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Audio Format

AIFF

Audio Interchange File Format

AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) is Apple's uncompressed lossless audio format — the macOS equivalent of WAV. It stores CD-quality and higher audio without any compression, making it the format of choice for professional music production, podcasting, and audio mastering. Logic Pro, GarageBand, Final Cut Pro, and Pro Tools all work natively with AIFF. For sharing or streaming, convert AIFF to MP3 or AAC.

What is AIFF?

AIFF was developed by Apple Computer in 1988, based on Electronic Arts' Interchange File Format (IFF) — a general-purpose container format used across many media types in the 1980s. Apple adapted IFF for audio, and AIFF became the native audio format for the Macintosh platform throughout the 1990s and 2000s. AIFF stores audio as uncompressed PCM (Pulse-Code Modulation) data — the same raw digital representation used on audio CDs (44.1 kHz, 16-bit). Unlike MP3, AAC, or WMA, there is no compression algorithm discarding data: every sample is preserved exactly as recorded. This makes AIFF inherently lossless — playing an AIFF file back produces a bit-perfect copy of the original digital audio. A standard AIFF file uses big-endian byte order for its PCM data — a legacy of the Motorola 68000 processor used in early Macs. This is the main technical difference from WAV, which uses little-endian byte order (the Intel x86 convention). In practice, this difference is invisible to users — all modern audio software handles both transparently — but it explains why the formats are macOS-native (AIFF) vs Windows-native (WAV) even though they store identical audio data. AIFF supports up to 32-bit/192 kHz audio — well above CD quality (16-bit/44.1 kHz) and standard studio quality (24-bit/96 kHz). Professional audio interfaces, studio microphone systems, and high-resolution audio players all work with AIFF at these specifications. Apple Logic Pro, one of the most widely used DAWs for music production, exports stems and masters to AIFF by default. AIFF-C (also called AIFC) is a compressed variant of AIFF — it can store data compressed with various codecs including Apple's own MACE compression (4:1 and 6:1), µ-Law, and A-Law. AIFC files sometimes use the .aiff or .aifc extension. The compressed AIFC variants are rarely encountered today. File sizes: a 3-minute stereo AIFF at CD quality (44.1 kHz, 16-bit) is approximately 31 MB — the same as WAV. At 24-bit/96 kHz (professional studio quality), the same 3-minute track is approximately 100 MB. At MP3 192 kbps, the equivalent is only 4.3 MB — which is why AIFF is used for production (where quality is everything) but not for distribution (where file size matters). Compatibility: macOS and iOS play AIFF natively without any additional software. Windows can play AIFF with Windows Media Player (with codec), iTunes for Windows, or VLC. Most professional DAWs on both Mac and Windows support AIFF. Consumer devices (car stereos, Bluetooth speakers, MP3 players) usually don't support AIFF.

AIFF pros and cons

Advantages

  • Lossless and uncompressed — bit-perfect audio with no quality degradation
  • Native macOS and iOS support — plays in Finder preview, iTunes, GarageBand, Logic Pro
  • Supports up to 32-bit/192 kHz — well above CD and studio quality specifications
  • Used by all professional DAWs — Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Final Cut Pro
  • Stores metadata tags — album, artist, track info embedded in the file

Limitations

  • Very large files — a 3-minute song is 30–50 MB vs 4–8 MB for MP3
  • No native Windows support without QuickTime, iTunes, or VLC
  • Car stereos, Bluetooth speakers, and most consumer hardware don't play AIFF
  • Impractical for streaming or sharing without converting to a compressed format
  • Big-endian byte order makes raw editing slightly less convenient on Windows/Linux

When should you convert AIFF files?

Keep AIFF for production, mixing, and archiving — any workflow where audio quality is non-negotiable. Convert AIFF to MP3 when you need to share, email, upload to Spotify/Apple Music distribution platforms, or play on a car stereo or Bluetooth speaker. Convert AIFF to WAV when collaborating with Windows-based producers whose software works better with WAV. Convert AIFF to AAC (M4A) for Apple device distribution — AAC is smaller than MP3 at the same quality and is native to every Apple device.

Convert AIFF files

AIFF→MP3
AIFF→WAV

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AIFF FAQ

What's the difference between AIFF and WAV?
AIFF and WAV are technically equivalent — both store uncompressed PCM audio, both are lossless, and at the same sample rate and bit depth they produce identical file sizes and identical audio quality. The differences are convention and byte order: AIFF is macOS-native (big-endian PCM, developed by Apple in 1988), WAV is Windows-native (little-endian PCM, developed by Microsoft and IBM in 1991). Professional DAWs on both platforms support both formats. Logic Pro defaults to AIFF; Pro Tools and most Windows DAWs default to WAV. For collaboration between Mac and Windows users, WAV tends to cause fewer compatibility issues with Windows-only tools.
Is AIFF the same as AIFF-C or AIFC?
AIFF and AIFF-C are related but distinct. Standard AIFF stores uncompressed PCM audio — lossless with no compression. AIFF-C (also called AIFC) is an extension of AIFF that can store compressed audio using various codecs: Apple MACE (a low-quality 1990s codec), µ-Law, A-Law, and others. AIFF-C files sometimes use the .aiff extension, which can cause confusion. Modern AIFF files (from Logic, GarageBand, or any current DAW) are almost always uncompressed AIFF, not AIFF-C. If a file claims to be AIFF but plays at unexpectedly low quality, it might be AIFF-C with MACE compression.
Can I convert AIFF to MP3 without quality loss?
Converting AIFF (lossless) to MP3 (lossy) involves compression — some audio data is discarded to reduce file size. However, at 192 kbps or higher, the compression is designed to discard only data that human hearing can't detect, and the output sounds identical to the original to virtually all listeners. At 320 kbps (the highest standard MP3 bitrate), the quality loss is essentially imperceptible. The trade-off is irreversibility: you can't recover the original quality from the MP3. Always keep the AIFF as your master file and convert to MP3 for distribution.
Why does Logic Pro use AIFF instead of WAV?
Logic Pro was developed on Mac, which historically used AIFF as its native audio format (predating the cross-platform shift). Apple's audio frameworks (Core Audio) support both AIFF and WAV equally, but Logic Pro defaults to AIFF for historical and consistency reasons. The choice has no audible consequence — a 24-bit/48 kHz AIFF and a 24-bit/48 kHz WAV are bit-for-bit identical audio data in different containers. Logic Pro exports to both AIFF and WAV when sharing stems with collaborators on Windows.

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