M4A to OGG Converter
Apple apps save audio as M4A, and plenty of wikis, game engines and open-source tools will not take it. Convert the files to Ogg Vorbis here, at a bitrate that suits speech or music.
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
Add the M4A files
Drop in voice memos, GarageBand exports or iTunes tracks, up to 20 files at 95 MB each.
- 2
Set the bitrate
Bitrate starts at 160 kbps with Bitrate mode on Variable (VBR). Drop to 64 or 96 kbps for speech, or raise it to 192 kbps for music you plan to edit.
- 3
Convert to OGG
Press Convert to OGG, download the results and upload them wherever .ogg is required.
To convert M4A to OGG, upload the files and press Convert to OGG: the AAC audio inside is decoded and re-encoded as Ogg Vorbis, the open format Wikimedia Commons, Godot and Minecraft resource packs are built around.
Where M4A files get rejected
M4A is an MPEG-4 container, usually holding AAC audio. It is what iPhone Voice Memos records, what GarageBand and Logic write when you export to AAC, and what the iTunes Store sells. Inside Apple's own apps it plays everywhere. Outside them, several popular destinations turn it away.
Wikimedia Commons, the media library behind Wikipedia, does not allow M4A or AAC uploads; for audio it takes Ogg Vorbis, Opus, FLAC, WAV and MP3. Godot imports Ogg Vorbis, MP3 and WAV, not AAC. Minecraft Java Edition plays custom resource pack sounds only as .ogg. In each case the fix is the same conversion, and the only real decision is the bitrate.
M4A to OGG bitrate for speech or music
- 64 kbps
Voice memos, lectures and interviews in mono
- 96 kbps
Spoken word in stereo, podcasts, ambience
- 160 kbps
Music from an M4A of 256 kbps or less
- 192 kbps
Music you will edit, loop or remix
- 320 kbps
Larger files with no audible gain from an AAC source
What changes when M4A becomes OGG
Before you convert
- The AAC audio is decoded and encoded again as Vorbis, a second lossy generation
- An OGG bitrate below the M4A's own adds audible artifacts
- Title, artist and album tags carry over as Vorbis comments with Keep tags and cover art on
- Cover art may not show, since many players ignore pictures stored in Ogg files
- Apple Lossless audio in an .m4a wrapper converts too, and is the best starting point
- Voice recordings need only one channel; set Channels to Mono
Vorbis came from the Xiph.Org Foundation as a patent-free alternative to MP3 and AAC, and its 1.0 specification was frozen in 2002. That licensing history is why so many open projects standardized on it. A mono voice memo at 64 kbps works out to roughly 0.5 MB per minute, small enough for a wiki upload or a game's dialogue folder.
Need the opposite direction? The Music app on an iPhone still does not import .ogg files, so use OGG to MP3 when the audio has to travel back to Apple devices. Every other output format, from FLAC to an iPhone ringtone, is in the audio converter.
M4A and OGG: container and codec facts
M4A
MPEG-4 audio (M4A)
M4A is an audio-only MPEG-4 file, popularised by Apple's iTunes. It usually contains lossy AAC audio, but it can also hold lossless ALAC. AAC in M4A generally sounds better than MP3 at the same bitrate, and the format is used for iPhone voice memos, Apple Music downloads and many podcasts. Most modern devices play M4A, but some older players, car stereos and web tools only accept MP3.
- Compression
- Lossy or lossless
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- Apple / MPEG
OGG
Ogg Vorbis audio
OGG files use the Ogg container from the Xiph.Org Foundation, most often with the lossy Vorbis codec and sometimes Opus or FLAC. Vorbis is open and royalty-free and sounds comparable to or better than MP3 at similar bitrates. It is widely used for game audio, open-source software and some streaming services. Older iPhones, some car stereos and many editors do not support OGG.
- Compression
- Lossy
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- Xiph.Org Foundation
M4A is the format Apple's recording and music apps produce, yet wikis, open-source game engines and modding tools are built around royalty-free Ogg Vorbis, so a recording made on an iPhone or Mac has to change format before those projects will take it.
M4A to OGG questions
Can converted voice memos go straight onto Wikimedia Commons?
As far as the file format goes, yes. Voice Memos saves .m4a, which Commons does not accept, while Ogg Vorbis is one of the formats it does. Commons still applies its own rules on licensing and educational value to every upload.
Is an OGG smaller than an M4A of the same quality?
About the same. Vorbis and AAC belong to the same generation of codecs and perform similarly at mid and high bitrates, so the size depends on the bitrate you pick rather than the format. At 160 kbps a minute of audio is about 1.2 MB either way.
How much quality does M4A to OGG lose?
A little, because both formats are lossy and the audio is compressed twice. At 160 kbps or more most listeners will not hear it on music. If you still have the WAV or AIFF export from GarageBand or Logic, convert that instead, so there is only one generation of loss.
Can I convert M4A songs bought from the iTunes Store?
Songs sold since the store dropped copy protection in 2009 are 256 kbps AAC without DRM and convert normally. Older FairPlay-protected purchases and tracks downloaded through an Apple Music subscription are encrypted, and no converter can decode them.
Should I choose Opus instead of Vorbis for the OGG?
Opus is more efficient for speech and at low bitrates, and it also lives in an Ogg container, usually with an .opus extension. Pick Opus under Convert to if the destination accepts it. Wikimedia Commons does, but most game engines and modding tools expect Vorbis in a .ogg file.
