M4A to MP3 Converter
Change M4A and AAC audio to MP3, with its tags and cover art carried over.
Details from the file
Files
Preview
Listen to the original. Under Trim and fade you can start or end the MP3 at the player’s position.
MP3 settings
Trim and fade (optional) Whole file · no fades
Type minutes and seconds such as 1:23.5, or seconds such as 83.5. Fades are linear and shortened to half the length if the result is short.
What you will get
Output
Working…
Your MP3
Change the settings above and run it again to try another version; the original stays open.
About the M4A to MP3 Converter
Convert M4A and AAC audio — iPhone Voice Memos, DRM-free iTunes purchases, M4B audiobooks, M4R ringtones and audio saved by messaging apps — to MP3, the format every car stereo, old player and audio app accepts.
The file’s iTunes tags are carried over as ID3v2.4: title, artist, album, album artist, year, track and disc numbers, genre, composer, copyright and comment, plus sort names, grouping, BPM and lyrics when the file has them, and the cover art. You can edit everything before converting, choose a constant bitrate up to 320 kbps or a LAME variable-bitrate level, trim and fade, and convert many files at once.
Files protected by DRM — songs bought from the iTunes Store before 2009 (.m4p), Apple Music downloads and Audible audiobooks — are recognised and refused with an explanation, because only the apps holding their keys can play them. Everything else is converted in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
How to use it
- Drop an M4A or AAC file on the box or press Choose M4A files (choose several to convert them one after another).
- Check the details: the AAC profile and the iTunes tags the file carries.
- Choose the MP3 bitrate (256 kbps CBR by default, the bitrate of iTunes Plus downloads) and, for voice recordings, perhaps Mono and a lower bitrate. Edit the tags and cover art if you like.
- Press Convert to MP3, listen, and press Download (or Download all (ZIP) for several files).
Examples
New Recording 12.m4a · AAC-LC · 48 kHz mono
New Recording 12.mp3 · 96 kbps CBR · mono · title “New Recording 12”
Speech needs far less than music: 64–96 kbps mono is plenty.
Track 03.m4a · AAC 256 kbps · iTunes tags (title, artist, album, track 3/12, year) and a 600 × 600 cover
Track 03.mp3 · 256 kbps CBR with TIT2, TPE1, TALB, TRCK 3/12, TDRC and the cover as APIC
Old Favourite.m4p · bought in 2007
Refused: the page explains that FairPlay-protected files play only in Apple’s apps, and that a DRM-free version may be downloadable again from the purchase history.
What M4A is, and why MP3
An M4A file is AAC audio (ISO/IEC 14496-3) in the MPEG-4 file format, with Apple’s item list of iTunes tags inside. AAC is more efficient than MP3, so an MP3 needs a somewhat higher bitrate for the same quality, but some car stereos, older players, hardware samplers and websites accept only MP3. Converting decodes the AAC and encodes MP3 with LAME, which is a second lossy step: choose at least the bitrate of the original (the page shows it) so the change stays inaudible.
The page reads AAC-LC, the usual profile, and HE-AAC where the browser’s AAC decoder supports it. M4B audiobooks and M4R ringtones are the same format under another name. Raw .aac files (ADTS) work too.
How iTunes tags become ID3
The iTunes atoms (Apple’s QuickTime File Format Specification, metadata item list) are mapped to ID3v2.4 frames: ©nam → TIT2 (title), ©ART → TPE1 (artist), ©alb → TALB (album), aART → TPE2 (album artist), ©day → TDRC (year or date), trkn → TRCK, disk → TPOS, ©gen or the numeric gnre → TCON (genre), ©wrt → TCOM (composer), cprt → TCOP (copyright), ©cmt → COMM (comment), ©lyr → USLT (lyrics), ©grp → TIT1 (grouping), sonm, soar and soal → TSOT, TSOP and TSOA (sort names), tmpo → TBPM, and covr → APIC (front cover). A year stored as “2019” stays “2019”, not a full date.
DRM-protected files
Some M4A-family files are encrypted. The page looks at the audio sample entry and the protection scheme box before decoding: drms (Apple FairPlay, used for iTunes Store purchases before 2009 and Apple Music downloads, usually named .m4p), enca with a Common Encryption scheme (cenc, cbcs …), and Audible’s aavd (.aax). Such files play only in the apps that hold their keys, so they are refused instead of being decoded into noise. If you bought a song years ago, your iTunes Store purchase history may offer it again as a DRM-free “iTunes Plus” file, which converts normally.
Limitations
- DRM-protected files (FairPlay .m4p, Apple Music downloads, Audible .aax, other encrypted MP4 audio) cannot be converted.
- Apple Lossless (ALAC) M4A files — for example Voice Memos recorded at “Lossless” quality — can be read only where the browser itself decodes ALAC (usually Safari).
- Chapters of M4B audiobooks and the gapless-playback information are not carried into the MP3.
- Converting AAC to MP3 loses a little quality, like any re-encoding; keep the original M4A if you still need it.
- Very long files (audiobooks) take a while, especially on phones, and the MP3 is kept in memory until you download it.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot. The audio engine and the LAME MP3 encoder download from MySmartCoPilot the first time you use them (about 2.4 MB more for variable bitrate). Your files are never uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
Which bitrate should I choose?
At least the original’s bitrate, which the page shows: 256 kbps for iTunes Plus music (or 320 kbps), 64–96 kbps mono for voice memos. VBR -V 2 (about 190 kbps on typical music, LAME’s “standard” preset) is a good all-round choice for music.
Are my iTunes tags and album art kept?
Yes. Title, artist, album, album artist, year, track, disc, genre, composer, copyright, comment, lyrics, grouping, sort names, BPM and the cover art are written as ID3v2.4 tags. You can edit the main ones before converting.
Why is my .m4p file refused?
It is protected by Apple’s FairPlay DRM, so only Apple’s apps can play it; converting it would mean breaking that protection, which this page does not do. If you bought it, check your purchase history in the iTunes Store or Music app: it may be offered again as a DRM-free file. Apple Music subscription downloads always stay protected.
How do I convert an iPhone voice memo?
Share the memo from the Voice Memos app to Files (or AirDrop or email it to your computer), then choose the .m4a file here. Pick Mono and 64 or 96 kbps; that keeps speech clear and the file small.
Can I convert a whole album?
Yes. Choose all the files at once: each keeps its own tags and cover art, uses the same MP3 settings, and you can download them together as a ZIP.
Is my audio uploaded?
No. Everything happens in your browser; only the converter’s code is downloaded from MySmartCoPilot the first time.