Compared with MP3, M4A is a less commonly used audio format but with better audio quality. It’s more known as a special audio container used by Apple to encode its iTunes music files and audiobooks, including the DRM-free and DRM-protected ones. Since M4A is not popularly supported by most common players or devices, it’s necessary to convert the M4A audio files to MP3 or other more widely used formats. Here we are just going to introduce the top 2 ways to convert the M4A (both DRM-ed and non-DRM audios) to MP3.
Part 1. Convert M4A to MP3 with iTunes for Free
If you prefer to a free solution to convert your M4A audios into MP3, then iTunes could be the best option to accomplish such a task. Now you can simply follow these steps to make your purchased iTunes M4A tracks available as MP3.
Note: This method only works with the M4A audio files without DRM protection. If the M4A files you are trying to convert are locked with Apple’s FairPlay DRM, you should turn to the second method as below.
Step 1. Open iTunes and navigate to Edit menu item and Preferences. Then click General tab and Import Settings.
Step 2. In the popup window, click Import Using, then select MP3 Encoder. You can then adjust the bit rate of the audio file based on your requirements. Then click OK button to apply the settings.
Step 3. Once you apply the Import settings, select the M4A audio file you wish to convert to MP3 in your iTunes library, then click on the File menus, then Convert, and then Create MP3 Version. iTunes will create and automatically place an MP3 version of the song directly beneath it.
Part 2. Convert DRM M4A Audio to MP3 with a More Professional Tool
This is a best solution for converting the DRM-ed iTunes M4A audios to MP3. To check whether your M4A files are protected or not, you can simply play those files on non-iTunes media players or devices. If they can’t play as expected, then they are probably locked by DRM. Apple’s DRM is well known as FairPlay. It’s a special encryption technology used to control the use of its iTunes media content. In result, all iTunes media including the M4A audio can only play well in iTunes compatible platforms. In order to unlock the DRM from those M4A files and convert them to MP3, you’ll need a more powerful M4A to MP3 converter, such as TunesKit DRM Audio Converter.
TunesKit DRM Audio Converter is a complete audio converting software specially designed for Mac and Windows users to convert DRM-ed as well as DRM-free M4A audios to unprotected MP3, M4A, FLAC, etc. Besides, you can also use this smart tool to convert Apple Music, Audible audiobooks, M4P, and other types of audios. It can keep the original ID3 tags and quality when converting M4A to MP3 for you.
Now you can follow the steps below to begin converting your M4A audio to MP3 with high quality at a super fast speed.
Step 1. Install and open the free trial version of TunesKit Audio Converter on your computer.
Step 2. Click “+” icon to load the M4A audio files to the converter. The first icon is for common audio file formats and the second one is for DRM-ed audios, such as the M4A from iTunes. You can also directly drag and drop the M4A files to TunesKit.
Step 3. Click Format option and select the output format as MP3 in the popup window. There you can also set the audio codec, bit rate, sample rate, etc.
Step 4. Start to convert M4A to MP3 by clicking Convert button. Wait until the conversion completes. Then you can locate and transfer the DRM-free MP3 files to any device for playing.
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