Audacity Forum

I tried to import an m4a (AAC) file into Audacity a few minutes ago. But no joy.

I downloaded a converter program (Free Mp3 Wma Converter - Lite Edition 1.6) and it seems to do the job just fine, but I was wondering what in the way of sound quality is sacrificed when converting files in this way?

Pete

It depends entirely on what you converted them to and how the AAC was made. If you converted to 48000/16bit WAV then there is no further damage, and there was minimal damage on the AAC -> PCM step.

If whoever made the AAC file did a good job, then you win.

If the AAC creator did a sloppy job and you converted to MP3, then you lose. I would bet there is significant damager to the sound.

Both MP3 and AAC are slider-based, lossy compressors and both create damage when they work. Fast--Bad Quality--Small Files on one side of the export slider and Slow--Very Good Quality--Big Files on the other. Pick your setting(s).

Koz