Convert MPG to AIFF — Free Online Tool
Extract and convert the audio track from an MPG video file into a high-quality, uncompressed AIFF file using PCM 16-bit big-endian encoding. This conversion strips the MPEG-1/2 video stream entirely and transcodes the MP2 or AAC audio into lossless PCM, producing a studio-ready AIFF file natively compatible with macOS audio tools like Logic Pro and GarageBand.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
Drop your MPG file here
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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
MPG files typically carry MP2 (MPEG Layer 2) or occasionally AAC audio alongside an MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video stream. During this conversion, FFmpeg discards the video stream entirely — there is no video re-encoding step — and focuses exclusively on the audio. The compressed, lossy MP2 audio is decoded to raw PCM samples in memory and then written out as PCM signed 16-bit big-endian data, which is the native uncompressed format AIFF uses. Because AIFF is a lossless container for uncompressed PCM, the output file will be significantly larger than the original MPG audio track, but it will represent the highest-fidelity version of whatever audio was encoded in the source file. Note that since the source MP2 audio is lossy, the AIFF output preserves that fidelity ceiling — it does not recover detail lost during the original MPEG compression.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg binary — the underlying engine used both in this browser tool (via FFmpeg.wasm compiled to WebAssembly) and when running the command locally on your desktop. |
-i input.mpg
|
Specifies the input MPG file. FFmpeg will automatically detect whether it is an MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Program Stream and identify the contained video (mpeg1video or mpeg2video) and audio (typically MP2) streams. |
-c:a pcm_s16be
|
Selects the audio codec for the output: PCM signed 16-bit big-endian, which is the standard uncompressed audio encoding used in AIFF files. This decodes the lossy MP2 audio from the MPG and writes it as raw PCM samples in big-endian byte order, as required by the AIFF specification. |
output.aiff
|
Defines the output filename and container format. The `.aiff` extension tells FFmpeg to wrap the PCM audio in an Audio Interchange File Format container, which is Apple's standard uncompressed audio format and natively supported across macOS applications. |
Common Use Cases
- Extracting dialogue or narration from an old VCD or DVD-rip MPG file to import into a professional macOS audio editing session in Logic Pro or Pro Tools
- Pulling a music recording from a broadcast-captured MPG file to archive it as an uncompressed AIFF master for long-term storage on macOS systems
- Preparing audio from an MPEG-2 broadcast clip for use in Final Cut Pro, which natively reads AIFF and prefers uncompressed audio on the timeline
- Recovering a clean audio stem from an MPG video deliverable so it can be independently mixed, synced, or processed without the video overhead
- Converting a VCD-era MPG music video's MP2 audio track to AIFF so it can be imported into iTunes/Apple Music as a high-quality local audio file
- Decoding MP2 audio from an MPG file into uncompressed PCM AIFF for use with audio analysis or forensic tools that require raw waveform data
Frequently Asked Questions
No — converting from MPG to AIFF will not recover any audio quality that was lost when the MPG was originally encoded. The MP2 audio inside an MPG file is lossy, meaning some detail was permanently discarded during MPEG compression. What this conversion does is decode that compressed audio into uncompressed PCM and store it in AIFF without introducing any additional quality loss. The AIFF will be a lossless representation of the lossy source — no better, no worse in terms of fidelity.
MPG files store audio as compressed MP2 data, which achieves significant file size reduction through perceptual audio coding. AIFF stores audio as raw, uncompressed PCM samples — typically at 16-bit depth — with no compression applied. A one-minute stereo audio track at 44.1 kHz in MP2 at 192 kbps takes roughly 1.4 MB, while the same audio as 16-bit PCM AIFF takes about 10 MB. Additionally, the MPG's video stream is removed, but the audio-only AIFF will still be considerably larger than just the audio portion of the original MPG.
The video stream is completely discarded. FFmpeg reads the MPG container, identifies the audio stream, and writes only that audio to the AIFF output. No video codec is involved on the output side because AIFF is a pure audio format with no support for video data. If you need to keep the video, you should convert to a video-capable output format instead.
Yes — by default the command uses `-c:a pcm_s16be` for 16-bit signed big-endian PCM, which is the standard AIFF codec. If you want higher bit depth, you can substitute `pcm_s24be` for 24-bit, `pcm_s32be` for 32-bit integer, or `pcm_f32be` for 32-bit floating point PCM. For example: `ffmpeg -i input.mpg -c:a pcm_s24be output.aiff`. However, since the source MP2 audio rarely encodes above 16-bit effective resolution, increasing bit depth beyond 16-bit provides minimal practical benefit while increasing file size further.
Yes, you can adapt the command for batch processing in a shell script. On Linux or macOS, use: `for f in *.mpg; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a pcm_s16be "${f%.mpg}.aiff"; done`. On Windows with PowerShell: `Get-ChildItem *.mpg | ForEach-Object { ffmpeg -i $_.FullName -c:a pcm_s16be ($_.BaseName + '.aiff') }`. This is especially useful for processing large collections of VCD or broadcast MPG archives. The browser-based tool on this page handles single files up to 1 GB, so the command-line approach is preferable for bulk jobs.
No. AIFF does not support subtitles, chapters, or video-associated metadata structures, and MPG's subtitle data (such as VCD subtitle streams) is tied to the video layer. Basic audio metadata tags like title or artist, if present in the MPG, may also not carry over since MPG containers have limited standardized metadata and AIFF's metadata support (via MARK and NAME chunks) differs significantly. You should not rely on this conversion to transfer metadata; any tags should be added to the AIFF manually afterward using a tool like Mp3tag or Apple's metadata editor.
Technical Notes
MPG containers based on MPEG-1 Program Stream or MPEG-2 Program/Transport Stream typically carry MP2 audio (MPEG-1 Layer 2), though some modern MPG files encode AAC or even MP3. FFmpeg's demuxer handles all these variants correctly. The output codec `pcm_s16be` (PCM signed 16-bit big-endian) is the canonical AIFF audio format — big-endian byte order is a requirement of the AIFF specification, distinguishing it from WAV which uses little-endian PCM. The sample rate of the output will match whatever sample rate was used in the source MPG audio (commonly 44100 Hz or 48000 Hz for broadcast content) without resampling, unless you explicitly specify `-ar`. AIFF files produced by this conversion are fully compatible with macOS CoreAudio, Logic Pro, GarageBand, Final Cut Pro, and any DAW that reads standard AIFF. One known limitation: MPG files sourced from VCD discs sometimes have slight audio/video sync offsets due to MPEG-1 muxing; since the AIFF output is audio-only, any such offset is irrelevant for purely audio use but should be noted if the AIFF is later re-synced to video. AIFF does not support multiple audio tracks or surround configurations beyond what the source MPG provides in a single audio stream.