Convert WAV to AIFF
Convert an uncompressed WAV into an uncompressed AIFF. Nothing is lost, because there is nothing to lose: both formats store raw samples and differ mainly in which company defined them and which way round they write their bytes. This is a compatibility step for Mac audio software, not a quality decision.
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Up to 50 MB. Deleted automatically after 30 minutes.
What it does
- Uncompressed to uncompressed — no quality change
- For Mac audio software that expects AIFF
- Same size as the WAV, near enough
- No watermark and no sign-up
How to use WAV to AIFF
- 1
Add the WAV
Drop the file in or choose it from your computer. Uncompressed audio is large, so the 50 MB limit arrives quickly.
- 2
Convert
The samples are rewritten into an AIFF container. Nothing is compressed and nothing is discarded.
- 3
Import it
The AIFF opens in Mac audio software and in tools built around Apple's format.
Two answers to the same question, from 1988 and 1991
AIFF was published by Apple in 1988, built on Electronic Arts' Interchange File Format. WAV followed from Microsoft and IBM in 1991. Both do the same thing: wrap uncompressed PCM samples in a chunked container with a header describing the rate, the depth and the channel count.
The visible difference is byte order. AIFF stores its numbers big-endian, WAV little-endian, which reflects the processors each was designed around rather than any deliberate incompatibility. Everything else is a naming difference.
That is genuinely all there is to it. Two platform standards from an era when platforms had their own everything, still around because the files people made then are still around.
How it works
The samples are read and rewritten into an AIFF container at the same rate, depth and channel count. No compression is applied at any point, in either direction — neither format has any.
The file comes out the same size, within the few bytes of header difference.
Where AIFF is still expected
Mac audio software is the main place, particularly older versions and anything descended from the days when the platform divide mattered. Some sample libraries and hardware samplers were built entirely around it, and will not see a WAV sitting in the same folder.
Outside that it is uncommon. WAV became the interchange format almost everywhere because it worked on the platform most people had, and AIFF stayed a Mac format even as macOS learned to read WAV perfectly well.
If the file is large, consider FLAC instead
Both of these formats are uncompressed, which means a few minutes of audio runs to tens of megabytes. If the reason you are converting is storage rather than compatibility, FLAC compresses losslessly to roughly half — same samples, recoverable exactly, in a format designed for archives.
Convert to AIFF when a specific tool wants AIFF. Convert to FLAC when you want to keep the recording.
Metadata is where both formats are weak
Neither of these handles tags well, and it is worth knowing before you build a library out of either.
WAV's metadata mechanisms were added long after 1991 and software disagrees about how to read and write them, so titles and notes frequently vanish between applications. AIFF has a slightly better story through ID3 chunks, and support is still uneven.
If you are keeping recordings rather than passing one to a specific tool, FLAC handles this properly — a clean, universally supported tagging system including embedded artwork — and halves the size losslessly while it is at it. Use AIFF because something asked for AIFF, not as a place to keep things.
Examples
A recording for a Mac audio editor
Some Mac software, particularly older versions and sample libraries, expects AIFF and treats WAV as the foreign format.
Audio for a sampler or instrument library
Hardware samplers and older instrument formats were built around AIFF, and a WAV in the folder is simply not seen.
Frequently asked questions
Is any quality lost?
None. Both formats store uncompressed PCM samples — the actual measurements from the recording — so the audio in the AIFF is the audio that was in the WAV. The only difference is the container and the byte order inside it, neither of which changes what you hear.
What is the actual difference between them?
Origin and byte order. WAV came from Microsoft and IBM in 1991 and stores its numbers little-endian; AIFF came from Apple in 1988, based on Electronic Arts' IFF format, and stores them big-endian. Both wrap raw samples in a chunked container. The rivalry is thirty-five years old and the formats are technically almost interchangeable.
Will the file be the same size?
Within a few bytes, yes. Both store every sample at full size with no compression, so the size is determined by the length, sample rate and bit depth rather than by the format. A difference of more than a rounding error would mean something was resampled, which is not what this does.
Should I use AIFF or WAV generally?
WAV, unless something specifically wants AIFF. It is the more widely accepted of the two — every platform reads it without comment — while AIFF is chiefly encountered in Apple software and older sampler formats. Convert when a tool asks for AIFF, not as a default.