Convert AIFF to MP3
Shrink uncompressed AIFF audio from GarageBand, Logic or a Mac CD import into a 192 kbps MP3 about seven times smaller. Free, up to 50 MB.
Shrink uncompressed AIFF audio from GarageBand, Logic or a Mac CD import into a 192 kbps MP3 about seven times smaller. Free, up to 50 MB.
AIFF is Apple's uncompressed audio format, the Mac counterpart to WAV. It keeps every sample, which is ideal while you're recording, editing or mastering, but a single song can run to tens of megabytes. That makes AIFF awkward to email, upload or keep on a phone. An MP3 version trades a small, usually inaudible amount of detail for a file about one-seventh the size.
Here's exactly what the converter produces: a LAME MP3 at 192 kbps constant bitrate. Sessions at 44.1 or 48 kHz keep their sample rate, while 88.2 or 96 kHz material is resampled to 48 kHz. Mono and stereo are preserved and anything with more channels is mixed down to stereo. MP3 has no bit depth setting, so 16-bit and 24-bit AIFF files both convert without any extra step.
| AIFF type | Size per minute | Fits under 50 MB | MP3 per minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, stereo (CD quality) | about 10.1 MB | about 5 minutes | 1.44 MB |
| 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, mono | about 5 MB | about 10 minutes | 1.44 MB |
| 24-bit, 48 kHz, stereo | about 16.5 MB | about 3 minutes | 1.44 MB |
| 24-bit, 96 kHz, stereo | about 33 MB | about 1.5 minutes | 1.44 MB (at 48 kHz) |
A CD-quality stereo song therefore shrinks roughly sevenfold, and a 24-bit, 96 kHz bounce shrinks by more than 20 times. Because AIFF is lossless and MP3 is not, this is a one-time reduction in fidelity. At 192 kbps most listeners hear no difference on most music, though careful listening on revealing headphones can sometimes pick out softer cymbals or reverb tails. Keep your AIFF master and treat the MP3 as the copy for sharing.
.aiff, .aif and .aifc, so there's no need to rename files exported by older Mac apps.Working with WAV bounces instead? The WAV to MP3 page covers those, and the AIFF converter handles output to other formats.
Anything longer than about five minutes at CD quality won't upload. Your options are to bounce a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz version from the project, export shorter sections, or export MP3 straight from your DAW. For archiving the full-resolution master, FLAC saves space without losing anything, though it has the same upload limit here.
FFmpeg identifies the format from the file's contents, not its name. If a file ending .aif or .aiff still fails, it may be damaged, or it may be a project or package file (such as a Logic or GarageBand project) rather than exported audio. Export or bounce the audio again and upload the new file.
MP3 encoding adds a short stretch of padding at the start and end of the stream. Many players hide it, but some game engines and samplers don't, which can cause a small click or pause at the loop point. For loops that must repeat perfectly, keep the AIFF.
Editing an MP3 and exporting it again adds another round of lossy compression each time. Make fades, level tweaks and edits on the AIFF, then convert once when the mix is final.
A surround AIFF becomes a stereo MP3. If you need separate channels preserved, export them as individual mono or stereo files first.
| AIFF | MP3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Audio Interchange File Format | MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer III |
| Compression | Uncompressed (PCM) | Lossy |
| Developed by | Apple | Fraunhofer IIS / MPEG |
| Introduced | 1988 | 1993 |
| File extension | .aiff, .aif | .mp3 |
| Typically used for | Mac audio production (Logic Pro, GarageBand), sample libraries | Music libraries, podcasts, everyday listening |
| Plays on | macOS and iOS natively; most DAWs and VLC on Windows | Virtually every phone, computer, browser, car stereo and media player |
| Our output | 16-bit PCM (big-endian), original sample rate and channels | LAME MP3, 192 kbps CBR, stereo |
A CD-quality AIFF (16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo) uses about 10.1 MB per minute, while our 192 kbps MP3 uses about 1.44 MB per minute, so the MP3 is roughly seven times smaller. High-resolution AIFF files shrink even more, since a 24-bit, 96 kHz stereo file takes about 33 MB per minute.
For most listeners and most music, 192 kbps MP3 is hard to tell apart from the original, which makes it well suited to sharing demos and listening on phones. It is still lossy, so some detail is removed for good. Keep your AIFF as the master copy for editing, mastering or future conversions.
Yes. The upload box accepts .aiff, .aif and .aifc, which are all names for the same Apple audio format. The converter identifies the audio from the file's contents, so files exported by older Mac apps convert without renaming. A standard 16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo AIFF becomes a 192 kbps MP3 about seven times smaller.
About five minutes of CD-quality stereo AIFF fits in 50 MB, and 24-bit files fit less. Try exporting a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz version from your project, splitting the audio into shorter sections in an editor, or exporting MP3 directly from GarageBand or your DAW. There's no way to raise the limit on this site.
Yes. MP3 doesn't store a bit depth, so 24-bit files convert normally. The sample rate is kept up to 48 kHz; 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz audio is resampled to 48 kHz. Stereo stays stereo, multichannel audio is mixed down to stereo, and every file comes out at 192 kbps.
Need detailed information or want to set a different default format? Visit our specific converter pages: