Turn MOV files into AIFF
Pull the sound out of your MOV and keep it as an AIFF, leaving the picture behind. AIFF is the usual choice for professional recording and mastering on macOS. Your file never leaves your computer.
How to convert MOV to AIFF
- 1 Drop your MOV .mov or .qt file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Choose the sound quality, or lift the existing track out untouched where that is possible.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the AIFF, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert MOV to AIFF
- You only want the sound: a lecture, an interview, a podcast that was filmed, or a track to listen to with the screen off.
- Exactly as recorded, identical in quality to a WAV.
- Holds track details better than a plain WAV.
- Logic Pro and Pro Tools session assets.
- MOV: windows and Android often need extra software, or a conversion.
MOV compared with AIFF
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | MOV | AIFF |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .mov | .aiff |
| Compression | Lossy or lossless | Uncompressed |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Typical file size | Depends on mode | Largest |
| Introduced | 1991 | 1988 |
| Standard | Proprietary | Open |
Quality and what changes
Whether anything is lost depends on the codec. If the track already matches the target, it can be copied out untouched and the audio is bit for bit what was in the MOV. Choosing a different codec means decoding and re-encoding, which is a second generation of lossy compression on top of whatever the video already applied. Encoding at 192 kbps or above keeps that second generation inaudible for most material.
- One AIFF limitation to keep in mind: no compression option in the common variant.
Questions about MOV to AIFF
Does extracting the audio re-encode it?
Only when the target codec differs from the one in the MOV. Where they match, the track is copied and the result is identical to the audio inside the video. Converting to a different codec means one extra generation of lossy compression.
Is my MOV file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your MOV is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as an AIFF. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several MOV files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate AIFF downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.