atoms for album art. For AAC encoding, the psychoacoustic model benefits from AIF's clean uncompressed input. For ALAC, the lossless compression preserves every sample identically to the AIF source.
With AAC at 256 kbps: virtually transparent quality — indistinguishable from the AIF source in blind tests for most listeners. With ALAC: zero quality loss — every PCM sample is perfectly preserved, decodable back to data identical to the AIF original. The lossless AIF source ensures the best possible encoding quality for either codec choice, since no pre-existing lossy artifacts interfere with the encoder.
| Device | AIF | M4A |
|---|---|---|
| Windows PC | Partial | Partial |
| macOS | Partial | Native |
| iPhone/iPad | Partial | Native |
| Android | Partial | Partial |
| Linux | Partial | Partial |
| Web Browser | No |
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 320 kbps
OGG Vorbis preferred
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 256 kbps
AAC format required
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 128 kbps
Lossless FLAC/WAV for best quality
Resolution: N/A
Bitrate: 128 kbps
MP3 mono for spoken word
AIF to M4A is the natural upgrade path within the Apple ecosystem. Choose ALAC for lossless preservation or AAC for compact files with transparent quality. Either way, you gain better metadata, smaller files, and universal Apple device support.
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Ochrana soukromí
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Funguje všude
Jakýkoli prohlížeč, jakékoli zařízení
| No |
| Vlastnost | AIF | M4A |
|---|---|---|
| Celý název | Audio Interchange File Format | MPEG-4 Audio |
| Přípona | .aif | .m4a |
| Nejlepší pro | Lossless quality | Better than MP3 |