Convert WMA to AAC Online
Transform your WMA files into AAC format with our online converter. AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is the successor to MP3, offering better compression efficiency and audio quality. This conversion moves your audio from Microsoft's ecosystem to Apple's preferred format, ensuring compatibility with iTunes, iPhone, iPad, and modern streaming platforms.
Our converter uses FFmpeg with the AAC encoder to produce high-quality compressed audio that plays natively on all Apple devices and most modern media players.
Why Convert WMA to AAC?
AAC provides better audio quality than both WMA and MP3 at equivalent bitrates. YouTube, Apple Music, and most streaming services use AAC as their standard audio codec. Converting WMA to AAC ensures optimal playback across modern platforms.
For users migrating from Windows to Apple devices, AAC is the native format for iTunes and iOS. Converting your WMA library to AAC ensures seamless integration with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac computers.
Common Use Cases
- Apple ecosystem migration — prepare audio for iTunes and iOS devices
- YouTube uploads — AAC is the preferred audio codec for video
- Modern streaming — compatible with all major platforms
- Quality optimization — AAC offers better quality than WMA at same bitrate
AAC Advantages
AAC handles complex audio content (orchestral music, high frequencies) more gracefully than WMA or MP3. At 128 kbps, AAC produces noticeably cleaner audio than equivalent WMA. This efficiency means you can use lower bitrates without sacrificing perceived quality.
AAC also supports advanced features like parametric stereo and spectral band replication, which improve quality at very low bitrates. These features make AAC ideal for streaming where bandwidth is limited, producing better audio than WMA or MP3 in the same conditions.
How the Conversion Works
Converting WMA to AAC involves decoding the Windows Media Audio stream and re-encoding it using the AAC codec. Since both are lossy compression formats, this transcoding process causes some quality loss—audio data discarded by WMA compression cannot be recovered, and AAC adds its own compression.
Our converter uses optimized encoding settings to minimize quality degradation during transcoding. For best results, use higher bitrate output than your source WMA file. If your original audio is available, encoding directly to AAC produces better results than converting from WMA.
AAC vs M4A: Understanding the Difference
AAC is the audio codec (compression algorithm) while M4A is a container format that holds AAC audio. Raw AAC files (.aac) contain only the audio stream, while M4A files (.m4a) wrap AAC audio in an MPEG-4 container that supports metadata, album art, and chapter markers. For most purposes, M4A is preferred because of its metadata support, but some systems specifically require raw AAC streams.
If you need AAC audio for video projects (merging with MP4 video), embedding in applications, or systems that specifically request AAC format, this conversion produces the right output. For music libraries where you want album art and track info, consider converting to M4A instead using our WMA to M4A converter.
Platform Compatibility
AAC audio plays on virtually every modern device: iPhones, iPads, Android phones, Windows PCs, Macs, game consoles, car audio systems, and smart TVs. It's the audio codec used in iTunes Store purchases, YouTube videos, and most streaming services. Converting your WMA library to AAC ensures playback compatibility across your entire device ecosystem.
Older devices from before 2005 may lack AAC support, but such devices are increasingly rare. If you need compatibility with very old equipment, MP3 remains the safest universal choice. For any device made in the last 15 years, AAC works reliably and provides better quality than MP3 at the same file size.
Related Tools
- AAC to WMA — convert back to Windows format
- WMA to MP3 — universal compatible format
- WMA to M4A — AAC in Apple container