Convert WAV to ALAC — Free Online Tool
Convert WAV audio files to ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) stored in an M4A container — a fully lossless transcoding that preserves every bit of your original audio while achieving significant file size reduction through Apple's lossless compression algorithm. Ideal for integrating high-quality studio or broadcast WAV recordings into the Apple ecosystem, including iTunes, Apple Music, and iOS devices.
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
WAV files store audio as uncompressed PCM data (most commonly 16-bit signed little-endian PCM at standard sample rates), meaning every audio sample is written to disk with zero compression. During this conversion, FFmpeg decodes the raw PCM stream from the WAV container and re-encodes it using the ALAC codec, which applies a lossless prediction-based compression algorithm similar in concept to FLAC. Because ALAC is lossless, the decoded output is mathematically identical to the original PCM samples — no audio information is discarded. The compressed audio is then wrapped in an MPEG-4 (.m4a) container, which supports richer metadata tagging (artist, album, artwork) than the relatively primitive WAV container. The result is a smaller file that Apple devices and software can natively read and play without any quality compromise.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg binary. In the browser-based version of this tool, this runs via FFmpeg.wasm compiled to WebAssembly — no files leave your device. When running locally on a desktop, this calls your system-installed FFmpeg executable. |
-i input.wav
|
Specifies the input WAV file. FFmpeg reads the WAV container, identifies the audio codec (most likely pcm_s16le for standard 16-bit WAV), and prepares the raw PCM sample data for re-encoding into ALAC. |
-c:a alac
|
Instructs FFmpeg to encode the audio stream using Apple's ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) encoder. This is the core of the conversion — PCM samples from the WAV are compressed losslessly into ALAC frames that will be stored in the MPEG-4 container. |
-c:a alac
|
A redundant repetition of the ALAC audio codec flag. FFmpeg accepts this without error, with the second instance simply confirming the same codec choice. The output is identical to specifying the flag once. You may omit this duplicate if running the command manually. |
output.m4a
|
Defines the output filename with an .m4a extension. The M4A extension signals an MPEG-4 audio container — the standard wrapper for ALAC files — and ensures Apple software (iTunes, Apple Music, QuickTime, iOS) correctly identifies and plays the file as a lossless audio track. |
Common Use Cases
- Importing a professional recording session's WAV masters into an iTunes or Apple Music library without losing any audio fidelity while saving significant disk space compared to keeping raw WAV files.
- Preparing broadcast-quality WAV recordings — such as those from a field recorder or DAW export — for distribution to clients or collaborators who work primarily on macOS or iOS.
- Archiving a large collection of uncompressed WAV files from CD rips or vinyl transfers into ALAC to reduce storage footprint while maintaining a bit-perfect archive compatible with Apple's ecosystem.
- Converting WAV audio files for playback on an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, which natively support ALAC but may struggle with large uncompressed WAV files over AirPlay or local storage.
- Migrating a music production workflow from Windows (where WAV is the standard delivery format) to macOS, reformatting audio assets into ALAC so they integrate cleanly with Logic Pro and the Apple Music app.
- Replacing WAV attachments in podcast production files or audiobook exports with space-efficient ALAC versions before ingesting them into Apple Podcasts Connect or Audiobook tools that accept lossless M4A.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, ALAC is a lossless codec by definition, meaning the audio data is compressed in a way that is perfectly reversible. When you decode the resulting ALAC file, you get back the exact same PCM samples that were in your original WAV file — bit for bit. There is no lossy encoding stage, no perceptual filtering, and no quality degradation whatsoever. This makes it fundamentally different from converting WAV to MP3 or AAC, where audio information is permanently discarded.
ALAC typically achieves compression ratios of around 40–60% compared to uncompressed PCM WAV, depending on the complexity and dynamic range of the audio content. A 100 MB WAV file might compress to roughly 50–70 MB as ALAC. Highly dynamic content like classical music or dialogue compresses more efficiently than dense, heavily limited material like modern pop masters. Unlike lossy formats, you cannot trade quality for smaller file size — ALAC always stores the full fidelity of the source.
WAV files support metadata through INFO chunks or ID3 tags embedded in the file, but support is inconsistent across software and often stripped or ignored. The MPEG-4 container used by ALAC (M4A) supports a well-defined, widely respected metadata standard that Apple software reads natively. FFmpeg will attempt to map any metadata it finds in the source WAV to the M4A container's tag format, but if your WAV file has no embedded metadata, the output M4A will also have none. You can add metadata manually using a tool like MusicBrainz Picard or mp4tag after conversion.
ALAC support outside the Apple ecosystem has improved considerably. VLC, foobar2000, and many other third-party players on Windows, Linux, and Android can decode ALAC natively. Android's built-in media framework added native ALAC support in Android 5.0 (Lollipop). However, if your primary use case is cross-platform compatibility, FLAC is often a safer choice since it enjoys broader native support on non-Apple platforms. For purely Apple-centric workflows, ALAC is the natural lossless format.
The command contains '-c:a alac' twice, which is a redundant but harmless flag repetition — FFmpeg processes the flags in order and the second instance simply overwrites the first with the same value. The net result is identical to specifying '-c:a alac' once: FFmpeg encodes the audio stream using the ALAC codec. The output is correct and the duplication has no negative effect on quality, file size, or compatibility. If you are running this command locally and want a cleaner invocation, you can safely remove one of the '-c:a alac' instances.
The command as shown processes a single file, but you can batch convert on the command line using a shell loop. On macOS or Linux, run: 'for f in *.wav; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a alac "${f%.wav}.m4a"; done'. On Windows Command Prompt, use: 'for %f in (*.wav) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:a alac "%~nf.m4a"'. This will process every WAV file in the current directory and output a corresponding ALAC M4A file. For very large collections, consider using FFmpeg's '-threads' flag to control CPU usage.
Technical Notes
WAV files most commonly carry 16-bit or 24-bit PCM audio (pcm_s16le or pcm_s24le), and ALAC fully supports both bit depths, including 24-bit — so studio-quality high-resolution recordings are preserved without any down-sampling or bit-depth reduction. If your WAV file uses a less common codec such as ADPCM or A-law (pcm_alaw), FFmpeg will transparently decode it to PCM before encoding to ALAC, still resulting in a lossless-from-PCM output (though ADPCM itself is lossy, so any artifacts already present in the source are preserved). ALAC inside M4A supports chapters, which the WAV container does not, so audiobook or long-form content can benefit from chapter markers added post-conversion. One known limitation is that ALAC does not support more than two channels in all Apple playback contexts — multichannel WAV files (e.g., 5.1 surround) may require additional mapping flags for correct playback. The M4A container also supports embedded album artwork via the 'covr' atom, which can be added with FFmpeg's '-metadata' and '-attach' options for a more complete iTunes-ready file.