Turn M4A audio files into AC3. It is converted in your browser, so the file never leaves your device.
Drop M4A files here
or choose from your computer paste with Ctrl V
from Photos or Files
Ready · other file types work too0 bytes uploaded, ever
Drop M4A files onto the box above, or click it to choose them. ToAny reads the file's contents to detect the type, so a wrong extension does not matter.
Press Convert. Open Options first if you want to change the defaults. The work happens in this tab.
Save the AC3, or download everything as one ZIP if you converted several files.
The M4A to AC3 converter is part of this page and runs inside your browser. Your audio files are never sent to ToAny or to anyone else.
Nothing has to travel to a server and back, so the conversion starts the moment you press Convert, even on a slow connection.
No sign-up, no email address and no watermark. Add several files and download them together as a ZIP.
M4A is refused by some car stereos, older players, editors and upload forms. AC3 is what DVD authoring tools, TVs and home-theatre systems expect for surround sound. M4A is at home in music and voice memos on Apple devices; AC3 is the usual choice for surround-sound film audio. Both formats are lossy, so the content is compressed a second time; start from the best copy you have.
The defaults suit most files. Under Options you can choose the bitrate and trim the start and end.
This pair uses the compatibility engine, ffmpeg built for the browser, because AC3 cannot be written by the browser's built-in codecs. It is a one-off download of about 10 MB that the browser keeps, it is slower than the built-in codecs, and it takes files up to 1 GB. AC3 is written at 192 kbps unless you choose another bitrate.
M4A is an MP4 file that contains only audio, usually AAC. iPhone Voice Memos and the iTunes Store use it. It sounds better than MP3 at the same size but is not accepted everywhere MP3 is.
Opens in Apple devices, Android, current browsers; some car stereos and older players do not
M4A converterAC3 is the codec behind Dolby Digital, the surround-sound format of DVDs, digital television and many streaming services. A file can carry up to 5.1 channels. Most stereo music players do not handle it, so the track is usually extracted for editing or for devices that expect something else.
Opens in TVs, home-theatre receivers, DVD and Blu-ray players and VLC; many phones and browsers do not play it directly
AC3 converter| M4AM4A audio | AC3Dolby Digital audio | |
|---|---|---|
| Stands for | MPEG-4 Audio | Dolby Digital (Audio Codec 3) |
| Type | Audio | Audio |
| Compression | Lossy (AAC); lossless when it holds ALAC | Lossy |
| Usually contains | AAC, sometimes Apple Lossless | Dolby Digital, up to 5.1 channels |
| Introduced | The early 2000s, by the Moving Picture Experts Group (popularised by Apple) | The early 1990s, by Dolby Laboratories |
| Opens in | Apple devices, Android, current browsers; some car stereos and older players do not | TVs, home-theatre receivers, DVD and Blu-ray players and VLC; many phones and browsers do not play it directly |
| Best for | Music and voice memos on Apple devices | Surround-sound film audio |
| File extension | .m4a | .ac3 |
No. The M4A to AC3 conversion runs inside your browser, on your own phone or computer. The file is not sent to ToAny or to anyone else.
AC3 is a lossy format, so a small amount of detail is traded for a smaller file. At the default setting the difference is hard to notice. You can choose the bitrate under Options.
Yes. Add as many as you like, convert them together and download each result or all of them as one ZIP.
The steps are the same everywhere because ToAny runs in the web browser: open this page in a current version of Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox, add the M4A file, press Convert and save the AC3. There is nothing to install.
Yes. M4A to AC3 runs on the compatibility engine, which takes files up to 1 GB, and a long clip takes a while because it is slower than the browser's built-in codecs. Beyond that the limit is your device's memory, since nothing is uploaded; a computer copes with large files better than a phone.