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Audio Conversion

Convert RMI to MP4 — Free Online Converter

Convert RIFF MIDI (.rmi) to MPEG-4 Part 14 (.mp4) online for free. Fast, secure audio conversion with no watermarks or registration....

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How to Convert

1

Upload your .rmi 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 .mp4 file when it's ready.

About RMI to MP4 Conversion

RMI (RIFF MIDI) is Microsoft's RIFF-wrapped MIDI format, a product of the early 1990s Windows multimedia architecture where every media type shared the RIFF binary container. The format was used by the Windows MIDI mapper — the system component that routed MIDI playback between hardware synthesizer cards (Sound Blaster, Gravis Ultrasound) and the software wavetable synthesizer. RMI files were the standard input for the midiOutOpen / midiOutLongMsg programming pattern that powered MIDI playback in thousands of Windows applications.

MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) is the world's most universally supported multimedia container. Converting RMI to MP4 extracts MIDI from the Windows RIFF container, renders it through a software synthesizer, and packages the audio in MP4 — creating the most broadly compatible audio file possible from legacy Windows MIDI content.

Why Convert RMI to MP4?

RMI is confined to the Windows multimedia subsystem — no other platform recognizes the RIFF MIDI container. MP4 plays on virtually every device manufactured in the last 15 years: smartphones, tablets, computers, smart TVs, web browsers, car infotainment systems, and game consoles. No other format matches MP4's universal compatibility.

For organizations with large RMI archives from the Windows era — corporate training modules, educational software assets, kiosk background music, DirectX game soundtracks — converting to MP4 makes this content universally accessible. The rendered audio can be embedded in web pages, shared via messaging, uploaded to platforms, and played on any device without format concerns.

Common Use Cases

  • Creating universally playable audio from Windows-era RMI compositions for web distribution
  • Converting Windows kiosk and point-of-sale RMI background music to MP4 for modern digital signage systems
  • Rendering Windows DirectMusic game soundtracks from RMI to MP4 for retro game music platforms
  • Migrating corporate Windows multimedia training audio from RMI to MP4 for modern e-learning platforms
  • Producing web-embeddable audio from Windows educational software RMI files via HTML5 audio element

How It Works

FFmpeg identifies the RIFF container header ('RIFF' magic bytes with 'RMID' form type) and extracts the enclosed MIDI data chunk. The MIDI event stream is dispatched to a software synthesizer that maps General MIDI program numbers to SoundFont instrument patches, renders note events with velocity-scaled amplitude through ADSR envelopes, and processes controllers for dynamics and expression. The stereo PCM output is encoded as AAC-LC at the target bitrate and wrapped in an MPEG-4 container with ftyp, moov (codec configuration and metadata), and mdat (encoded audio) boxes.

Quality & Performance

MP4 with AAC at 256 kbps delivers transparent audio quality — encoding artifacts are inaudible for synthesized MIDI content. The quality determinant is the SoundFont used for synthesis. RMI files from the Windows era were designed to play through the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth (derived from Roland Sound Canvas samples). Using a different SoundFont produces different timbres. For the most authentic rendering, select a SoundFont that emulates the Microsoft GS instrument set.

FFMPEG EngineFastMinimal Quality Loss

Device Compatibility

DeviceRMIMP4
Windows PCPartialNative
macOSPartialNative
iPhone/iPadPartialNative
AndroidPartialNative
LinuxPartialNative
Web BrowserNoNative

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 encoding for the best balance of quality and universal compatibility across all devices
  • 2Invest in a SoundFont that matches the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth character for authentic Windows-era playback reproduction
  • 3Embed metadata (title, artist, album) in the MP4 to preserve attribution from the RMI's RIFF INFO chunks
  • 4Add a static background image to create a proper video MP4 suitable for YouTube or social media upload
  • 5Test the rendered MP4 on multiple devices to verify synthesis quality meets expectations before batch converting large RMI archives

RMI to MP4 transforms Windows-locked RIFF MIDI content into the world's most compatible audio format. For maximum reach from legacy Windows MIDI archives, MP4 is the optimal target.

Frequently Asked Questions

For universal compatibility, yes. MP4 plays on virtually every device and platform. For audio-only use, M4A is technically more appropriate but functionally identical to MP4 with audio-only content.
RMI stores only MIDI instructions (typically 10-100 KB). MP4 contains rendered audio waveforms — a 3-minute stereo AAC file at 256 kbps is approximately 5.6 MB. The size difference reflects the gap between compact performance instructions and actual audio data.
Approximately. The Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth uses proprietary samples. Third-party SoundFonts can approximate the Microsoft GS character, but exact replication requires the actual Microsoft synthesizer, which is only available on Windows.
Not automatically. RIFF INFO chunks use a different metadata structure than MP4's ISO boxes. Title, artist, and copyright must be manually added to the MP4 metadata after conversion.
Yes. MP4 can contain ALAC (Apple Lossless) for bit-perfect preservation of the synthesis output. Specify ALAC encoding if lossless quality is required.

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