Convert M4A to MP3 MPEG-4 Audio ↔ MPEG Audio Layer III Free Online Secure
Your M4A is decoded here in your browser and written out as an MP3 at the bitrate you pick. Nothing is uploaded, so there is nothing to delete afterwards.
Convert your file
Drop an M4A here, or choose one.
Your file never leaves this device. Everything runs in your browser.
Nothing uploaded
Where these formats come from
MP3 came out of years of research at Fraunhofer and was standardised in 1993 as part of MPEG-1. Its trick is psychoacoustic: it throws away the sound a human ear is unlikely to notice, mostly quiet detail masked by louder sound nearby, and it was that trick which made music small enough to travel over a modem. AAC — the thing inside an .m4a file — was designed as its successor and does the same job better at the same size. Ogg Vorbis appeared in 2000 as the patent-free answer, at a time when MP3 still had to be licensed. FLAC compresses without discarding anything, giving back the identical recording at about half the size, and WAV stores the raw samples with no compression at all.
Where you meet them
MP3 is still the format that plays on anything with a speaker, which is why it is the safe choice for sending something to a stranger. M4A is what Apple devices and most phones record and buy in. OGG travels inside games and open-source software. FLAC is for archiving a collection or ripping a CD when the original quality must be kept. WAV is the working format of recording and editing, where the file is opened and saved repeatedly and compression artefacts would accumulate.
Questions people ask
Will converting my MP3 to FLAC restore the quality?
No. FLAC will preserve perfectly whatever it is given, but what it is given here is already an MP3 — the detail removed when the MP3 was made is gone, and no later format can invent it back. You end up with a file several times larger that sounds exactly like the MP3. Converting to a lossless format is worth doing only from a lossless source; from an MP3, the honest answer is to keep the MP3.
Each time I convert, does it sound worse?
Between lossy formats, yes — a little. MP3, AAC and Vorbis each decide separately what the ear will not miss, and each conversion decodes the previous guess and makes a fresh one on top of it, so the losses accumulate. Converting once rarely matters; converting back and forth repeatedly does. Lossless formats have no such problem: WAV to FLAC to WAV returns exactly the samples you started with.
Does the file lose quality?
It depends on what the two formats can hold. Converting between formats that store the same thing — a PNG to a BMP, a WAV to a FLAC — loses nothing. Converting into a format that throws information away to save space, such as JPEG or MP3, loses a little every time, and converting back does not bring it back. Where a choice exists, this page errs towards keeping the original quality rather than making the smallest file.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion happens inside your browser, on your own machine; the file never leaves it and there is no server here that could receive it. That is why a large file is limited by your own memory rather than by an upload, and why nothing you convert can appear in anybody's logs — including ours. The audio and video tools do fetch their conversion engine from this site the first time you use them, some thirty megabytes once; after that the work still happens entirely on your machine.
Why people convert M4A to MP3
M4A is the audio format of the Apple world: voice memos recorded on an iPhone, songs bought or ripped through Apple's software, podcasts and audiobooks from certain stores. It sounds good and files are small, but M4A has a problem outside that world: not every player, car stereo, old phone, editing program or website accepts it. MP3, by contrast, is the format that plays on everything. That is the reason to convert M4A to MP3: you have a recording that works in one place and you need it to work everywhere.
The situations are everyday ones. A voice memo to send to someone whose phone cannot play it. A song for a car stereo that reads only MP3. A recorded interview for an editing program that rejects M4A. A lecture to upload to a website that accepts only MP3. A podcast episode to put on an older player. In each case you need a file that other people's equipment can open, and converting M4A to MP3 is the quickest way to get one.
This page converts M4A to MP3 in your browser. Your recording is not uploaded to a server, so there is nothing to delete afterwards, which matters for private voice memos, interviews and meetings. Below you will find how the conversion works, what is kept, what honestly costs you something and when it is worth doing.
How the conversion works
Decoded here, written as MP3 at the bitrate you pick
Your M4A is decoded in your browser, which means it is turned back into raw sound, and then written out as an MP3 at the bitrate you choose. The bitrate decides how many bits are used for each second of sound: a lower number gives a smaller, rougher file; a higher number gives a larger, cleaner one. You can pick the balance that suits the recording and where it is going.
Nothing is uploaded
The whole process happens on your own device, so your recording never leaves it. There is no copy on a server and nobody else who could hear it. For a private conversation, a confidential meeting or a personal voice memo, that is the right way to convert M4A to MP3.
Choosing a bitrate
For speech, such as voice memos, interviews and lectures, 96 or 128 kilobits per second is plenty and keeps the file small. For music, 192 or more gives a good result. Because M4A is already compressed, going above its own bitrate gains nothing, so do not choose a higher number than the original in the hope of better sound.
