Convert MP3 to AAC Easily and for Free

April 19th, 2005 · 70 Comments

I started to look for a program to convert my MP3 files to AAC files, and Google’s front page was as helpful as a car tyre is to a hedgehog.

Vroom splat.

Then I recalled something I read ages ago about iTunes having conversion functions built into it. A quick fondle through the iTunes’ menus and bingo. Here’s how to use iTunes for converting music formats:

Open iTunes, select Preferences and click on Importing.

Change the Import using drop down menu to AAC encoder. Select the bit rate you fancy, have it as high as the highest bitrate MP3 file you want to convert so you a losing as little quality as possible. Hit OK and close out of that menu.

Then in your iTunes Library window select the tracks you want to convert, an easy way to do this is to press Apple+A or Control+A on your keyboard to select all. If you need to sort then right click the iTunes Kind column header to sort by type.

When you have them selected right click on one of the files and choose Convert Selection to AAC and, well, that’s it. Ta Da.

This won’t delete your MP3 files, you will get AAC files alongside your existing MP3 files. Later, if you are happy, you can delete your MP3 files and save some diskspace.

If you want to remove all your MP3s after converting to AAC:

Firstly make sure you really want to do this, it will save space on your hard disk but personally I would reccomend that you burn all your MP3s to CD/DVD before deleting them.

Open iTunes
Select Library
Right click on a column name (Bit Rate or Name for example)
Make sure Kind is ticked as this shows you the file types
Click on the Kind column title to sort the file types
Left click your first MP3, hold down shift, left click the last MP3 in the list
Press delete

18th July 2008: Updated for iTunes 7x.

Tags: Apple, art, creationrobot, free

Category: Apple · CreationRobot · IT

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70 responses so far ↓

1 satit dechapituck // May 11, 2005 at 12:55 AM
2 Tarkam // May 26, 2005 at 10:05 PM

Hey, Great Tip, I was searching for a software to do this and found a couple that started at US$ 29.99, while itunes does it for free. I wanted to encode to aac or mp4 to convert my downloaded podcasts to audiobooks so I could resume them on my ipod.

Thanks again for the tip!
3 Jackdaw // May 30, 2005 at 8:47 AM

Glad it helped!
4 egar // Dec 15, 2005 at 1:31 AM

I’ll try
5 TipMonkies » Blog Archive » Converting MP3 to AAC // Jan 26, 2006 at 4:06 PM

[...] [Via Creation Robot] [...]
6 Digital Life » Converting MP3 to AAC // Jan 31, 2006 at 2:42 PM

[...] [Via Creation Robot] [...]
7 Matt Diesel // Aug 2, 2006 at 7:06 PM

ok, so it’s converted all of my files, but the mp3’s are still in the library. how do i get rid of them without going and picking them out one by one and deleting them?
8 Jackdaw // Aug 3, 2006 at 6:46 AM

If you want to remove all your MP3 after converting to AAC:
Open iTunes
Select Library
Right click on a column name (Bit Rate or Name for example)
Make sure Kind is ticked as this shows you the file types
Click on the Kind column title to sort the file types
Left click your first MP3, hold down shift, left click the last MP3 in the list
Press delete

Hm, I’ll add this into the post above.
9 Jeremy // Aug 14, 2006 at 1:36 PM

You are a genius. Good man thanks!
10 dan // Aug 16, 2006 at 11:46 PM

your the man
11 Taoâ€™s Blog // Aug 26, 2006 at 8:01 PM

you can convert MP3 to AAC inside iTunes, but I find it slow and time-consuming. To convert MP3 tracks to AAC, go to Advance menu, choose â€œConvert to AACâ€ command. Of course, you must set AAC as the default encoding algorithm in the Preference. Here is a step-by-step instruction to convert MP3 to AAC in iTunes When you get an AAC file, you need to download and install an AppleScript to iTunes to render it bookmarkable. Here is the link. Make Bookmarkable v1.5 I tested it out, it works. However, I found the whole process very time-consuming, maybe it does
12 Novi // Sep 1, 2006 at 12:50 PM

hi i just did what you told me to convert to aac and thanks heaps it worked but when i used other songs it didnt work. it had said it was converting but it still ended up being an mp3 file can you help me?
13 Jackdaw // Sep 1, 2006 at 3:06 PM

Novi: You’re on your own I’m afraid, the above method works with any standard MP3 files. If the files are non standard, containing DRM or some other nasty, then they might not convert as iTunes will not be able to interpret the non standard code inside the MP3.

