Free online AC3 to TTA converter

Source format: AC3

AC3 (Audio Codec 3, also known as Dolby Digital) is a compressed audio format commonly used in DVDs, Blu-ray discs, digital TV broadcasts, and home theater systems. It supports multichannel audio, including 5.1 surround sound, and is designed for efficient delivery of movie and broadcast audio. AC3 is widely supported by media players and AV equipment, but it is primarily a distribution format, not an editing format.

Target format: TTA

TTA (True Audio) is a lossless audio format designed to compress audio without removing any data from the original signal. It is used by audio enthusiasts and archivists who want smaller files while preserving full quality. Compared with AC3, TTA is better suited for archiving and exact audio preservation, but it is less common and has more limited device support.

How to perform the conversion

Because AC3 is lossy and TTA is lossless, converting from AC3 to TTA does not restore lost audio detail; it only stores the existing AC3 audio in a lossless container-like compression format. The best practical method is to use a desktop audio tool such as FFmpeg or foobar2000.

Using FFmpeg:

1. Install FFmpeg on your computer.
2. Open a terminal or command prompt in the folder containing the AC3 file.
3. Run a command such as ffmpeg -i input.ac3 -c:a tta output.tta.
4. Wait for the conversion to finish, then test the resulting output.tta file in a player that supports TTA.

Using foobar2000:

1. Install foobar2000 and add TTA support if needed through the appropriate encoder/decoder components.
2. Open the AC3 file in the library or playlist.
3. Select the file, then choose Convert → ... and pick TTA as the output format if available.
4. Choose the destination folder and start the conversion.

If you want a quick browser-based option, you can convert the file on 101convert.com for free without installing any software.

Quality, compatibility, and limitations

The main limitation is that AC3 to TTA is not a quality-improving conversion. Since AC3 already discards audio data, the resulting TTA file will be lossless only relative to the AC3 source, not the original recording. In many cases, the TTA file may also be larger than the AC3 file, because lossless compression cannot compress already-compressed audio as efficiently.

Compatibility is another important factor: TTA support is much less common than AC3 support. Many TVs, receivers, phones, and streaming devices can play AC3 directly but cannot play TTA without specialized software. For that reason, TTA is best used when you specifically need a lossless archive of the AC3 audio stream or when your playback software explicitly supports TTA.