Free online AIFF to MID converter

Programs such as notation editors, sequencers, and hardware synthesizers may require a MID file instead of recorded audio. Converting AIFF to MID therefore means transcribing sound into MIDI note and performance events, not merely changing the filename or compressing the audio.

What the AIFF format is

AIFF, or Audio Interchange File Format, is an audio container developed by Apple and commonly used for uncompressed PCM recordings. It stores sampled sound, often at 44.1 or 48 kHz with 16-, 24-, or 32-bit depth, so it preserves the source recording but can produce large files.

AIFF files appear in recordings exported from Logic Pro, GarageBand, Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, Ableton Live, and other digital audio workstations. They are also used for archival masters, sound effects, sample libraries, and audio exchanged between Mac-based production systems.

What the MID format is

MID is a filename extension for Standard MIDI File data. Unlike AIFF, it does not contain recorded sound. It stores events such as note number, velocity, duration, instrument program, tempo, controller changes, and timing information.

MIDI files are useful for editing melodies and arrangements in notation software, changing instruments in a synthesizer or virtual instrument, triggering external hardware, and creating compact musical files. A MIDI file can be only a few kilobytes because it describes performance events rather than waveform samples.

How to actually convert AIFF to MID

Use an audio-to-MIDI transcription tool. The result depends on the audio content: a clean monophonic melody is much easier to transcribe than a full mix with drums, chords, vocals, and effects.

Convert online

1. Open the AIFF-to-MID converter on 101convert.com.
2. Upload the .aiff or .aif file.
3. Start the conversion and wait for the audio analysis to finish.
4. Download the generated .mid file and open it in a DAW, notation program, or MIDI-compatible hardware editor.

This option requires no installed software. If the service offers analysis controls, select the source type that best matches the recording, such as melody, piano, vocals, or polyphonic music.

Convert with Basic Pitch

Basic Pitch is an open-source audio-to-MIDI transcription tool from Spotify. Install it with Python and run it from a terminal:

python -m pip install basic-pitch

For a directly supported AIFF file, transcribe it with:

basic-pitch midi-output input.aiff

The generated MIDI file is written to midi-output. If the AIFF is rejected or produces poor results, convert it to a standard WAV file with FFmpeg first:

ffmpeg -i input.aiff -ar 44100 -ac 1 input.wav

Then run:

basic-pitch midi-output input.wav

Open the resulting MIDI in a DAW or notation editor and correct note starts, endings, pitch errors, tempo, and unwanted detected notes. For a commercial editing workflow, Celemony Melodyne can analyze audio and export detected notes through File → Export → MIDI; its note-detection tools are more suitable for detailed manual correction.

Quality and compatibility limitations

The conversion cannot preserve the original recording as audio because MID contains no waveform data. To hear the result, assign a software instrument or connect a MIDI synthesizer; playback will not reproduce the original singer, microphone, room, or effects unless those sounds are recreated separately.

Audio transcription can misidentify harmonics as notes, merge overlapping notes, miss quiet notes, and place events slightly early or late. Drum tracks may require a dedicated drum-transcription mode, while dense chords and complete mixes usually need substantial cleanup. Isolating one instrument before conversion improves accuracy; exporting a dry, monophonic stem is preferable to analyzing a mastered stereo mix.

Save the corrected file as Standard MIDI File Type 1 when separate tracks are useful in a DAW, or Type 0 when a device accepts only one combined track. MIDI instrument assignments are not guaranteed to match across applications, and some older hardware supports only limited channels, controllers, or file sizes.