Skip to content
AudioAdjustable qualityRuns in your browser

WAV to M4A Converter

Turn WAV files into M4A in a couple of clicks. Uncompressed PCM audio. Perfect quality, big files. MP4 container holding AAC or ALAC audio. The output is re-encoded, so quality depends on the settings you choose.

On your deviceNever uploadedGone when you close the tabHow this works

Drop your files here

WAV files (.wav, .wave) · up to 300 MB each

or paste files from your clipboard

Ready when you are

Drop a WAV file above and FileTools360 will turn it into M4A — right here on your device, without uploading anything.

⌘K to search converters

How to use it

  1. 1

    Add your WAV files

    Drag them onto the upload area, choose them from your device, or paste them from your clipboard. You can queue several at once.

  2. 2

    Adjust the settings if you want to

    The defaults suit most people. Open Advanced to control bitrate, sample rate and channels and start and end times.

  3. 3

    Convert and download

    Press Convert. Everything happens on your own device — nothing is uploaded. Download files one by one, or grab them all as a ZIP.

WAV and M4A explained

WAV stores uncompressed PCM audio — the raw samples, exactly as captured. A stereo CD-quality minute is roughly 10 MB, which is the price of having no compression whatsoever.

M4A is an MP4 container holding only audio — usually AAC, sometimes Apple Lossless. The extension exists mainly so players know not to look for a video track.

Where WAV files come from
Recording sessions, sample libraries and audio editing.
Where M4A is used
iTunes purchases, Apple Music downloads, voice memos and audiobooks.

WAV vs M4A

The two formats solve different problems, which is why converting between them involves trade-offs rather than a straight upgrade.

WAV compared with M4A
PropertySourceTarget
CompressionUncompressedLossy or lossless
Introduced19912001
Browser supportUniversal.Very good, especially on Apple platforms.
WAV is stronger at
Perfect fidelity with zero compression artefacts. No decoding overhead, so editors scrub instantly. Universally supported.
M4A is stronger at
Excellent quality per byte. Proper chapter support, which is why audiobooks use it. Strong metadata and artwork handling.

Why convert WAV to M4A?

People make this switch when they run into the limits of WAV: distribution or storage on a phone. M4A is the better fit when apple ecosystem, audiobooks, or podcasts with chapters.

There is also a size argument: WAV stores data with little or no compression, so the M4A version is normally dramatically smaller for the same content.

WAV limitations that prompt the switch
Very large files. No standard metadata support worth relying on. Impractical for distribution.
What you give up
Less universal than MP3 on older or cheaper hardware. The extension hides what codec is actually inside.

Does converting WAV to M4A reduce quality?

Both formats store the content without discarding data, so this conversion preserves it exactly. The file size may change because the two formats compress differently, but the content itself is unaffected.

About these formats

Source

Waveform Audio

Uncompressed PCM audio. Perfect quality, big files.

Extensions
.wav, .wave
MIME type
audio/wav
Best for
Editing and mastering · Sound design · Archival
Compatibility
Universal.

Target

MPEG-4 Audio

MP4 container holding AAC or ALAC audio.

Extensions
.m4a, .m4b
MIME type
audio/mp4
Best for
iTunes and Apple Music · Audiobooks · Podcasts
Compatibility
Very good, especially on Apple platforms.

Going from a lossless source to a compressed format discards audio data permanently. Keep your original if it is the only copy.

Good to know

WAV to M4A Converter — questions

Runs entirely in your browser

FileTools360 by the numbers

521 converters and tools65 file formatsnothing ever uploaded.