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Audio Conversion

Convert RAW Audio to MOV — Free Online Converter

Convert Raw PCM Audio (.raw-audio) to QuickTime Movie (.mov) online for free. Fast, secure audio conversion with no watermarks or registration....

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How to Convert

1

Upload your .raw file by dragging it into the upload area or clicking to browse.

2

Choose your output settings. The default settings work great for most files.

3

Click Convert and download your .mov file when it's ready.

About RAW Audio to MOV Conversion

Raw PCM audio is a headerless binary dump of digital audio samples — the most primitive representation of sound in digital form. The file contains nothing but a sequence of amplitude values, with no indication of sample rate, bit depth, byte order, or channel layout. This data comes from audio hardware test fixtures, embedded DSP processors, real-time audio capture pipelines, and scientific data acquisition boards that output samples without any framing overhead.

MOV is Apple's QuickTime container format, the foundation of modern multimedia containerization. While MOV is primarily associated with video from iPhones and professional cameras, it fully supports audio-only content using the same MPEG-4 Part 12 atom structure. Converting raw audio to MOV produces an audio-only QuickTime file with no video track — the MOV wrapper provides the metadata, codec description, and timing information that raw audio entirely lacks.

Why Convert RAW Audio to MOV?

Raw PCM is unusable in any production workflow — no editor, player, or DAW can open it without manual parameter specification. MOV wraps the audio in Apple's QuickTime atom structure, which is natively understood by Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Keynote, iMovie, QuickTime Player, and every Apple application. For professionals working in Apple-centric production environments, MOV is often the expected delivery format even for audio-only content.

MOV also supports professional audio features: high sample rates (up to 192 kHz), high bit depths (24-bit, 32-bit float), multichannel layouts (surround), timecode tracks, and comprehensive metadata. For raw audio from professional recording equipment, MOV provides the container structure expected by Apple's professional application ecosystem.

Common Use Cases

  • Converting raw audio captures for direct import into Final Cut Pro or iMovie timelines
  • Packaging raw DSP output as MOV for delivery to Apple-platform production teams
  • Creating QuickTime-compatible audio files from raw hardware test recordings for macOS playback
  • Preparing raw multichannel recordings for Keynote presentations with embedded audio
  • Wrapping raw audio captures in MOV for integration with Apple ProRes video projects

How It Works

FFmpeg reads the raw PCM with explicit input parameters: `-f s16le -ar 44100 -ac 2` for 16-bit signed little-endian stereo at 44.1 kHz. The audio is encoded using AAC-LC (default), ALAC (lossless), or stored as uncompressed PCM (`-c:a pcm_s16le`). The encoded stream is muxed into a MOV container with the `moov` atom structure containing track descriptions, timing tables, and metadata. Adding `-movflags +faststart` relocates the `moov` atom for streaming compatibility.

Quality & Performance

MOV is a container — it introduces zero quality degradation. With PCM or ALAC encoding, the audio is bit-identical to the raw source. With AAC encoding at 256 kbps, quality is transparent for most content. The MOV container simply provides structure around the encoded audio data. Quality is determined by the chosen codec, not the container format.

FFMPEG EngineFastMinimal Quality Loss

Device Compatibility

DeviceRAW AudioMOV
Windows PCPartialPartial
macOSPartialNative
iPhone/iPadPartialNative
AndroidPartialPartial
LinuxPartialPartial
Web BrowserNoNo

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 ALAC encoding for lossless audio that is natively supported by all Apple devices and applications
  • 2Add `-movflags +faststart` to enable progressive loading in web-based QuickTime players
  • 3For Final Cut Pro workflows, match the sample rate to your project settings (typically 48 kHz for video) to avoid real-time resampling
  • 4Embed timecode metadata if the raw audio is synchronized with video — MOV supports embedded timecode tracks
  • 5Use AAC at 256 kbps for distribution copies and ALAC for master archives from the same raw source

Raw audio to MOV conversion wraps headerless binary samples in Apple's professional QuickTime container, providing immediate compatibility with the entire Apple production ecosystem from a pristine uncompressed source.

Frequently Asked Questions

Very similar. Both use MPEG-4 Part 12 atom structure. MOV is the QuickTime variant preferred by Apple applications, while MP4 is the generic MPEG-4 container. For Apple workflows, MOV ensures maximum compatibility.
Yes. Use ALAC encoding (`-c:a alac`) for lossless compression, or uncompressed PCM (`-c:a pcm_s16le`) for bit-identical storage. Both options preserve the original raw audio exactly.
Yes. Final Cut Pro natively imports MOV files with audio-only content. The audio appears in the timeline as a standard audio clip without a video component.
Yes. MOV supports up to 32-bit float samples at sample rates exceeding 192 kHz, making it suitable for professional high-resolution audio workflows.
M4A is more conventional for audio-only files and integrates better with Apple Music and iTunes. MOV is preferred when the audio will be used in video editing software (Final Cut Pro, iMovie) or mixed with video tracks.

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