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AIFF to MP3 converter

Convert AIFF to MP3 in your browser. No upload and no account: the file never leaves your device, so the only size limit is your device’s memory.

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Related conversions

Need it the other way round? Convert MP3 to AIFF

Other ways to convert AIFF

Convert other formats to MP3

Read more about the AIFF format and the MP3 format, or see every audio tool and all audio conversions.

Should you convert AIFF to MP3?

AIFF exports from GarageBand and Logic are huge and Mac-centric. MP3 makes them small enough to share and play anywhere.

A good trade for listening and sharing: MP3 is a fraction of the size of AIFF, and at 192 kbps or more the difference is inaudible for most people. Keep the AIFF as your master if you’ll edit or convert again.

MP3 also plays in more places: every phone, computer, car stereo, speaker and app.

AIFF is uncompressed audio, Apple’s equivalent of WAV; MP3 is the most compatible lossy audio format ever made. Use MP3 when you don’t know what will play the file: cars, old players, podcasts hosts and upload forms all take it.

AIFF and MP3 compared
Property AIFF MP3
Compression Uncompressed Lossy
Typical quality 16-bit PCM 128–320 kbps
Support Opens almost everywhere Opens everywhere
Best for Audio production on Macs, and importing into Logic or GarageBand Music and voice that has to play on anything
Introduced 1988 1993

How to convert AIFF to MP3

  1. 01

    Add your AIFF

    Drop your AIFF file onto the box, or click to choose it. It is read from your disk and stays there.

  2. 02

    Check the settings

    The output is already set to MP3. Change the bitrate if you want to; the defaults suit most files.

  3. 03

    Save the MP3

    Press convert and save the MP3. Several files come back together as a ZIP.

What changes when AIFF becomes MP3

From lossless to lossy

AIFF holds every sample; MP3 keeps what the ear notices and discards the rest. Pick the bitrate by use: 128 kbps for speech, 192 to 256 kbps for music.

A one-time engine download

AIFF is decoded by FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly, a 31 MB download the first time. After that it is cached, and the conversion never leaves your device.

Expect a much smaller file

AIFF: About 10 MB a minute at CD quality. MP3: About 1 MB a minute at 128 kbps, 2.4 MB at 320 kbps. Shrinking the file is often the main reason to make this conversion.

This page is put together from our notes on each format, choosing only what is true of AIFF and MP3, so every pairing states the same facts the same way. How these pages are made.

Why it doesn’t upload

Recordings are often private: interviews, voice notes, unreleased music. Your browser can decode and encode audio itself, so there is no reason to send it anywhere.

How to check for yourself

Worth knowing

  • About the AIFF. AIFF stores samples in the opposite byte order to WAV; tools that assume WAV turn it into loud static.
  • About the MP3. Converting a low-bitrate MP3 to 320 kbps makes it bigger without making it sound any better; what was thrown away is gone.
  • MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, Opus and FLAC are converted by your browser directly. WMA, AMR, APE, AC3 and the other specialist formats use the FFmpeg engine, a one-time 31 MB download.

Questions

Does converting AIFF to MP3 lose quality?

MP3 is lossy, so a little is discarded, but at the default bitrate the difference is inaudible for nearly everyone.

Will an MP3 play in my car or on my phone?

MP3 opens everywhere: every phone, computer, car stereo, speaker and app.

Read more about this

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