Try burning the tracks to a CD, then rip back from the CD to AAC, it should remove the nasties in your MP3 files and leave with nice clean AAC files.
14 shetoo // Sep 23, 2006 at 5:10 PM

i’ll try
15 kedar // Sep 24, 2006 at 7:21 PM

where is the software
16 Jackdaw // Sep 24, 2006 at 8:59 PM

http://www.itunes.com
17 narey // Oct 19, 2006 at 8:36 AM

I wass searchin 4 it..
18 hihi ihdi a // Nov 1, 2006 at 1:46 PM

Hey, Great Tip, I was searching for a software to do this and found a couple that started at US$ 29.99, while itunes does it for free. I wanted to encode to aac or mp4 to convert my downloaded podcasts to audiobooks
19 Taneka // Dec 9, 2006 at 2:15 AM

I’m glad I found this. My mother had bought my daughter an Ipod for x-mas and I thought I would only be able to use itunes..
20 mustangchick2006 // Dec 27, 2006 at 11:12 PM

THANKS so much! now i can use mp3’s on my cellphone as ringtones! you are a blessing man!
21 Dimolian // Dec 31, 2006 at 10:59 AM

Top tip mate cheers for that. I have shed loads of mp3 that I thought would be useless for my ipod as I don’t have the discs but that tip has saved the day!
22 Brian // Jan 27, 2007 at 8:11 AM

Thanks for the information. Great. You da man!
23 Max // Feb 6, 2007 at 5:28 AM

My itunes wont let me convert my MPEG files into AAC, what do I do, anyone?
24 Jim // Feb 8, 2007 at 7:13 AM

Have the same problem as MAX. Trying to make an audiobook that would display as such in ITUNES. Figured the second step would be to convert the mp3 files to aac but haven’t figured how to do this, let alone the last step of making the ITUNES/audiobooks entry.
25 Jackdaw // Feb 8, 2007 at 7:36 PM

Max - MPEG to AAC will not work. MP3 to AAC will.

Jim - Not the same problem as Max in the slightest. Follow the guide above. As for Audiobooks you need to look somewhere else, I don’t cover that here.
26 Arm // Feb 19, 2007 at 4:42 PM

Do files converted from mpeg to aac lose anything in the translation in terms of quality/sound?

Thanks.
27 ahryz // Mar 10, 2007 at 4:19 AM

thnks’ it help me a lot, but i have one more question, if i burn all my songs with the AAC format into a cd, it is possible to play also in cd player..??
28 MP3 -v- AAC - Mobile-Review.com Forums // Mar 20, 2007 at 9:19 AM

[...] Download iTunes, it will do the job instructions here http://www.creationrobot.com/?p=813 [...]
29 vishal // Mar 26, 2007 at 9:35 AM

hiiiii
30 HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - Come here if you own a Trace (t519) // Apr 1, 2007 at 7:33 PM

[...] would make the library a whole lot neater (for instructions on faster deleting of duplicates — http://www.creationrobot.com/?p=813) * go to music folder where newly encoded music is stored and copy and paste to phone card (thank [...]
31 sleazy70 // Apr 10, 2007 at 7:22 AM

thanks a lot buddy this saved me a lot of time……………
32 Profi // Apr 18, 2007 at 6:33 AM

Where to click to download this prog?
33 convert mp3 to aac - Eniro // Apr 21, 2007 at 12:50 AM

[...] Convert MP3 to AAC Easily and for Free [...]
34 Rolan23 // Apr 25, 2007 at 1:26 PM

I am trying to use AAC files as ringtones but once I convert the MP3 songs to AAC, I cannot find the files on my computer? The iTunes page will not ’see’ my Micro SD chip so I can drag and drop. How do I load these songs onto an SD chip to use as rigntones?
Thanks!
35 Convert mp3 to aac « Tech Help // May 3, 2007 at 11:22 AM

