AAC to MP3 converter
Convert AAC 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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Every request this page makes is listed as it happens. You’ll see our own code loading, and for some formats a codec engine, but never your file going out.
- Waiting for network activity…
Check it yourself: open your browser’s developer tools on the Network tab, or turn off Wi-Fi once the page has loaded. The tools keep working.
Related conversions
Convert other formats to MP3
Read more about the AAC format and the MP3 format, or see every audio tool and all audio conversions.
Should you convert AAC to MP3?
Raw AAC recordings from radios and voice recorders often show no length and can’t be scrubbed in some players. MP3 fixes compatibility.
Fine when a player or app needs MP3. Converting between two lossy formats compresses the sound a second time, so match or exceed the original bitrate to keep the loss inaudible.
MP3 also plays in more places: every phone, computer, car stereo, speaker and app.
AAC is a bare AAC audio stream without the M4A wrapper; 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.
How to convert AAC to MP3
- 01
Add your AAC
Drop your AAC file onto the box, or click to choose it. It is read from your disk and stays there.
- 02
Check the settings
The output is already set to MP3. Change the bitrate if you want to; the defaults suit most files.
- 03
Save the MP3
Press convert and save the MP3. Several files come back together as a ZIP.
What changes when AAC becomes MP3
Two rounds of compression
Each lossy encode throws away a little more. A AAC at 128 kbps converted to MP3 at 192 kbps sounds like the original; converted at 96 kbps it can turn swirly and dull.
The size stays about the same
AAC and MP3 are close in size for the same content, so do this for compatibility rather than to save space. AAC: About 1 MB a minute at 128 kbps. MP3: About 1 MB a minute at 128 kbps, 2.4 MB at 320 kbps.
This page is put together from our notes on each format, choosing only what is true of AAC 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 yourselfWorth knowing
- About the AAC. Raw AAC has no index, so players often show the wrong duration or can’t seek; saving it as M4A fixes both.
- 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 AAC 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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