AAC Converters

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is the successor to MP3, standardized by MPEG in 1997 and subsequently adopted as the default format for YouTube, Apple Music, and most streaming platforms. Achieving compression ratios of 8:1 to 12:1, AAC delivers better quality than MP3 at the same bitrate—128 kbps AAC typically matches 160-192 kbps MP3. It's the underlying codec in M4A files (AAC audio in an MP4 container) and the audio component of most video files.

Learn more: AAC on Wikipedia

Raw AAC files (with .aac extension) are less common than containerized versions (.m4a, .mp4), but they're used in broadcast, streaming pipelines, and as extracted audio from video. AAC supports sample rates up to 96 kHz and up to 48 audio channels, including 5.1 and 7.1 surround configurations—making it suitable for professional multichannel content. For maximum compatibility with minimal quality loss, AAC at 256 kbps is often the sweet spot between MP3's universality and FLAC's fidelity.