Is there? I always download files from my phone and its m4a’s. I am always obliged to turn these m4a’s to mp3’s in order to use them, and that takes 2x more space in my harddrive than it should, since i’m struggling with space in here. Audacity is a free audio editor software, it should accept more type of files for more accessibility.
If you just want to convert without editing I recommend a conversion program.
I’m on Windows and I’ve been using Kabuu Audio Converter. Once you’ve set-up your output format and location it’s just drag, drop, and click, and you can drag-in a folder-full of files and convert them at once.
You can open M4As (and many other formats) in Audacity after installing FFmpeg. (It’s not built-in for “complicated” llegal-licensing reasons.)
Sorry… What? Of course if you keep both files it will take about twice the space.
Otherwise the file size is determined by the bitrate (kbps). kbps is kilobits per second. There are 8-bits in a byte, so divide by 8 to get kilobytes per second. And then you can multiply by 60 to get kilobytes per minute. (This does not include any embedded album artwork which adds to file size without changing the audio bitrate.)
With lossy compression (MP3 or M4A, etc.) information is thrown away to make a smaller file so there is some relationship between bitrate and sound quality.
There is also some loss of quality when converting from one lossy format to another, or when re-compressing. You may not notice and quality loss and sometimes you have no choice but you should be aware of it.
since i’m struggling with space in here.
FYI - When you open the file in Audacity it gets decompressed to a temporary format that takes a HUGE amount of space.
I am struggling with 700-600 MEGABYTES on a harddrive that’s 221 GB.
Indeed. But I like to keep original files for, idk not safety reasons, but, importance, idfk.
There is a free special purpose editor for MP3 and M4A called mp3DirectCut that can do some limited editing without decompressing. It also requires an additional library for M4A files. (I don’t have much experience with it.)
Audacity will play m4a if you install FFmpeg …
I think that’s what my IMazing license does.
This was part of that business where I recorded my voice on the iPhone on my desk and with minimum effort, produced an audiobook-quality sound clip—proving it was possible.
Koz
Hi there,
Yes, Audacity can import M4A files, but it requires an extra step. You’ll need to install the FFmpeg library, which enables Audacity to read a wider range of audio formats, including M4A.
Here’s how to do it:
- Go to Edit > Preferences > Libraries in Audacity.
- Click Download next to FFmpeg.
- Follow the instructions to install FFmpeg for your system.
- Restart Audacity — you should now be able to import M4A files directly.
This will save you from converting to MP3 and help manage your disk space more efficiently.
Hope that helps!
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