AIFF to MP3 Converter
AIFF is the Mac's uncompressed audio format, and a single song in it is often too big to attach to an email. Converting to MP3 makes a bounce, demo or CD track small enough to send while keeping its title and artwork.
Audio Converter
or drop MP3, WAV, M4A … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Constant bitrate (CBR) gives a predictable size and works on every player. Variable bitrate (VBR) spends bits where the music needs them and is usually smaller at the same quality.
Keep the source rate unless a device asks for one. 44.1 kHz is CD standard, 48 kHz is video standard, 8 kHz is used by phone systems and AMR.
Mono halves the size of lossless files and is fine for voice recordings.
16-bit is CD quality. 24-bit keeps headroom for editing and mastering; converting a 16-bit source up does not add detail.
Optional. Seconds (e.g. 75) or minutes:seconds (1:15). Leave empty to start at the beginning.
Optional. Same format as the start time. Leave empty to keep everything up to the end.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the AIFF or AIF files
Add up to 20 files with the .aiff, .aif or .aifc extension, each up to 95 MB. That covers songs of roughly ten minutes at CD quality.
- 2
Choose a bitrate
The page starts at 256 kbps, a good balance for sharing music. Use 320 kbps for a near-final reference mix, or 128 kbps in mono for spoken word.
- 3
Press Convert to MP3
Each file is encoded straight from the uncompressed source. Download them one at a time or as a ZIP; uploads are deleted after 30 minutes.
Upload the AIFF and press Convert to MP3: at the default 256 kbps a 37 MB song becomes about 7 MB with title and cover art intact.
Where AIFF files come from and why they need converting
If you make music on a Mac, AIFF is probably all over your drive. GarageBand and Logic Pro can bounce to it, Apple's Music app offers an AIFF encoder in its import settings for CD rips, and many sample libraries and older macOS system sounds use it. On the Mac it simply works.
Problems begin when the file leaves. A band member on Windows, a client opening a link on an Android phone, or a car stereo reading a USB stick may not recognize .aif at all, and file-sharing limits are reached after a few minutes of music. MP3 is the format everyone can play. If the recipient will edit rather than listen, convert to PCM with AIF to WAV instead, which keeps full quality.
- AIFFAIF · Audio Interchange File Format
- An uncompressed audio container that Apple introduced in 1988, built on Electronic Arts' IFF chunk structure from 1985. It stores PCM samples in big-endian byte order, the mirror image of WAV's little-endian layout, which is why the two formats hold the same audio at the same size.
AIFF to MP3 bitrate: picking the right setting
- 128 kbps
Podcasts, voice memos and spoken demos; about 0.96 MB per minute.
- 192 kbps
Casual listening copies; about 1.44 MB per minute.
- 256 kbps
Default here; demos and mixes for collaborators, about 1.9 MB per minute.
- 320 kbps
MP3 maximum; reference bounces, about 2.4 MB per minute.
Before you convert a session folder
- Keep the AIFF masters; MP3 is a one-way, lossy copy.
- Turn on Keep tags and cover art for ripped albums.
- Use Normalise volume for a playlist of demos recorded at different levels.
- Trim count-ins with Start at instead of re-bouncing.
- Pick Mono for a single voice or instrument to halve the size.
- Convert to 48 kHz only if the MP3 goes into a video project.
AIFF compared with MP3
AIFF
Audio Interchange File Format
AIFF is an uncompressed audio format developed by Apple in 1988, based on Electronic Arts' IFF. It stores PCM audio at the same quality as WAV and supports richer metadata, which makes it common in Mac music production and Logic Pro. Files are large, about 10 MB per minute of CD-quality stereo. Most editors and players read AIFF, though some web tools and Android apps do not.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 1988 · Apple
MP3
MP3 audio
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) is a lossy audio format developed largely at the Fraunhofer Institute and standardised by MPEG in 1993. It removes sounds the ear is unlikely to notice, shrinking music to about a tenth of CD size at 128–320 kbps. All patents have expired, and every phone, car stereo, browser and media player supports it. Quality loss is audible at low bitrates and accumulates with re-encoding.
- Compression
- Lossy
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 1993 · Fraunhofer IIS / MPEG
AIFF bounces from GarageBand and Logic and Mac CD rips are uncompressed and run past email and upload limits within a few minutes of music; MP3 shrinks them for sharing and for Windows, Android and car players that skip AIFF.
AIFF to MP3 converter: questions
Why can't I email my AIFF song?
A three-and-a-half-minute stereo AIFF at CD quality is about 37 MB, and Gmail caps attachments at 25 MB. The same song as a 256 kbps MP3 is under 7 MB, so it attaches without a sharing link. For a long recording that is still too big, compress audio targets a smaller size.
What is the difference between .aif, .aiff and .aifc?
.aif and .aiff are the same uncompressed format with a shorter or longer extension. .aifc marks AIFF-C, a 1991 extension that can hold compressed audio as well as PCM. All three are accepted here.
Do song titles and artwork from my Music library come along?
When Apple's Music app or iTunes rips a CD to AIFF it can store tags and artwork in an ID3 chunk inside the file. With Keep tags and cover art on, those carry into the MP3's ID3 tags. Files exported from a DAW usually have no tags to copy.
Should I send a mastering engineer the MP3?
No. Send the original AIFF or a WAV so the engineer works from full resolution. The MP3 is for listening references, client approvals and social previews.
Can I convert a GarageBand project directly?
A .band file is a project package, not audio. Use Share > Export Song to Disk in GarageBand first; choose AIFF there and convert the result, or pick MP3 in the export dialog if it offers it.
What happens to a 24-bit AIFF?
MP3 has no bit depth setting, so the encoder works from the full 24-bit signal and the difference disappears into its own compression. Leave Sample rate on Same as source for 44.1 or 48 kHz sessions; set it to 44.1 kHz for 88.2 or 96 kHz files.
- AIF to WAV ConverterConvert AIF and AIFF files from Logic, GarageBand or a Mac CD rip to WAV without losing a sample. Keeps 24-bit depth and the original sample rate.
- WAV to MP3 ConverterConvert WAV recordings and bounces to MP3 at 320, 192 or 128 kbps. Cut file size by up to 90% for email, uploads and phones. Free, no account.
- FLAC to MP3 ConverterTurn FLAC albums into 320 kbps MP3 copies for phones, car stereos and Apple Music, with tags and cover art carried over. Up to 20 tracks per batch.
- M4A to MP3 ConverterConvert M4A files from iPhone Voice Memos or iTunes to MP3 that plays in any car, app or upload form. Free, no sign-up, 20 files per batch.
- MP3 to AIFF ConverterConvert MP3 to AIFF for hardware samplers, Logic Pro, GarageBand and DJ libraries. Uncompressed 16- or 24-bit PCM with ID3 tags and artwork kept.
- CAF to MP3 ConverterConvert .caf files from Messages, GarageBand, Logic or an iOS app into MP3 that plays on Windows, Android and in the car. Any codec inside, 20 files at once.