What is kept
The full length and the sample rate
When you convert M4A to MP3 here, the full length of the recording is kept, and so is its sample rate, which is how finely the sound was sampled. A forty-minute lecture stays forty minutes, and the sound keeps its character. Nothing is cut or sped up.
Both channels, mixed down properly if there are more
Both channels of a stereo recording are kept. If the file has more than two channels, as some surround recordings do, it is mixed down properly into stereo, so nothing in the middle goes missing. That matters for film sound and some music, where a centre channel carries the dialogue, and a careless conversion would lose it.
What "mixed down properly" means
An M4A with more than two channels cannot be stored as it is in a standard MP3. A careless conversion would simply drop the extra channels, and the voices carried by the centre channel would vanish. Here, the extra channels are blended into the left and right, so that every sound is still there.
Opens anywhere
The MP3 you get opens on practically any device and in any program: phones, computers, car stereos, old players and websites. That universality is why you made the conversion in the first place.
What honestly costs you something
A second round of loss
Both M4A and MP3 are lossy formats: each discards some of the sound to keep files small. When you convert M4A to MP3, you apply that discarding a second time, on top of the first. The result is a little worse than the M4A was, at any bitrate. For speech and ordinary listening, the difference is small and often impossible to hear. But it is real, and it does not go away.
Worth doing when something cannot read M4A
That is why the conversion is worth doing when something cannot read M4A, and not otherwise. If your player, your car or your editing program can play M4A, leave the file as it is: you would pay a loss of quality for no benefit. Convert M4A to MP3 only when you must.
Titles, artist names and cover art are not carried over
Only the sound itself is read. Titles, artist names and cover art that were stored in the M4A are not carried over, so the MP3 appears under its file name without tags. For a voice memo, that rarely matters; for a music collection, you will need to add the tags again in a tag editor.
How to keep your music organised
If you convert songs, name the MP3s clearly, for example with the artist and the title in the file name, so that they are identifiable even without tags. A music manager can also read the names and fill in the tags for you, which saves a lot of typing.
What M4A and MP3 are
M4A is a container for audio, usually compressed with a method called AAC, which Apple adopted for its music store and devices. AAC is more modern than the method used by MP3 and can reach the same quality in a smaller file. MP3 is older, but it became the universal language of digital audio, and virtually every device ever made can play it. When you convert M4A to MP3, you move sound from a more efficient format to a more widely understood one.
That trade explains the numbers you will see. For the same quality, an MP3 tends to be somewhat larger than an M4A, and for the same size, it sounds a little worse. If you choose a bitrate similar to the original, the file will be a similar size, with a slightly lower quality. If you choose a lower one, it will be smaller still, and the loss more noticeable. The right choice depends on what the recording is and where it will be played.
Why Apple devices use M4A
Apple chose AAC for its efficiency and good sound at small sizes, which suited phones with limited storage and music downloaded over slow networks. Voice memos, ripped music and many purchases therefore arrive as M4A. Inside Apple's world, that is no problem. The difficulties begin when a recording leaves it.
Voice memos, interviews and lectures
Speech is the most common thing people convert M4A to MP3 for. A voice memo, a recorded meeting, a lecture or an interview does not need a high bitrate: the human voice is simple to compress, and 96 or 128 kilobits per second sound clear. That keeps the MP3 small enough to email and quick to upload, while the words stay perfectly intelligible.
If the recording is long, such as a lecture of two hours, the file will still be manageable: at 96 kilobits per second, an hour of speech comes to about forty megabytes. If you need a smaller file still, choose a lower bitrate, and listen to the result: speech tolerates a lot of compression before it becomes hard to follow, but background noise is the first thing to suffer.
Transcription and editing
Many transcription services and editing programs accept MP3 more readily than M4A. If your service rejects the file, convert M4A to MP3 and try again. For transcription, clear speech matters more than bitrate, so choose a setting that keeps voices crisp, and if the recording is noisy, consider cleaning it up before you convert.
Music for cars and older players
Car stereos, portable players, old phones and some smart speakers read MP3 and little else. If you have music in M4A, such as songs ripped from CDs with Apple's software, converting M4A to MP3 puts it where those devices can play it. For music, choose a higher bitrate, such as 192 or 256 kilobits per second, to keep the loss small.
Remember that the tags, with the title, artist and cover, do not come across. For a music collection, that means a little tidying afterwards. Name the files with the artist and title so that you can identify them, and use a tag editor to fill in the details if your player needs them.
Making a playlist
After you convert, copy the MP3s onto the device in the order you want. Many players sort by file name when tags are missing, so numbering the files, 01, 02, 03, keeps the tracks in the right order. It is a small step that saves a jumbled playlist.
How to convert M4A to MP3 here
Add your recording
Drop the M4A onto the page or pick it from your device. It is read inside your browser and is not uploaded.
