Step 1: Provide your WAV files using the button above or by toss and let go.
Step 2: Click the 'Convert' button to start the conversion.
Step 3: Fetch your converted M4A files.
WAV to M4A Conversion FAQ
What bitrate does the M4A file end up at?
+
A lossy M4A is encoded at 192 kbps by default. The Audio Quality setting also offers 320 kbps for the best quality and 128 kbps for a smaller file. A lossless M4A (WAV, FLAC) ignores the bitrate and keeps every sample.
How much quality do I lose converting WAV to M4A?
+
Some, and it is permanent — this is the one direction where information is genuinely thrown away. WAV holds every sample exactly; M4A discards what a psychoacoustic model predicts you will not hear. At 192 kbps and above that prediction is good enough to be transparent on most material and most equipment. Keep the WAV as your master, because you cannot get back to it from the M4A. WAV normally stores raw uncompressed PCM — every sample kept exactly, at whatever bit depth and sample rate was captured. An M4A holds AAC in most cases, or Apple Lossless (ALAC) when it came from a lossless rip.
Can I tag the M4A with artist and album information?
+
Yes, and it is a genuine gain over WAV, which has nowhere dependable to store any of it. M4A carries title, artist, album, year, track number and embedded cover art in the container itself, so a music library files it correctly without a manual pass. M4A keeps rich iTunes-style metadata, chapters and artwork intact, and is the native audio format across every Apple device.
Will going from WAV to M4A actually reduce my audio quality?
+
If WAV is lossy (MP3, AAC) and M4A is lossless (WAV, FLAC), the M4A is no better than the WAV — you cannot recover information already discarded by the lossy WAV codec. If WAV is lossless and M4A is lossy, expect the M4A encoder to recompress; at 192 kbps the loss is imperceptible to most ears.
Can I batch-convert hundreds of WAV files into M4A?
+
Several files in one job need a paid plan. Free use is one file per conversion, one conversion an hour. On a paid plan you can add several files to one job, then download each result on its own or all of them in one ZIP.
Can I normalize loudness in the WAV to M4A step?
+
Not in this step. The converter has no loudness setting and leaves the level as it is. To even out the volume, run the finished M4A through a Normalize tool on this site.
Will the M4A play on my car stereo / iPod / Sonos / Bluetooth speaker?
+
MP3 plays almost everywhere. AAC plays on Apple devices, most Android phones and Sonos. FLAC plays on Sonos and Android but not on older iPods, and WAV plays on nearly everything but makes large files. There are no device presets on this page, so choose the target format your player supports. M4A hides two very different things behind one extension — lossy AAC and lossless ALAC — and non-Apple hardware support is inconsistent.
Is my WAV file private during conversion?
+
Yes. Uploaded WAV files are processed on our own conversion servers, no person reviews them, and they are never shared. The upload and the converted M4A are both deleted automatically about 24 hours after the conversion, which leaves time to download the result. See /privacy/ for the full policy.
How long does converting a 1-hour WAV to M4A take?
+
It depends on the size and length of the file. Small documents and images are usually ready quickly. Long videos take the longest, because most video conversions re-encode every frame.
