Free online AIFF to AA3 converter

What the AIFF format is

AIFF, or Audio Interchange File Format, is an audio container developed by Apple. Standard AIFF files usually contain uncompressed PCM audio, commonly at 44.1 or 48 kHz with 16- or 24-bit samples, so they preserve the source recording but require substantially more storage than compressed formats.

Apple GarageBand and Logic Pro, Avid Pro Tools, Audacity, Adobe Audition, and many recording applications can create or export AIFF. You may also encounter it when receiving master recordings, sound effects, or music exported from macOS-based production systems.

What the AA3 format is

AA3 is associated with Sony ATRAC3 audio, generally stored in Sony's OpenMG/OMA container family and used by older Sony portable players and SonicStage-era music software. ATRAC3 applies lossy compression, allowing much smaller files than PCM-based AIFF while retaining adequate quality for portable playback.

Some applications identify the same type of Sony ATRAC3 container with the .oma extension rather than .aa3. Changing an extension does not convert the audio; the file must contain an ATRAC3 stream in a compatible Sony container. ATRAC3 files protected with OpenMG DRM cannot be produced merely by changing formats, and newer Sony devices may not support them.

How to actually convert AIFF to AA3

For a single file, use the built-in converter on 101convert.com: select AIFF as the input format, choose AA3 as the output format, add the .aiff or .aif file, start the conversion, and download the resulting file. This requires no software installation.

For a local conversion, FFmpeg can encode ATRAC3 and force Sony's OMA container. Install a current FFmpeg build, open a terminal in the folder containing the source file, and run:

ffmpeg -i input.aiff -c:a atrac3 -b:a 132k -f oma output.aa3

The 132k setting is a common ATRAC3 bitrate; use a bitrate accepted by the target player if its documentation specifies one. If the receiving software expects the conventional Sony extension, name the output output.oma instead:

ffmpeg -i input.aiff -c:a atrac3 -b:a 132k -f oma output.oma

Check the generated file with:

ffprobe output.aa3

The report should show an ATRAC3 audio stream rather than PCM, AAC, or MP3. If FFmpeg reports that the oma muxer or atrac3 encoder is unavailable, use a newer build or the 101convert.com converter; do not rename an AIFF file and expect it to play as AA3.

Quality and compatibility limits

AIFF-to-AA3 conversion is a lossy encoding step. Keep the original AIFF as the archival master, and do not repeatedly convert between lossy formats. A higher ATRAC3 bitrate generally preserves more detail but creates a larger file; it cannot restore information already absent from the AIFF source or from a previous lossy encode.

Test the output on the intended Sony player or application. Hardware may require a particular ATRAC3 bitrate, 44.1 kHz audio, stereo channels, or an OMA-style filename, and some SonicStage workflows require their own database registration or DRM handling. A technically valid ATRAC3 container may therefore play in FFmpeg or a media player but still be rejected by a DRM-dependent Sony device.