[...] Convert mp3 to aac 1.Â Â Â Â Â Open iTunes, select Preferences and click on Importing.2.Â Â Â Â Â Change the Import using drop down menu to AAC encoder. Select the bit rate you fancy, have it as high as the highest bitrate MP3 file you want to convert so you a losing as little quality as possible.3.Â Â Â Â Â Then in your iTunes Library window select the tracks you want to convert, press Apple+A or Control+A on your keyboard to select all or click the iTunes Kind column header to sort by type.4.Â Â Â Â Â When you have them selected press the Advanced menu, choose Convert Selection to AAC and, well, thatâ€™s it. Ta Da.This wonâ€™t delete your MP3 files, you will get AAC files alongside your existing MP3 files. Later, if you are happy, you can delete your MP3 files and save some diskspace.5.Â Â Â Â Â If you want to remove all your MP3s after converting to AAC:6.Â Â Â Â Â Firstly make sure you really want to do this, it will save space on your hard disk but personally I would reccomend that you burn all your MP3s to CD/DVD before deleting them.7.Â Â Â Â Â Open iTunes8.Â Â Â Â Â Select Library9.Â Â Â Â Â Right click on a column name (Bit Rate or Name for example)10.Â Make sure Kind is ticked as this shows you the file types11.Â Click on the Kind column title to sort the file types12.Â Left click your first MP3, hold down shift, left click the last MP3 in the list13.Â Press deletesource: creationrobot.com [...]
36 joe // May 15, 2007 at 5:03 PM

my little bro got a phone and a micro sd card, we can get the song to show up on the card but then it will tell us that there is an error. ive tried to do what u guys have been talkn about, but i cant get it to work. does anyone know how to get the music from itunes to actually play on the phone?
37 Converter???? - boards.ie // May 22, 2007 at 12:39 PM

[...] http://www.creationrobot.com/?p=813 [...]
38 Aac mp3 // Jun 5, 2007 at 5:52 AM

[...] sound as good as or better than a 160 kbit/s MP3 file. Because the bit rate is lower, the AAC …Convert MP3 to AAC Easily and for Free links from Technorati you can convert MP3 to AAC inside iTunes, but I find it slow and [...]
39 ipod 5g 30gb:not happy with the sound quality - iPod - iPhone - iTunes Forums at iLounge // Jun 13, 2007 at 2:37 PM

[...] this in your own topic, but to answer your questions: 1. To encode your MP3’s to AAC, take a look here. 2. If the MP3 and AAC files are compressed with the same exact bitrate, their file sizes should [...]
40 Danii // Jul 9, 2007 at 12:57 PM

Thankyou soooo much!
i needed my music in aac so i could put it on my sony mp3 player..
totally stupid cz i have all mp3. :D thankyouuuuu
41 Jon // Jul 10, 2007 at 7:22 PM

I converted the mp3 files to AAC. But i cant find the files to put them into my phone. I dont have an SD card or w/e just a USB adaptor. Anyone know what i do to put the AAC files on my phone using just a USB adaptor?
42 Noah9 // Aug 2, 2007 at 1:25 AM

WOW!!
Thank you very much Guyz..
This’s been the coolest article on AAC conversion..
Helped me a lot. Keep up the good work!!

Thanks again
Noah
43 Drew // Aug 3, 2007 at 8:42 PM

I have 192 kbps mp3 files in iTunes…will there be a loss/gain in quality if I convert them to 192 kbps AAC files? Thanks!
44 ITdoktor: Ekspert i iTunes - lydbøger - ITsvar.dk // Aug 13, 2007 at 8:48 AM

[...] 12-08-2007 21:46:51, mille03: Ekspert i iTunes - lydbøger 13-08-2007 13:56:08, ChrLaessoe (Bruger): brug32 Kbps AAC-arkiverdet ser ud til at være formatet jf:http://www.apple.com/dk/itunes/store/audiobooks.htmlkonvertering: http://www.creationrobot.com/?p=813 [...]
45 fifiward // Aug 16, 2007 at 2:40 AM

I find a free program, Any Audio Converter.It convert mp3 to aac easily. worth a try.
46 amrita // Aug 24, 2007 at 4:13 AM

yaaaah…..i too was searching for the same…lets seee if it works out….
47 mehdi // Aug 29, 2007 at 4:05 AM

TANKS
48 Fabrice // Sep 11, 2007 at 1:21 AM

merci bane grand pilon
49 apple » Blog Archive » Ringtonator, a GUI for the ringtone hack // Oct 11, 2007 at 7:11 AM

[...] One caveat– while this program doesn’t require a separate install of AtomicParsley, the application that makes the metadata edit possible, it does still require AAC encoding on the sound file– Joe says he might add in mp3 to AAC conversion at a later date, but he doesn’t really have to, as it’s easy enough to figure out how to do that. [...]
50 tony // Oct 22, 2007 at 11:40 AM

when I convert mp3 to aac it saves them as m4a & they will not play on a normal cd player. please help
51 George // Oct 29, 2007 at 8:41 AM

I really want to convert my aac files back into Mp3. itunes automatically converted them all, and I wish it hadn’t.

