AAC to ALAC Converter

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is an audio coding standard designed as the successor to MP3, offering better sound quality at similar bit rates. It was developed by a group including Fraunhofer, Nokia, and Dolby.

ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) is a lossless audio codec developed by Apple that offers exact audio reproduction while typically reducing file size by 40-60% compared to uncompressed audio.

Unlike AAC which is lossy, ALAC preserves 100% of the original audio data, making it perfect for audiophiles and professional applications where sound quality is paramount.

ALAC files are stored in an M4A container and are fully compatible with iTunes and Apple devices, while also supporting rich metadata including album artwork and detailed song information.

Converting AAC to ALAC involves both a codec change and container modification. The lossy AAC audio is re-encoded into the lossless ALAC format.

While converting from a lossy format (AAC) to a lossless one (ALAC) won't recover lost audio data, it prevents further quality degradation in future edits or conversions.

ALAC files are typically larger than AAC files because they preserve all audio data, but they're still smaller than uncompressed formats like WAV or AIFF.

This conversion is especially useful for archiving important audio or for use in professional audio workflows where maintaining the highest possible quality is critical.

ALAC supports high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/192kHz, though the converted file will retain the same sample rate and bit depth as the source AAC.