Pick a bitrate
Choose a bitrate that suits the content: lower for speech, higher for music. If you are not sure, a middle setting is a safe choice.
Convert and listen
Press the button and download the MP3. Listen to the beginning, a bit from the middle and the end. If it sounds fine on the device where it will be played, you are done.
Questions people ask before converting
Will the sound get worse?
Slightly. Both formats are lossy, so this is a second round of loss. For speech it is rarely noticeable. Keep the M4A if it is your only copy.
Why are the song titles missing?
Only the sound is read. Titles, artist names and cover art are not carried over. Add them again with a tag editor if needed.
What happens to a surround recording?
It is mixed down properly into stereo, so nothing in the middle goes missing.
Is my recording uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser and the recording never leaves your device.
Who converts M4A to MP3
iPhone users sharing recordings
Voice memos and recordings go to people with other phones or older equipment, in a format that plays for them.
Podcasters and interviewers
Editing programs and hosting services often prefer MP3. Converting gets the recording through.
Car and older-player owners
Many stereos and portable players read only MP3. Converting gets your music onto them.
Common mistakes
Converting when you do not need to
If your equipment plays M4A, leave it. The conversion costs a little quality for no benefit.
Deleting the original
Keep the M4A if it is your only copy. You cannot get the lost detail back.
Choosing a bitrate higher than the original
It does not improve the sound and only makes the file bigger.
Related tools
To go the other way, convert MP3 to M4A. For other audio formats, WAV to MP3, FLAC to MP3 and OGG to MP3 work the same way, and MP3 to WAV, MP3 to OGG and MP3 to FLAC cover the other direction. If your recording is part of a video, the video tools such as MOV to AVI and AVI to MOV change the video container.
When to convert M4A to MP3, and when not to
Converting is right when the recording has to be played by something that does not read M4A: an older phone, a car stereo, an editing program, a website or a person with different equipment. It is the wrong move when everything you use plays M4A, since you would only lose a little quality, and wrong when the recording is a master you will edit or archive, where the original is the better file.
For the common cases, such as voice memos, interviews, lectures and music for older equipment, it is quick, private and dependable to convert M4A to MP3 in the browser. Your original is never changed, so you can come back and convert M4A to MP3 again at a different bitrate whenever you like.
Do not convert in circles
Avoid chains such as M4A to MP3 to M4A to MP3. Each pass through a lossy format costs a little more, and after three or four the sound becomes noticeably rough. If you need several formats, make each from the original, not from a copy of a copy.
Batches of recordings
If you have many recordings to convert, do them one at a time and keep the originals in a separate folder. Try one first and listen to it on the device where it will be played, so you do not have to redo twenty of them. When you convert M4A to MP3 in bulk, consistency matters more than speed.
Large recordings and slow devices
Everything runs on your own device, so very long recordings depend on its memory. An hour of speech is no trouble for a modern phone or computer. A very long recording may be slow on an older device. If it struggles, give the browser a moment and avoid switching to other apps while it works.
Checking the result properly
After you convert M4A to MP3, listen to the beginning, a stretch from the middle and the end, on the equipment that matters. Check that the length is right and that nothing has been cut off. If it sounds good there, you are done; if it sounds rough, convert again from the original at a higher bitrate.
A simple routine to convert M4A to MP3 well
Decide where the recording is going and whether it really needs MP3. Keep the M4A safe. Convert M4A to MP3 once, from the original, at a bitrate suited to the content: lower for speech, higher for music. Listen to the result on the target device, then use it and keep the original. This routine takes a couple of minutes, and it works whether you convert M4A to MP3 once a month or every day.
Your recording stays on your device
The conversion happens locally. Your recording is decoded by your own browser, written as an MP3 there and handed back. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no copy on a server and no one else who could hear it. For voice memos, interviews and meetings, that is the safe way to convert M4A to MP3.
A worked example
Say you recorded a one-hour interview on your iPhone, and the transcription service you use accepts only MP3. The file is an M4A of about 30 megabytes. You drop it here, choose 128 kilobits per second, which is plenty for speech, and press the button. You download an MP3 of about 57 megabytes, an hour long, with the voices as clear as before. You upload it to the service and it is accepted. The M4A stays on your phone.
Before you close the page
Check that you downloaded the MP3, that it sounds fine on the device where it will be played, and that you kept the original M4A.
Summary
To convert M4A to MP3 here, drop the recording, pick a bitrate and download the result. The full length, the sample rate and both channels are kept, and a file with more than two is mixed down properly. Both formats are lossy, so this is a second round of loss and the MP3 is a little worse than the M4A was. It is worth doing when something cannot read M4A, and not otherwise. Titles, artist names and cover art are not carried over. Nothing leaves your device.