As is known to us, MP3 is a file extension being widely used all the time. However, it cannot fulfill the increasing needs on high quality audio from people especially the iPhone users. Additionally, M4A is considered as the successor of MP3 compression format, which was generated by Apple Inc. It preserves higher quality sound but takes less storage than MP3. Based on these reasons, it is a great choice to change MP3 to M4A format if you want to store abundant MP3 songs for listening on your Apple devices with much less memory required. Hence, this article is going to show you three quick ways to enjoy music on your iPhone without difficulty.
How to convert MP3 to M4A without hassle?
In order to change MP3 into M4A, we will need to use effective converters. We have explored and selected several tools which can help you solve this problem.
1: Use a simple free online tool
2: Utilize a full-featured desktop converter
M4a to mp3 converter for mac free download - Wise Video Converter, Free M4a to MP3 Converter, Magic M4A to MP3 Converter, and many more programs. Choose the M4A file that you want to convert. Select MP3 as the the format you want to convert your M4A file to. Click 'Convert' to convert your M4A file. Zamzar Pro Tip: The default player for M4A files is through Apple iTunes, however you can also use Quicktime. M4A Converter for Mac Reviews. Check what famous editor and our customer talk about our product. Once I used Zamzar, a free online M4A to MP3 converter to convert M4A to MP3, however, it was not that help. This Mac M4A converter gives me a big surprise. From Jack Brown; It is a great M4A converter for Mac OS X El Capitan. MP4 and M4A files are often confused, and the two are quite similar, being both based on the MPEG-4 codec. However, M4A is a file comprising solely of audio, whereas MP4 may also contain video. Actions: Convert M4A file View other audio file formats: Technical Details: M4A files are superior to MP3 in terms of the scale of compression and audio.
3: Default way by using iTunes
1
Use Apowersoft Free Online Video Converter (Windows & Mac)
The first tool for both Windows and Mac users is the Apowersoft Free Online Video Converter. This is a free web-based application which supports conversion for almost all kinds of audio and video file formats. Besides this, users don’t need to install anything in the computer. It only requires cyber connection to conduct a quick conversion among MP3, M4A and other files. Moreover, this tool is not only simple to use but also works as converting multiple files at one time. Here is the instruction about how it works:
- Step 1: Go to Apowersoft webpage and click on the “Browse” button to import MP3 file.
- Step 2: Choose “M4A” as the output format. Please note that you can configure the “bitrate”, “channels” and “sample rate” for specific needs.
- Step 3: Click on the “Convert” button to start the conversion. Once done, the file will automatically be stored in your computer.
This MP3 to M4A converter is effective but dependent on network status. And time required for conversion can be influenced by file size. If you want to get rid of the troubles mentioned above, there is another professional tool for you to choose.
2
Take Video Converter Studio to convert (Windows)
A more professional tool that you can use is Apowersoft Video Converter Studio. This is a desktop program which works independently without internet. Furthermore, it not only provides fast conversion speed but also produces high-quality output files. By the way, it supports batch conversion. Here come instructions for going through how this application works:
- Download the program in your computer, then launch it afterwards.
- Have a quick glance at the interface and you will see an “Add files” button, click it to upload the MP3 file.
- Drop down “Profile”, choose “Audio” > “M4A” as the output format.
- Press the “Convert” button to begin with the conversion.
In addition to converting MP3 to M4A function, it also enables you to go further editing the audio, just move to the Editing Window. You can trim the audio by clicking “Add Trim Marker” button and remain the part you want between the two sliders.
3
Make use of Apple iTunes(Windows & Mac)
iTunes is the duly default option for users to manage media files. Since M4A is the typical audio format adopted by Apple, you can make use of iTunes as a converter without question. To know how to use this tool, just follow the steps below:
- Step 1: Open iTunes and then click the “File” > “Add file to library” to insert the MP3 file in iTunes.
- Step 2: Select “Preferences”, “General” and “Import Settings”.
- Step 3: Right click the MP3 file and choose “Create AAC version” so that an M4A format with the same file name will be created.
- Step 4: Right click on the second file and then select “Show in Windows Explorer”. A new window will pop up displaying the file with M4A format.
Although serving as a MP3 to M4A converter, iTunes doesn’t support a batch conversion and may not complete the job nicely when it comes to the preservation of original audio quality.
Summary
These tools mentioned above are the best converters for you can convert MP3 to M4A with ease. All of them are very useful. For those who don’t worry about network, free online converter is worth a try. From other aspects, Apowersoft Video Converter Studio is highly recommended. On the one hand, it does not need a network. Once you have it installed, you can use it anytime. On the other hand, this tool is much faster and easier. Even a newbie can easily learn to use it. If you do not need batch conversion, you can just utilize iTunes as a converter and a player. Anyway, just choose a tool which suits you best.
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Get a universal media converter
Permute quickly converts files in a required format.
