Convert AIFF-C Compressed Audio (.aifc) to Apple Lossless Audio Codec (.alac) online for free. Fast, secure audio conversion with no watermarks or registration.
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 .m4a file when it's ready.
AIFC (AIFF-C) is Apple's legacy compressed audio format from the late 1980s, supporting codecs like IMA ADPCM, MACE 3:1/6:1, and G.711 variants alongside uncompressed PCM. ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) is Apple's modern lossless compression format, introduced in 2004 and open-sourced in 2011. ALAC achieves 40-60% compression of PCM data without any quality loss.
Converting AIFC to ALAC moves legacy Apple audio into Apple's current lossless standard. ALAC plays natively on every Apple device — iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, HomePod — and is the format used by Apple Music for lossless streaming. This conversion bridges two generations of Apple audio technology.
AIFC's compressed codecs (MACE, IMA ADPCM) have zero support on modern Apple devices. You cannot play a MACE-compressed AIFC file on an iPhone or through Apple Music. ALAC, as Apple's official lossless codec, works everywhere in the Apple ecosystem without any compatibility concerns.
For AIFC files containing uncompressed PCM, converting to ALAC provides genuine lossless compression — reducing file size by 40-60% while preserving bit-perfect audio quality. This is a strict improvement: smaller files, identical audio, and universal Apple device support. Even for MACE-compressed AIFC sources, ALAC wraps the decompressed audio in a modern, well-supported container.
FFmpeg decodes the AIFC container — handling PCM, IMA ADPCM, MACE, u-law, or A-law transparently — to raw PCM samples. The ALAC encoder then compresses these samples using predictive coding and entropy coding, achieving lossless compression ratios of 40-60%. The output is wrapped in an M4A (MPEG-4 Audio) container, which is the standard wrapper for ALAC on Apple platforms. All metadata fields (title, artist, album) are mapped to the M4A tag structure.
ALAC is mathematically lossless — the decoded output is bit-for-bit identical to the PCM input fed to the encoder. For AIFC files containing uncompressed PCM, the full conversion chain is lossless. For AIFC files with MACE or IMA ADPCM, the ALAC output faithfully preserves whatever quality the compressed AIFC source contained, without adding any further degradation. ALAC's compression is entirely reversible.
| Device | AIFC | ALAC |
|---|---|---|
| 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
AIFC to ALAC is the ideal conversion for bringing legacy Apple audio into the modern Apple lossless ecosystem. PCM sources are preserved bit-perfectly; compressed sources are wrapped in a universally supported modern container.
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Працює всюди
Будь-який браузер, будь-який пристрій
| No |
| Характеристика | AIFC | ALAC |
|---|---|---|
| Повна назва | AIFF-C Compressed Audio | Apple Lossless Audio Codec |
| Розширення | .aifc | .m4a |
| Найкраще для | Compressed AIFF | Lossless |