iPhone Voice Memos, GarageBand exports, iTunes purchases and many podcast downloads arrive as M4A. Most things play it now, but some car stereos, older Windows software, voice-to-text tools and audio upload forms still want MP3. Drop the M4A files here and get MP3s back without uploading your recordings.
How to convert M4A to MP3
- Click Select M4A files or drag them onto the box above. You can add as many as you like.
- Check that the target says MP3. Click the slider icon next to a file to change its options.
- Press Convert. Each file shows its own progress, and the work happens on your device.
- Download files one by one, or use Download all (ZIP). Press Convert more to start a new batch.
Voice Memos are mono. Choose Mono in the options to avoid doubling the file size with two identical channels.
M4A vs MP3
What is M4A?
M4A is an MPEG-4 file that contains only audio, almost always AAC. AAC is technically better than MP3, delivering the same quality at roughly 70–80% of the bitrate. Voice Memos are typically AAC at 64 kbps mono; iTunes downloads at 256 kbps stereo. More about the M4A format.
What is MP3?
MP3 is older and slightly less efficient, but its compatibility is unmatched: it is the one audio format you can hand to any device, app or person and be sure it plays. More about the MP3 format.
| M4A | MP3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | MPEG-4 Audio (AAC) | MP3 audio |
| Extensions | .m4a, .aac, .m4b | .mp3 |
| MIME type | audio/mp4 | audio/mpeg |
When to convert M4A to MP3
- Your car stereo, USB speaker or old MP3 player skips M4A files.
- A transcription service, voicemail system or upload form only accepts MP3.
- You are sending a voice memo to someone on an older Windows PC.
- Your DJ or audio-editing software handles MP3 better than AAC.
Quality and settings
Both formats are lossy, so converting decodes the AAC and encodes it again with LAME, and a small amount of extra detail is lost. Choose a bitrate at or above the source: for 256 kbps iTunes files use 256 or 320 kbps; for Voice Memos, 96 kbps mono is already more than the original holds. Going higher than the source does not add quality, only size. Note that songs bought from iTunes since 2009 are DRM-free and convert fine, but protected .m4p files and Apple Music downloads cannot be converted.