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Need help?How to Convert Audio Files Online
- Upload Your Audio Files: Click "+ Add Files" or drag and drop. XConvert accepts 19 audio inputs: AAC, AC3, AIF, AIFC, AIFF, AMR, AU, DSS, FLAC, M4A, M4B, MP3, OGA, OGG, OPUS, VOC, WAV, WEBA, and WMA. Batch upload is supported.
- Pick Audio File Extension (output format): Choose from MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A, OGG, OPUS, AIFF, WMA, AMR, AU, and AC3. Re-encoding back to the same format is also allowed when you want to apply new bitrate or sample-rate settings.
- Tune Quality (optional): Expand Advanced Options to set Quality Preset (Highest to Lowest), pick Constant Bitrate (e.g. 128/192/256/320 kbps) or Variable Bitrate (range like 190–250 kbps), or target a Specific file size. Override Audio Sample Rate (8 kHz–48 kHz) and Audio Channel (Original, Mono, Stereo). Use the Trim control to keep only a section of each file.
- Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared. Download each output or grab them as a ZIP.
Why Convert Audio Files?
Every device, app, and editor has format preferences. iPhones and Macs prefer AAC and ALAC. Older car stereos only read MP3 and WMA. Audio editors want WAV or AIFF. Voice memos from WhatsApp arrive as OPUS that many desktops won't open. A good converter is what bridges these silos while keeping the generation loss of the re-encode to a minimum.
- Move libraries between ecosystems — Convert an iTunes M4A library to MP3 for an Android phone or a Sonos system, or convert WMA from an old Windows Media Player rip to FLAC for archival.
- Open voice notes anywhere — WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal save voice messages as OPUS in an OGG container. Convert to MP3 so they play in QuickTime, Windows Media Player, PowerPoint, or older Android devices.
- Prep audio for editing — Audacity, Adobe Audition, Logic Pro, and Pro Tools all work best with uncompressed WAV or AIFF. Convert lossy sources to WAV so you can edit without compounding compression artifacts, then export to the format your audience needs.
- Shrink for email and chat — Uncompressed WAV is ~10 MB per minute; MP3 at 192 kbps is ~1.5 MB per minute. Convert long interviews or lectures to MP3 or AAC to fit Gmail's 25 MB attachment cap or Discord's 20 MB free-tier upload (August 2026 change). If your source is already an MP3, you can reduce an MP3's file size directly instead of re-encoding it here.
- Archive losslessly — FLAC stores bit-for-bit identical audio in roughly half the space of WAV, with full metadata (artist, album, cover art) that WAV doesn't support natively.
- Match streaming-platform encoders — Spotify Premium streams Ogg Vorbis up to 320 kbps and FLAC on its Lossless tier; Apple Music uses AAC at 256 kbps with an ALAC Lossless tier; YouTube uses AAC at 128–256 kbps. Match your encode to where you'll listen.
Lossy vs Lossless Audio Format Cheat Sheet
| Format | Type | Typical bitrate | Container | Royalty status | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MP3 | Lossy | 128–320 kbps | MP3 | Patents expired 2017 | Universal compatibility, car stereos, podcasts |
| AAC | Lossy | 128–256 kbps | M4A/ADTS | Licensed (Via LA) | iPhone/Mac, YouTube, Apple Music, broadcast |
| OGG Vorbis | Lossy | 96–320 kbps | OGG | Royalty-free | Spotify standard tier, games, open-source apps |
| Opus | Lossy | 32–510 kbps | OGG/WebM | Royalty-free (RFC 6716) | WhatsApp/Signal voice notes, WebRTC, low-latency |
| WMA | Lossy | 64–192 kbps | ASF | Microsoft-licensed | Legacy Windows Media libraries |
| AC3 | Lossy | 192–640 kbps | AC3 | Dolby-licensed | DVD/Blu-ray 5.1 surround |
| AMR | Lossy | 4.75–12.2 kbps | 3GP | Licensed | Mobile phone voice recordings |
| FLAC | Lossless | ~700–1100 kbps | FLAC | Royalty-free | Hi-res archival, Bandcamp downloads, Tidal |
| ALAC (M4A) | Lossless | ~700–1100 kbps | M4A | Royalty-free since 2011 | Apple Music Lossless, iTunes archival |
| WAV | Uncompressed | 1411 kbps (CD) | RIFF | Open | Editing masters, sample libraries |
| AIFF | Uncompressed | 1411 kbps (CD) | AIFF | Open | Mac editing, Logic/Pro Tools sessions |
Format by Use Case — Decision Matrix
| Goal | Pick this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Plays on any device made in the last 20 years | MP3 at 256 kbps CBR | Patents expired, universal decoder support |
| Smallest file with good quality | Opus at 96–128 kbps | Outperforms MP3 at 128 kbps and AAC below 96 kbps in listening tests |
| Apple-ecosystem playback | AAC / M4A at 256 kbps | Native to iPhone, Apple Watch, CarPlay, Apple Music |
| Lossless archival of a CD or hi-res rip | FLAC | Bit-identical to source, ~half the size of WAV, embedded tags |
| Editing in a DAW (Audacity, Audition, Logic) | WAV or AIFF | Uncompressed, no decode overhead, sample-accurate |
| Voice memo to share with anyone | MP3 at 96–128 kbps mono | Tiny file, plays everywhere |
| Old game / open-source project | OGG Vorbis | Royalty-free, supported by SDL, Unity, Godot |
Bitrate Quality Reference
| Bitrate | MP3 | AAC | Opus | Vorbis | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 kbps | Audible artifacts | Acceptable for speech | Transparent for speech | Acceptable for speech | Voice notes, podcasts |
| 96 kbps | Acceptable music | Good music | Near-transparent music | Good music | Streaming over poor connections |
| 128 kbps | Good music | Very good music | Transparent for most listeners | Very good music | YouTube audio, baseline music |
| 192 kbps | Very good music | Near-transparent | Transparent | Near-transparent | iTunes downloads (legacy) |
| 256 kbps | Near-transparent | Transparent | Transparent | Transparent | Apple Music, Amazon Music HD baseline |
| 320 kbps | Transparent for most | Transparent | Transparent | Transparent | Spotify Premium max, MP3 ceiling |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which input and output formats does XConvert support?
