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One file at a time for now
Batch processing isn't available yet: drop files one by one, or use the Merger to join them.
Converting WAV to M4A is free: drop your WAV above, hit convert, and download the M4A. Files delete themselves within an hour.
Converting WAV to M4A trades perfection for portability: your WAV keeps every sample it was born with, while M4A is built for sounding great anywhere in the Apple ecosystem. At a sensible bitrate the difference is genuinely hard to hear, but it's a one-way door: hold on to the WAV original if it's precious, because no M4A can hand those samples back.
One-way door: M4A is lossy, so this conversion throws data away to get small. Keep the WAV original if you might ever need full quality again.
WAV is audio with nothing taken away: every sample intact, every megabyte accounted for. It was born in 1991, Microsoft and IBM, and its real weak spot is being carried around: it refuses to shrink.
M4A is AAC in Apple's favorite outfit: the audio-only MP4 your iPhone speaks natively. An MP4 container holding only audio: usually AAC, occasionally Apple's lossless ALAC. That makes it the right destination when what you need is sounding great anywhere in the Apple ecosystem.
Drop your WAV file into the flipper above, or click to browse for it.
Check the output format: M4A is already selected for you.
Hit Convert, give it a moment, then download your new M4A.
| WAV | M4A | |
|---|---|---|
| Born | 1991, Microsoft and IBM | 2003, popularized by Apple's iTunes Store |
| Type | audio · uncompressed | audio · lossy |
| Best for | recording, editing and mastering, where every last bit matters | sounding great anywhere in the Apple ecosystem |
| Weak spot | being carried around: it refuses to shrink | older Windows software and stubborn car stereos that expect a .mp3 |
| Typical size | about 10 MB per minute at CD quality: ten times the size of an MP3 | like AAC: better-than-MP3 sound at about 1 MB per minute |
| Plays on | Universal on desktops and pro audio gear; clumsy on the mobile web. | iPhone, Mac and iTunes natively; most modern Android and Windows apps too. |
A little, by design: M4A is a lossy format. At 192 kbps or above most people can't tell the difference, but the discarded data can't be recovered later.
Dramatically smaller. WAV runs about 10 MB per minute at CD quality: ten times the size of an MP3; M4A comes in at like AAC: better-than-MP3 sound at about 1 MB per minute.
iPhone, Mac and iTunes natively; most modern Android and Windows apps too. That's the usual reason people leave WAV behind: M4A simply opens in more of the places that matter.
Seconds for most files: audio is light work. A long recording might take a minute; your file auto-deletes from our servers within an hour either way.