Convert VOB to AIFF — Free Online Tool
Extract and convert the AC3 or MPEG audio from a DVD VOB file into a high-quality, uncompressed AIFF file using PCM S16BE encoding. AIFF is Apple's lossless audio container, making this conversion ideal for bringing DVD audio into macOS-native audio workflows without any lossy re-encoding artifacts beyond the original source.
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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
VOB files are DVD container files that multiplex MPEG-2 video, AC3 (Dolby Digital) or other audio streams, subtitle tracks, and navigation data together. During this conversion, FFmpeg demuxes the VOB container, discards the video stream entirely, and decodes the audio stream (typically AC3 at 192–448 kbps) into raw PCM samples. Those samples are then written as 16-bit big-endian PCM data into an AIFF container — Apple's standard uncompressed audio format. The AC3 compression is fully decoded, so the output AIFF is significantly larger than the source audio but represents a lossless capture of whatever fidelity was present in the original DVD audio.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg tool. In the browser-based version of this tool, FFmpeg runs entirely via WebAssembly (FFmpeg.wasm) — no files leave your device. The same command works identically on a local FFmpeg installation for files over 1GB. |
-i input.vob
|
Specifies the input VOB file. FFmpeg will demux the MPEG Program Stream container, identifying the embedded video, audio (typically AC3), and subtitle streams inside the VOB. |
-c:a pcm_s16be
|
Decodes the DVD audio stream (usually AC3 Dolby Digital) and re-encodes it as 16-bit signed big-endian PCM — the native uncompressed audio codec for AIFF files. This produces a lossless, fully decoded representation of the DVD audio. |
output.aiff
|
Specifies the output filename with the .aiff extension, which tells FFmpeg to write an Audio Interchange File Format container. AIFF is Apple's uncompressed audio format, natively supported on macOS and compatible with professional audio tools like Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro. |
Common Use Cases
- Extracting a film score or soundtrack from a DVD VOB file to import into Logic Pro or GarageBand for music production or remixing
- Archiving DVD audio commentary tracks as uncompressed AIFF files for long-term preservation on macOS systems
- Pulling dialogue or sound effects from a DVD source for use in a Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve audio project that requires AIFF assets
- Converting DVD language audio tracks (e.g., a foreign-language dub stored as AC3 in a VOB) into AIFF for editing in an Apple-native audio editor like Logic or Audacity on macOS
- Preparing DVD audio content for mastering or post-production workflows that require uncompressed PCM in a format compatible with professional macOS audio tools
- Extracting clean audio from a DVD rip for transcription, voice-over replacement, or accessibility captioning workflows
Frequently Asked Questions
No — AIFF is lossless and uncompressed, but it cannot recover detail that was already discarded by AC3 compression on the DVD. The conversion fully decodes the AC3 (or other DVD audio codec) into raw PCM, so the AIFF is a perfect lossless representation of the decoded audio. What you gain is a format with no further generational loss, suitable for editing or re-encoding without accumulating additional compression artifacts.
AC3 audio in a VOB is heavily compressed — a 5.1 AC3 stream at 384 kbps is a fraction of the size of its uncompressed equivalent. When FFmpeg decodes that stream to 16-bit big-endian PCM for AIFF, you're storing every sample without compression. A standard 16-bit stereo AIFF at 44.1 kHz uses roughly 10 MB per minute, compared to AC3 which might use 1.4 MB per minute at 192 kbps — so file sizes can increase by 5–10x or more.
Yes, if the source VOB contains a 5.1 AC3 stream, FFmpeg will decode all six channels and write them as a 6-channel AIFF file using pcm_s16be. However, standard AIFF players and many DAWs expect stereo, so you may need to manually configure channel routing in your audio application. If you only need stereo, you can add '-ac 2' to the FFmpeg command to downmix during conversion.
Yes. The command uses '-c:a pcm_s16be' for 16-bit big-endian PCM, which is the standard AIFF depth. If your workflow requires 24-bit audio (common in professional audio production), replace it with '-c:a pcm_s24be'. This will increase file size by 50% but provides greater headroom for editing. Note that since the source is AC3, increasing bit depth won't reveal new detail — it primarily benefits downstream processing.
VOB files often contain multiple audio streams (e.g., different language dubs or commentary). By default, FFmpeg selects the first audio stream. To select a specific track, add '-map 0:a:1' to the command to pick the second audio stream (index starts at 0), or use '-map 0:a:2' for the third, and so on. You can identify available streams first by running 'ffmpeg -i input.vob' and reading the stream list in the output.
Yes. On macOS or Linux, you can run a shell loop: 'for f in *.vob; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a pcm_s16be "${f%.vob}.aiff"; done'. On Windows Command Prompt, use 'for %f in (*.vob) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:a pcm_s16be "%~nf.aiff"'. This processes each VOB in the current directory and outputs a matching AIFF file. This is especially useful for DVD rips where each chapter is stored as a separate VOB file.
Technical Notes
VOB files follow the MPEG Program Stream specification and typically carry AC3 (Dolby Digital) audio at bitrates between 192 kbps and 448 kbps, though some DVDs use MPEG-1 Layer 2 or even DTS audio. FFmpeg handles all of these, decoding them to PCM before writing the AIFF. The output uses pcm_s16be — 16-bit signed, big-endian byte order — which is the native AIFF sample format and is directly compatible with macOS Core Audio, Logic Pro, and Final Cut Pro. One limitation to be aware of: AIFF does not support multiple audio tracks, so only one stream from the VOB is extracted per run. Subtitle streams (VOB SUB format, embedded in the VOB) are not carried into AIFF since it's an audio-only format. Chapter markers present in the DVD structure are also not preserved. If the VOB is part of a larger DVD rip split across VTS files, you may want to concatenate the VOB files first using FFmpeg's concat demuxer to get a complete, uninterrupted audio file rather than processing each VOB segment separately.