If you think about it, just a decade or so ago, file formats were really important. People were discussing the differences between various file compressions and you often had to install an app extension if you wanted it to run a certain file format.
It seems that everything changed with the iPhone gaining mainstream popularity. Since all files were now hosted within apps, we never came across any incompatibility issues. Similarly, with more of our work moving to the web, it’s stored within appropriate software right away, so we don’t have to deal with file formats.
Still, occasionally, you might encounter a file that you can’t open or that you’d like to convert to another format. One of the most frequent issues for Mac users, for example, is dealing with M4A files, which you often want to convert to MP3s. So let’s discuss briefly what is M4A format and where you can find the best M4A to MP3 converter today.
What Is M4A And How To Use It
You might be more familiar with M4A files if you think of them as MP4s, which they essentially are — the only difference is that an MP4 file can handle video while .m4a is for audio only.
MP4 (also known as MPEG-4) is in turn based on QuickTime File Format (QTFF) and, in some sense, was developed to replace MP3. M4A files, for example, are generally smaller in size and can store audio in better quality than MP3s. Their only downside is that M4A players are much harder to find, whereas MP3 is one of the most universal audio formats out there.
So where can you stumble upon the .m4a format? Mostly in Apple’s own iTunes Store, as it’s the default file extension for song downloads, which is then encoded with AAC for reduced file size or ALAC for lossless audio. However, copyrighted songs might also come in the .m4p format, which is a variant of .m4a.
All this leads us to the question of how do you play M4A vs MP3 on Mac and what’s the easiest way to convert file to MP3?
![M4a Converter Mp3 For Mac M4a Converter Mp3 For Mac](/uploads/1/1/8/0/118005857/469300923.png)
How to play M4A files on Mac
As already mentioned above, a lot of the M4A files you’d come across are from the iTunes Store, so naturally you’d be able to play them on iTunes as well (or the Music app from macOS Catalina onward). You can drag and drop any M4A file into Music and it’ll be added to your library.
In addition to Music, or iTunes, M4A files also work with QuickTime Player (since they are based on QuickTime File Format), which is one of the default apps you can find in your Applications folder. While QuickTime is mostly used for playing movies, it has a standard audio playback functionality built into it as well. But what if you’re after a great .m4a audio experience?
Elmedia Player is one of the most versatile audio and video players out there. Not only can it easily play a variety of M4A files and MP4 formats, it lets you stream content directly from the web and save videos (e.g. from YouTube) for offline viewing as well. What’s more you can stream to any smart TV or AirPlay-enabled device and completely control the way subtitles are displayed.
How to convert M4A to MP3 using iTunes
While there are quite a few M4A players available on Mac, whether via default or third-party apps, you might often need to convert M4A to MP3 iTunes format to make it more widely available — so you can easily port music or audiobooks to virtually any device.
Surprisingly, there’s a way to use iTunes as an audio file converter, although not many people know about it, since it’s not that straightforward. Regardless, here’s how you can convert file to MP3 using iTunes:
- Launch iTunes (or the new Music app)
- Open Preferences (⌘ + ,)
- Navigate to Files ➙ Import Settings…
- Change Import Using to MP3 Encoder ➙ OK
- Drag and drop your M4A file into iTunes
- Select it and then go File ➙ Convert ➙ Create MP3 Version
- Find the new file created in your library (the old file will still be intact)
In a similar fashion, you can change the default iTunes encoder to create WAV, lossless, AIFF, and AAC files. Overall, iTunes is a good enough M4A converter and general file converter to MP3 if you only need to convert one or two songs occasionally. For more regular conversions, there are much more efficient apps out there.
A better way to convert M4A to MP3 on Mac
If iTunes can be a decent M4A to MP3 converter, you might also wonder what other specialized apps can do an even better job?
Permute is a pro-level and truly universal media converter. This blazing fast app allows you to drag and drop any number of files into it and get converted results in seconds. Transform audio, video (or video to audio), images, and more — possible combinations are nearly endless! You can even merge two videos into one or add a subtitle track on the fly.
To use Permute as a M4A to MP3 converter:
- Launch Permute
- Drag and drop your M4A file onto the app's window
- Select MP3 in the Audio dropdown
- Click the Start icon
You can find the MP3 result on your Desktop. Repeat as necessary, and don’t forget that Permute can handle as many files at once as you want — you can use this audio file converter to transform whole albums too.
In the end, most of the time nowadays, we don’t have to deal with file formats and can find the appropriate app relatively easy. In the case with M4A files, you can use iTunes (Music) and QuickTime to play them, but better switch your default media to Elmedia Player altogether. And if you ever need a file converter to MP3, look no further than Permute.
Best of all, Elmedia Player and Permute are available to you at absolutely no cost for seven days via the trial of Setapp, a platform with more than 190 top-tier Mac apps across all categories, from productivity (2Do) to following your favorite blogs (News Explorer). Try them all today for free and discover a whole new world of opportunities.
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