Inputs (19): AAC, AC3, AIF, AIFC, AIFF, AMR, AU, DSS, FLAC, M4A, M4B, MP3, OGA, OGG, OPUS, VOC, WAV, WEBA, and WMA. Outputs include MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A, OGG, OPUS, AIFF, WMA, AMR, AU, and AC3, with the same Advanced Options (bitrate, sample rate, channels, trim) available across them.
Will converting between lossy formats hurt quality?
Yes — every lossy-to-lossy hop (MP3 → AAC, OPUS → MP3) discards data twice and creates audible generation loss, even when the output bitrate is higher than the input. If you have a lossless master (FLAC, WAV, ALAC), always convert from that. If you only have a lossy file, set the output bitrate at or above the source so you don't compound the loss, and accept that the result is no better than the original.
Which format gives the smallest file at acceptable quality?
Opus. Standardized by the IETF in RFC 6716 (2012), Opus outperforms MP3 at low bitrates and matches or beats AAC up to about 96 kbps in published listening tests. The trade-off is compatibility: Opus plays natively in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, modern Android, and VLC, but not in older car stereos, iPods, or some hardware DAPs. For maximum compatibility at the smallest size, MP3 at 192 kbps is the safe pick.
Why won't my computer play a WhatsApp or Telegram voice note?
WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal record voice messages as Opus inside an OGG container (file extension .opus or .ogg). Windows Media Player and QuickTime don't decode Opus by default. Convert the file to MP3 or AAC with XConvert and it will play in any media player, embed cleanly into PowerPoint, or import into iMovie and Premiere.
Should I rip my CDs to FLAC or WAV?
FLAC. Both are lossless and bit-identical to the CD, but FLAC compresses to roughly half the size and stores artist, album, cover-art, and track-number metadata inside the file. WAV's RIFF container has no standard tagging scheme, which is why iTunes and most music players struggle to organize a WAV library. The only reason to choose WAV over FLAC is if your editing software doesn't open FLAC (rare in 2026 — Audacity, Audition, and Reaper all support it).
Can I trim, normalize, or boost volume during the conversion?
You can trim a clip to a start/end window inside Advanced Options. For volume normalization, dedicated loudness work (LUFS targeting for podcasts and broadcast), or precise multi-track edits, use XConvert's Audio Compressor for size-targeted output or the Audio Cutter and Audio Trimmer for time-range edits.
What sample rate and bit depth should I use?
For most music: 44.1 kHz / 16-bit (CD quality) is the universal target. Apple ecosystems and broadcast often use 48 kHz / 16-bit because that matches video sample rates. Hi-res lossless tiers (Apple Music, Tidal Master, Qobuz) deliver up to 24-bit / 192 kHz, but downstream playback gear that matters at that resolution is rare. Don't upsample — going from a 44.1 kHz source to 192 kHz adds no information and just bloats the file.
How do I extract audio from a video file?
Use the dedicated extractors: MP4 to MP3, MOV to MP3, or WebM to MP3. They demux the audio stream and re-encode it to the chosen format, preserving as much quality as the source allows. If the source uses AAC (most MP4 and MOV from phones), converting to M4A keeps the same codec family, so the fresh AAC encode avoids cross-codec generation loss — the closest to the original you can get short of keeping the source file.
Are my files private?
Files process on our servers and are not retained after you leave the page. No account is required to convert audio. There are no watermarks added to the output, no batch limits, and no daily quotas.