There’s no option within itunes to do so, and I was wondering if it was possible.
52 mohamed // Nov 29, 2007 at 11:02 AM

je recharche c’est programme de puis 6mios
je besion de la telechargement
53 Comment on Convert MP3 to AAC Easily and for Free by George // Dec 5, 2007 at 1:56 PM

[...] Autonomous Creativity Comment on Convert MP3 to AAC Easily and for Free by George I really want to convert my aac files back into Mp3. itunes automatically converted them all, and [...]
54 saskia // Dec 12, 2007 at 5:41 PM

Hey umm.. im trying to do the exact opposite of everyone else, is it possible to convert aac files into MPEG files??
55 saskia // Dec 12, 2007 at 5:49 PM

aac protected files that is
56 jivs // Dec 12, 2007 at 9:39 PM

thanks a lot dude
how could i ever repay u…????
57 brian // Dec 14, 2007 at 8:44 AM

thanks a lot i managed 2 convert ma foolish mp3 files
58 Jackdaw // Dec 19, 2007 at 8:31 AM

@50 - MP3 will not play on a normal CD player either. Burn the tracks using iTunes playlists.

@51 - iTunes does NOT auto convert files.

@54 - No, MPEG is a movie format. AAC to MP3 is easy through iTunes, just reverse the instructions above. If the files are protected burn them to a normal CD first, then rip back to MP3.
59 Jackdaw // Dec 19, 2007 at 8:43 AM

@ 43 - “I have 192 kbps mp3 files in iTunes…will there be a loss/gain in quality if I convert them to 192 kbps AAC files? Thanks!”

Some audiophiles argue that AAC is better (distorts less) than MP3. Personally I can’t tell the difference. You will lose a little on that conversion but I’m betting you won’t ever be able to tell unless you’re pitch perfect.
60 Menia // Dec 25, 2007 at 12:37 AM

Even though I converted the file from mp3 to m4a… it still does not “set as a tone” on my phone. Does the file extension have to acc for it to work?
61 Heebie Jeebies // Dec 26, 2007 at 10:05 AM

I have the same trouble as the previous comment… What does I needs to do!?
62 Heebie Jeebies // Dec 26, 2007 at 2:52 PM

Well technically what happened is that even though the M4A file I got off of iTune DOES in fact play on my cellphone, there’s a display message stating that it cannot be set as a ringtone, so anyone here got a clue as to what I should do?

P.S.: My phone service provider is Rogers if that helps
63 purnomo // Jan 18, 2008 at 5:08 PM

I haven’t found AAC converter yet???
where is software??
i want to download it!!!
thanks for your attention

From :
MA Hidayatus Syubban
Semarang-Indonesia
64 Zari // Feb 19, 2008 at 6:36 PM

I have a quick question - and i need a FAST answer please! Okay so I opened iTunes the I went to “Edit” then “preferences” .. and now i CANNOT find the “importing” thing! can you please tell me with more details what do I need to do if I want to convert mp3 to acc! and please write me all the steps …

Thanks in advance :)

Please contact me on sunny_horizon@abv.bg as soon as possible!!
65 Backlash // Mar 24, 2008 at 4:14 PM

Thanks Man Awsome Tip… I Was Looking For Software To Do This To Make Incoming Text Tones For My Phone And I Came Across Your Page And I’m Not Looking Nomore……….

Thanks!!
66 Godsmack // Mar 30, 2008 at 1:35 PM

Hi. I read all the instructions above, and guess what, I still cant get my own ringtone. I’ve tryed coverting mp3 to acc, and then changed .mp3 to .m4r (ringtone). So far everything is good, then I double click .m4r file and it opens in iTunes in section Library - Ringtones. Gr8, I finnaly get file to ringtones section, but - here it is, again, another problem. When I sync to my iPhone it gives me error; ” (filename) was not copied to the iPhone because it could not be found” . The one and the last thing thats on my way to create my own ringtone. So - did anyone had the same problem AND if someone found the solution? I would be really glad if someone’s got answer. Please, help.
67 Jackdaw // Apr 2, 2008 at 8:37 AM

This post is all about MP3 conversion, not getting ringtones working on your phone. You are on your own with that as no-one knows what your phone is capable of.
68 dwelle.org » How to make an iPhone ringtone from an MP3 // Apr 18, 2008 at 4:21 PM

[...] is based on the basic instructions that I found here and here. Posted by bowen @ 4:21 pm – Tags: iphone music Other blogs commenting on [...]
69 Danzie // May 16, 2008 at 3:17 AM

Thank u so much mate! Now it’s easy for me to create ringtone for my iphone..
70 binu // Jul 13, 2008 at 7:00 PM

hope very easy to conver thankyou so much