WAV to M4A Converter
A WAV is the right file while you record and edit, and the wrong one to send. Convert it to M4A here and the same take becomes a small AAC file that every iPhone, iPad and Mac plays straight away.
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 WAV files
Add bounces, field recordings or lecture captures, up to 20 files at 95 MB each.
- 2
Keep 256 kbps or go lower
Bitrate is 256 kbps in Variable (VBR) mode for music. Choose 128 kbps for speech, and Mono under Channels for a single voice.
- 3
Convert to M4A
Press Convert to M4A, download the .m4a files and AirDrop, upload or import them into the Music app.
How do I convert WAV to M4A?
Upload the WAV files and press Convert to M4A. Each one is encoded as AAC at 256 kbps VBR in an .m4a file, roughly a fifth the size of a CD-quality WAV and ready for the Music app, AirDrop or a podcast host.
Who converts WAV to M4A, and why
WAV is what a DAW bounce, a field recorder or a screen-capture tool writes: uncompressed PCM at 1,411 kbps for CD-quality stereo, about 10.6 MB for every minute. That is ideal while you edit and heavy once you want to listen or share. M4A with AAC inside is the Apple-native alternative, handled without fuss by the Music app, QuickTime Player, GarageBand and Apple Podcasts.
The typical cases: a musician sending a mix to bandmates who listen on iPhones, a podcaster preparing an episode for upload, a teacher posting a lecture, someone moving a CD collection ripped to WAV into an Apple Music library. If the files are going to car stereos or Windows players instead, WAV to MP3 is the more universal choice.
WAV to M4A: how much space you save
WAV, 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo
10.6 MB
per minute at 1,411 kbps
M4A, AAC at 256 kbps
1.9 MB
per minute
What the M4A keeps and what it gives up
You keep
- Sound that most listeners cannot tell from the WAV at 256 kbps
- Title, artist, album and artwork with Keep tags and cover art on
- Native playback in every Apple app and on every Apple device
You give up
- The exact samples, because AAC is lossy
- Markers, loop points and Broadcast WAV fields from the recorder
- Playback on some older car stereos and Windows tools
Treat the M4A as a delivery copy and keep the WAV as your master. If you want lossless audio in the same .m4a container, pick ALAC under Convert to instead: Apple Lossless, introduced by Apple in 2004 and open-sourced in 2011, keeps every sample at roughly half the WAV's size. For a 96 kHz studio file headed to listeners, set Sample rate to 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz; nobody hearing the AAC benefits from the higher rate.
WAV and M4A: the technical picture
WAV
Waveform Audio File
WAV is an audio container created by Microsoft and IBM in 1991, usually holding uncompressed PCM audio. It preserves full quality, which makes it standard for recording, editing, sound effects and mastering. A minute of CD-quality stereo takes about 10 MB, so files are large. Every operating system, editor and most players open WAV, though metadata support is limited.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 1991 · Microsoft and IBM
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
WAV bounces and recordings are around five to ten times larger than they need to be for listening, and on iPhones, Macs and Apple Podcasts the natural compact format is AAC in an .m4a file, so people convert to share and store audio without leaving Apple's apps.
WAV to M4A: questions
Which bitrate should a mix sent for feedback use?
256 kbps, the default, matches the AAC rate of iTunes Store music and is very hard to tell from the WAV on headphones. For a long rehearsal or a spoken-word file, 128 kbps halves the size again and still sounds clean.
Will Apple Podcasts take the M4A file?
Apple Podcasts accepts AAC audio in .m4a files as well as MP3. Your hosting service is the one that actually receives the upload, so check its own page; most hosts accept both formats.
Can the M4A be turned back into the original WAV?
You can make a WAV again with M4A to WAV, but it will hold the decoded AAC, not your original samples. Keep the WAV master if there is any chance you will edit or remix the audio later.
Do 24-bit studio WAVs convert any differently?
AAC has no bit depth in the PCM sense: the encoder works from the full-resolution signal and stores frequency data. A 24-bit bounce converts just as well as a 16-bit one, and at 256 kbps the result is the same size either way.
Is an .m4a file the same thing as an MP4?
It uses the same MPEG-4 container, holding only audio. The .m4a extension signals an audio-only file, so music apps and players treat it as a song rather than a video. The audio inside is AAC unless the file was made as Apple Lossless.
