Extract Audio from M2TS to AIFC — Free Online Tool
Extract audio from M2TS Blu-ray and AVCHD files and save it as AIFC, using the big-endian PCM (pcm_s16be) codec for uncompressed, lossless audio output. Ideal for archiving high-definition disc audio in a professional-grade format compatible with legacy Apple and pro audio workflows.
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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
M2TS files are MPEG-2 Transport Stream containers typically carrying multiple audio tracks (often DTS-HD, TrueHD, AC-3, or AAC) alongside H.264 or H.265 video. This tool strips the video stream entirely using the -vn flag, then decodes the first audio track from the M2TS container and re-encodes it as 16-bit big-endian PCM (pcm_s16be) — the default codec for AIFC. Because AIFC uses uncompressed or minimally compressed PCM audio stored in big-endian byte order (a legacy of Apple's Motorola 68k and PowerPC architecture), the output is a faithful, uncompressed representation of the audio content. Any lossy compression present in the original M2TS audio track (such as AC-3 or AAC) will be decoded to PCM, so while the AIFC file itself is lossless, it cannot recover quality lost by the original encoding.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg binary, the open-source multimedia processing engine that powers this conversion in the browser via WebAssembly (FFmpeg.wasm). |
-i input.m2ts
|
Specifies the input file in M2TS format — a Blu-ray BDAV or AVCHD Transport Stream container that may contain video, multiple audio tracks, and subtitles. |
-vn
|
Disables video output entirely, telling FFmpeg to ignore all video streams in the M2TS file. This is essential for pure audio extraction and prevents any attempt to transcode the H.264 or H.265 video track into the audio-only AIFC container. |
-c:a pcm_s16be
|
Sets the output audio codec to 16-bit signed big-endian PCM — the native default codec of the AIFC format, producing uncompressed audio data stored in Apple's traditional big-endian byte order. |
-b:a 128k
|
Specifies a target audio bitrate of 128 kbps; however, this parameter has no effect on uncompressed PCM codecs like pcm_s16be, whose actual bitrate is fixed by sample rate and channel count (e.g., ~1,536 kbps for stereo 48 kHz). |
output.aifc
|
Defines the output filename with the .aifc extension, signaling FFmpeg to wrap the pcm_s16be audio stream in an AIFC container — Apple's extended AIFF format that supports both uncompressed and compressed audio data. |
Common Use Cases
- Archiving the lossless audio track from a Blu-ray M2TS rip into a professional PCM format for long-term preservation without perceptible quality loss.
- Importing dialogue or soundtrack audio from AVCHD camcorder M2TS footage into older Pro Tools or Logic Pro sessions that expect AIFC/AIFF-format audio files.
- Extracting clean audio from a Blu-ray concert or film rip to use as a high-quality reference for audio mastering or mixing work.
- Converting M2TS audio to AIFC for compatibility with legacy Mac OS 9 or classic Mac audio tools that require the AIFF/AIFC container format.
- Stripping the audio from a multi-track M2TS broadcast recording to produce a standalone PCM audio file for transcription, captioning, or forensic analysis.
- Preparing audio stems extracted from Blu-ray authoring M2TS sources for import into Digital Audio Workstations that accept big-endian PCM AIFC natively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not entirely — if the source M2TS contains a lossy codec like AC-3 (Dolby Digital) or AAC, the audio was already compressed when the M2TS was created. This tool decodes that lossy audio to raw PCM and stores it losslessly in AIFC, so no further quality is lost in the conversion itself. However, the original lossy compression artifacts cannot be undone. If your M2TS source carries a lossless track such as TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio, the AIFC output will faithfully represent the full quality of that track.
M2TS files store audio in compressed formats like AC-3, AAC, or DTS, which can be 5–20 times smaller than uncompressed PCM. AIFC with pcm_s16be stores every audio sample as a raw 16-bit integer with no compression, so a 90-minute stereo track at 48 kHz will occupy roughly 1 GB. This is a fundamental tradeoff of uncompressed archival formats — you gain format simplicity and zero decode overhead at the cost of file size.
Yes. FFmpeg reads the sample rate from the M2TS audio stream (commonly 48 kHz for Blu-ray and AVCHD content) and carries it through to the AIFC output without resampling, unless you explicitly add a -ar flag to the command. Blu-ray audio is standardized at 48 kHz, so your AIFC file will most likely be 48 kHz PCM rather than the 44.1 kHz common in CD-derived audio.
Yes. M2TS files from Blu-ray discs commonly carry multiple audio tracks — for example, a TrueHD track, an AC-3 compatibility track, and a foreign-language dub. By default, FFmpeg selects the first audio stream. To extract a different track, add -map 0:a:1 to the command (where :1 selects the second audio stream, :2 the third, and so on). For example: ffmpeg -i input.m2ts -vn -map 0:a:1 -c:a pcm_s16be output.aifc
For PCM codecs, the -b:a bitrate flag is effectively ignored — pcm_s16be is an uncompressed format whose bitrate is determined entirely by the sample rate and channel count, not a target bitrate parameter. A 48 kHz stereo pcm_s16be stream always produces exactly 1,536 kbps regardless of the -b:a value. The flag is included in the command for consistency with the tool's interface but has no effect on AIFC output quality or file size.
Replace pcm_s16be in the command with another PCM codec to change bit depth. AIFC supports pcm_s24be (24-bit, ideal for Blu-ray hi-res audio), pcm_s32be (32-bit integer), pcm_f32be (32-bit float), or pcm_f64be (64-bit float). For example, to get a 24-bit AIFC that can fully represent high-resolution Blu-ray audio: ffmpeg -i input.m2ts -vn -c:a pcm_s24be output.aifc. The 24-bit option is generally the best choice for archiving Blu-ray source material.
Technical Notes
M2TS is a constrained profile of the MPEG-2 Transport Stream format used on Blu-ray Disc (BDAV) and in AVCHD camcorders. It supports a wide variety of audio codecs including AC-3, E-AC-3, DTS, DTS-HD Master Audio, TrueHD, and LPCM, as well as multiple simultaneous audio streams with different languages or formats. FFmpeg will by default select the highest-priority audio stream (usually stream index 0:a:0) for extraction. AIFC is Apple's compressed/extended variant of AIFF and stores audio in big-endian byte order, inherited from Apple's pre-Intel processor architecture. The pcm_s16be codec produces 16-bit signed big-endian PCM samples — widely compatible with professional audio tools but limited to 16-bit depth, which may represent a downgrade if the source M2TS carried 24-bit LPCM or lossless TrueHD audio. In those cases, using pcm_s24be instead preserves the full dynamic range. Metadata such as chapter markers, subtitle streams, and secondary audio tracks present in the M2TS container are not carried over to AIFC, as the format supports only a single audio stream with no subtitle or chapter structures. The -vn flag ensures the video stream is discarded cleanly with no attempted video transcode, keeping processing fast even for long Blu-ray rips.