Convert AIF to AIFF — Free Online Tool
Convert AIF files to AIFF format using lossless PCM audio encoding — both formats share Apple's Audio Interchange File structure, making this a near-identical container remux that preserves your original 16-bit big-endian PCM audio without any quality loss or re-encoding artifacts.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
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Note: Browser-based encoding uses approximate quality targets. For precise CRF compression, copy the FFmpeg command above and run it on your desktop.
Estimated output:
Conversion Complete!
DownloadHow It Works
AIF and AIFF are effectively two naming conventions for the same Apple Audio Interchange File Format specification, both storing uncompressed PCM audio in big-endian byte order. During this conversion, FFmpeg reads the raw PCM stream from the .aif container and writes it into a .aiff container using the pcm_s16be codec (16-bit signed big-endian PCM). Because both formats share the same underlying IFF-based container structure and the same PCM encoding, this is essentially a remux — the audio data itself is not re-encoded or altered. The only practical change is the file extension, which can matter significantly for software compatibility since some applications strictly filter by extension rather than inspecting the file header.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg tool, which runs entirely in your browser via WebAssembly (FFmpeg.wasm) on this page, or on your local machine if you run the command in a terminal. |
-i input.aif
|
Specifies the input file — an AIF audio file containing uncompressed big-endian PCM audio in Apple's Audio Interchange File Format container. |
-c:a pcm_s16be
|
Sets the audio codec to pcm_s16be — 16-bit signed big-endian PCM — which is the standard lossless codec for AIFF files and matches the default encoding of the source AIF file, ensuring no re-encoding or quality loss occurs. |
output.aiff
|
Defines the output filename with the .aiff extension, which tells FFmpeg to wrap the PCM audio stream in an AIFF container — the canonical Apple Audio Interchange File Format recognized by Logic Pro, GarageBand, and professional broadcast delivery systems. |
Common Use Cases
- Preparing audio files for Logic Pro or GarageBand, which consistently recognize the .aiff extension over .aif for import and project asset management
- Submitting stems or master audio to music distributors or mastering engineers whose upload systems only accept the .aiff extension in their file validators
- Ensuring compatibility with older Mac-based digital audio workstations that distinguish between .aif and .aiff at the filesystem level
- Standardizing a batch of mixed-extension Apple lossless audio files into a single .aiff naming convention for consistent library organization in apps like iTunes or Music
- Fulfilling broadcast delivery specifications that explicitly list .aiff as the required file extension for uncompressed audio deliverables
- Resolving playback issues in audio middleware or game engines (e.g., FMOD, Wwise) that require the .aiff extension for their Apple-format audio asset pipelines
Frequently Asked Questions
No — there is absolutely no quality difference. Both AIF and AIFF store identical uncompressed PCM audio data using the same big-endian byte ordering. The FFmpeg command copies the pcm_s16be stream into a new container without any re-encoding, decoding, or sample manipulation. Your audio comes out bit-for-bit identical in terms of sonic content.
Many applications, especially on macOS and in professional audio workflows, use the file extension as a quick filter before reading the file header. Although AIF and AIFF share the same IFF-based container spec and PCM audio encoding, a strict extension check will reject .aif when only .aiff is whitelisted. Converting to .aiff resolves this without touching the audio data itself.
AIF and AIFF both support a limited set of metadata through embedded chunks in the IFF container (such as NAME, AUTH, and ANNO chunks), and FFmpeg will carry these through during the remux. However, neither format natively supports the rich ID3-style tagging found in formats like MP3 or FLAC, so if your AIF file contains extended tags written by a specific application, some may not survive the round-trip depending on how they were stored.
The file size will remain virtually identical. Since both formats store the same uncompressed 16-bit big-endian PCM audio and use the same IFF container structure, the only size difference would come from minor header or chunk padding variations, typically amounting to just a few bytes. Neither format applies any compression, so there is no size reduction or expansion related to encoding.
Replace pcm_s16be with pcm_s24be in the command: ffmpeg -i input.aif -c:a pcm_s24be output.aiff. This outputs 24-bit signed big-endian PCM, which is common for professional audio mastering. You can also use pcm_s32be for 32-bit integer or pcm_f32be for 32-bit float — all of which are valid codecs supported inside the AIFF container. Note that upsampling bit depth from a 16-bit source does not add audio information; it only widens the container.
Yes — on macOS or Linux you can use a shell loop: for f in *.aif; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a pcm_s16be "${f%.aif}.aiff"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.aif) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:a pcm_s16be "%~nf.aiff". This processes each .aif file in the current directory and outputs a matching .aiff file, preserving filenames. The browser-based tool handles one file at a time, but for large batches the desktop command is the efficient path.
Technical Notes
AIF (.aif) and AIFF (.aiff) are both expressions of Apple's Audio Interchange File Format, an IFF-based container developed in the late 1980s. The distinction between the two is almost entirely cosmetic — the .aif extension emerged largely as a concession to legacy 3-character extension limits on older filesystems, while .aiff is the canonical modern form. Both store PCM audio in big-endian byte order, which distinguishes them from the little-endian WAV format used on Windows. The default codec in this conversion is pcm_s16be (16-bit signed big-endian), matching the format's most common use case, but the AIFF container also natively supports pcm_s24be, pcm_s32be, pcm_f32be, and pcm_f64be for higher-resolution audio. Neither AIF nor AIFF supports video tracks, subtitles, chapters, or multiple audio streams. One known limitation is that neither format supports compression natively in their standard form — AIFF-C (AIFC) is the compressed variant, which is a distinct format that FFmpeg handles separately. If you need to preserve loop points or instrument markers embedded as MARK and INST chunks (common in sample library workflows), verify that your downstream application reads these from AIFF, as FFmpeg does not guarantee round-trip preservation of all proprietary chunk types.