MyMediaTools

Convert CAF to OGG — Free Online Tool

Convert CAF audio files to OGG Vorbis format, transcoding Apple's proprietary container into Xiph.Org's open, streaming-friendly format using the libvorbis encoder. Ideal for moving high-resolution or multi-codec CAF recordings out of the Apple ecosystem and into universally compatible, open-source audio workflows.

FFmpeg Command

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Estimated output:

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How It Works

CAF files can contain audio encoded in a variety of codecs — PCM, AAC, FLAC, Opus, or others — all wrapped in Apple's extensible container. During this conversion, FFmpeg decodes whatever audio codec is present inside the CAF container and re-encodes it using the libvorbis encoder into an OGG container. This is always a full transcode (not a remux), because OGG does not support the same codec set as CAF and the container structures are entirely different. The output uses Vorbis Variable Bit Rate quality level 4, which targets approximately 128 kbps and delivers near-transparent audio quality for most content. If your source CAF contains lossless PCM audio, be aware that the result will be a lossy OGG Vorbis file — you are trading lossless fidelity for a widely-compatible open format.

What Each Flag Does

Flag What it does
ffmpeg Invokes the FFmpeg command-line tool. In the browser-based version of this tool, the same FFmpeg logic runs via WebAssembly (FFmpeg.wasm) entirely within your browser — no server is involved.
-i input.caf Specifies the input file, which is a CAF (Core Audio Format) container. FFmpeg's CAF demuxer will detect and decode whatever audio codec is stored inside — PCM, AAC, FLAC, Opus, or others — before passing the decoded audio to the encoder.
-c:a libvorbis Selects the libvorbis encoder to encode the output audio as Vorbis, the native and most widely supported codec for OGG containers. This is a full re-encode from whatever codec was in the source CAF — no stream copying is possible between CAF and OGG.
-q:a 4 Sets the Vorbis Variable Bit Rate quality level to 4 on a scale of 0–10, targeting approximately 128 kbps. This is a perceptually transparent setting for most music and speech content, balancing file size and audio fidelity. Increase to 6–8 for higher quality or decrease to 1–2 for smaller podcast-friendly files.
output.ogg Defines the output filename with the .ogg extension, which tells FFmpeg to mux the encoded Vorbis audio stream into an OGG container. The OGG container adds streaming support and Vorbis Comment metadata tags to the output file.

Common Use Cases

  • Exporting iOS or macOS voice memos and audio recordings — which are often saved as CAF — for playback on Android devices and Linux systems that don't support CAF natively
  • Publishing audio recorded in Apple's ecosystem (Logic Pro, GarageBand, Core Audio APIs) to web platforms and podcast hosts that require OGG or Vorbis-compatible formats
  • Preparing audio assets recorded via iOS apps for use in open-source game engines like Godot, which prefer OGG Vorbis for in-game audio
  • Converting CAF test recordings or audio samples from Apple development tools into OGG for cross-platform automated testing pipelines
  • Archiving or distributing audio captured from Apple hardware in a royalty-free, patent-unencumbered format that doesn't depend on Apple software to decode
  • Stripping CAF files of their Apple-specific container structure before uploading to open media archives or libraries that index OGG content

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. CAF files commonly contain uncompressed PCM audio (such as pcm_s16le or pcm_s24le), which is lossless. Converting to OGG Vorbis re-encodes the audio using lossy compression, so some audio detail is permanently discarded. At quality level 4 (approximately 128 kbps), the result is generally indistinguishable from the source for speech and most music, but if you need to preserve full lossless fidelity, consider converting to OGG FLAC instead by changing the codec in the FFmpeg command to `-c:a flac`.
OGG is a container format designed specifically for Xiph.Org codecs — it natively supports Vorbis, Opus, and FLAC, but not AAC. Because there is no standardized way to mux AAC into an OGG stream, FFmpeg must decode the AAC audio and re-encode it as Vorbis. This is unavoidable when moving between these two containers unless you choose Opus as your output codec, which OGG does support natively.
The `-q:a 4` flag controls Vorbis quality on a scale from 0 (lowest, ~64 kbps) to 10 (highest, ~500 kbps). To increase quality, raise the value — for example, `-q:a 6` targets around 192 kbps and is suitable for high-fidelity music. To reduce file size at the cost of some quality, lower it — `-q:a 2` targets around 96 kbps and is acceptable for speech and podcasts. Replace `4` with your desired value: `ffmpeg -i input.caf -c:a libvorbis -q:a 6 output.ogg`.
OGG Vorbis uses Vorbis Comment tags for metadata, and FFmpeg will attempt to map standard metadata fields (title, artist, album, etc.) from the CAF source to the OGG output during conversion. However, CAF supports Apple-specific metadata fields that have no direct Vorbis Comment equivalent, so some custom or proprietary tags may be dropped. Standard ID3-style tags should transfer correctly.
The command shown handles a single file, but you can batch process on the command line using a shell loop. On Linux or macOS, run: `for f in *.caf; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a libvorbis -q:a 4 "${f%.caf}.ogg"; done`. On Windows PowerShell, use: `Get-ChildItem *.caf | ForEach-Object { ffmpeg -i $_.Name -c:a libvorbis -q:a 4 ($_.BaseName + '.ogg') }`. The browser-based tool processes one file at a time.
CAF containers often include additional overhead such as extended metadata blocks, packet tables, and Apple-specific chunks that can inflate file size beyond the raw audio data. OGG is a lean streaming-oriented container with minimal overhead. Additionally, Vorbis at quality level 4 is highly efficient, so even if the source CAF contained AAC at a comparable bitrate, the OGG output may be slightly smaller due to reduced container overhead. If the source CAF was uncompressed PCM, the size reduction will be dramatic — often 5x to 10x smaller.

Technical Notes

CAF is Apple's successor to AIFF, designed without the 4 GB file size limit of older formats and capable of wrapping virtually any audio codec supported by Core Audio. This flexibility means a CAF file is essentially a black box until inspected — it could contain raw PCM at up to 32-bit float precision, compressed AAC, or even Opus. FFmpeg's CAF demuxer handles all common variants, but exotic or DRM-protected CAF files (such as those from purchased iTunes content) cannot be decoded. The OGG container, by contrast, is rigidly associated with Xiph.Org codecs: Vorbis, Opus, and FLAC. The libvorbis encoder used here implements the reference Vorbis encoder, which uses variable bit rate encoding controlled by the `-q:a` quality scale rather than a fixed bitrate target — this produces more consistent perceptual quality across varying audio content than CBR encoding would. OGG Vorbis has excellent support across open-source platforms, web browsers (via the HTML5 audio element in Firefox and Chrome), and Linux audio systems, but has limited native support on Apple platforms without third-party libraries. One notable limitation: CAF supports multiple audio tracks and high channel counts (useful for surround sound), but the default conversion maps only the primary audio stream; additional tracks in a multi-track CAF file will be ignored unless explicitly specified with additional FFmpeg stream mapping flags.

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