AAC to WMA Converter

AAC vs WMA — Which Should You Convert To?

Almost everyone who lands here has one of two problems: a device whose spec sheet lists WMA but not AAC, or a Windows-era library that expects .wma. The short answer is that WMA is worth targeting only when a specific player demands it. Both formats are lossy, so re-encoding AAC to WMA stacks a second generation of loss on top of the first, and AAC is the better-supported codec on nearly everything made this decade. If you need broad compatibility rather than WMA specifically, AAC to MP3 reaches more hardware. Files here are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public.

Side-by-side Comparison

When Converting AAC to WMA Makes Sense

• A car head unit, portable player, or embedded device whose documentation lists WMA support but not AAC.
• A legacy Windows workflow, kiosk, or automation script that was built around ASF/WMA input and cannot be changed.
• Matching an existing .wma library so that one folder plays end to end without format switching.
• Software with a hard-coded WMA import path — some older transcription, dictation, and telephony tools qualify.

When to Stay on AAC

• You are targeting an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Android device — none of them play WMA without extra software.
• The file is destined for the web, a podcast host, or a video editor; AAC is the safe default in all three.
• You care about fidelity. Every lossy-to-lossy transcode discards a little more, and this one buys you nothing back.
• You only wanted "something that plays everywhere" — MP3 does that job with less risk than WMA.

How to Convert AAC to WMA

1. Upload Your AAC File: Drag and drop your .aac file onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to browse. Multiple files can be queued and converted with the same settings.
2. Choose the Bitrate: Under Advanced Options, File Compression gives you Quality Preset (Highest through Lowest, with Very High marked Recommended), Constant Bitrate from a fixed list, Custom Bitrate in kbps, or Variable Bitrate ranges tuned for WMA such as 96k-128k and 128k-160k.
3. Pick the WMA Codec Version and Channels (Optional): Expand Show All Options to switch Audio Codec between WMA v2 and WMA v1, and use Audio Channel, Audio Sample Rate, and Trim under Advanced Options to downmix, resample, or clip the output.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and save the .wma file. No sign-up, no watermark.

WMA Encoder Options on This Page

Frequently Asked Questions

Will converting AAC to WMA reduce the audio quality?

Yes, a little. The encoder decodes your AAC back to audio, then compresses it again with a different lossy codec — and neither pass can restore what the other removed. Setting the WMA bitrate at or above the source AAC's rate keeps the added loss small, but the result is never identical to the source. Nothing about this conversion improves fidelity; its only payoff is playing on hardware that refuses AAC.

Does Windows Media Player actually need WMA files?

No, and this trips up a lot of people. Microsoft's own list of file types supported by Windows Media Player includes .aac, .adt, and .adts alongside .wma, so a plain AAC stream normally plays without any conversion. What Windows Media Player does not play out of the box is the .mp4 container, so if your "AAC" file is really an .m4a, the fix is a container change rather than a WMA re-encode. Convert to WMA when a separate device demands it, not for Windows Media Player itself.

What is the difference between the WMA v1 and WMA v2 codec options?

WMA v2 is the refinement of Microsoft's original 1999 codec and gives better quality per bit; it is what virtually every WMA-capable player, car stereo, and Windows install expects, and it is what we write by default. WMA v1 exists for a narrow band of very old hardware and software that predates v2 or was tested only against it. If you have no specific reason to pick v1, do not.

Will a 5.1 or multichannel AAC file stay surround as WMA?

No. WMA Standard — the codec family behind both the v1 and v2 options here — tops out at two channels and a 48 kHz sample rate. Microsoft's multichannel and high-resolution variants, WMA Pro and WMA Lossless, are separate codecs that this page does not produce. A surround AAC source is folded down to stereo on the way out, so if you need to keep discrete channels, convert to a format that carries them, such as AAC to FLAC.

What bitrate should I pick for the WMA output?

Match the source. If your AAC sits around 128 kbps, encoding WMA at 128 kbps or a 128k-160k variable range keeps the second generation of loss modest; dropping well below the source rate is where artefacts become audible on cymbals, applause, and speech sibilance. Going far above the source mostly wastes bytes — by arithmetic, three minutes at 128 kbps is about 2.9 MB, and doubling the bitrate doubles that without adding detail the AAC still contained.

Do my title, artist, and album tags carry over to WMA?

Common fields usually survive. AAC files carry metadata in ID3 or MPEG-4 atoms, while WMA stores it in ASF header objects, and the standard trio of title, artist, and album maps cleanly between the two. Less common fields — custom comments, multi-value credits, some album art variants — do not always map, so check the tags in your target player and re-enter anything that matters before you rely on the library view.

Can WMA files made here play on an iPhone or Android phone?

Not without help. WMA has no native decoder on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or Android; playback there depends on a third-party app such as VLC. That is the core reason this conversion is worth doing only for a specific WMA-only device. If phones are part of your audience, keep the AAC or use AAC to MP3 instead.

Can I go back from WMA to a modern format later?

Yes, though you will be on your third lossy generation, which is audible on critical material. WMA to MP3 is the usual escape route for a legacy library, and it works fine for spoken word and casual listening. For anything you care about, re-encode from the original AAC — or better, from a lossless master if one still exists — rather than from the WMA you just made.