MPG to AAC Converter

How to Convert MPG to AAC Online

1. Upload Your MPG File: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select .mpg or .mpeg video files. DVD rips, VCD archives, TV captures, HDV camcorder exports, and old encoder outputs all work. Batch is supported — extract audio from a whole season of recordings in one pass.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: Default is Very High (Recommended). Choose Highest for music masters, High for general listening, Medium or Low for speech/podcast use, or set a Constant Bitrate / Variable Bitrate manually (16-320 kbps). For iTunes-grade audio, 256 kbps stereo matches what Apple sells on the iTunes Store.
3. Set Audio Channel, Sample Rate, and Trim (Optional): Leave Audio Channel on Original to preserve the source layout, or downmix to Mono for speech. Audio Sample Rate accepts Original, 8000 / 12000 / 16000 / 24000 / 44100 / 48000 Hz — match the source (DVD audio is usually 48 kHz) to avoid resampling artifacts. Use Trim with start time + duration in seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss to pull just one scene's audio.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files process in your browser session and download individually or as a ZIP — no sign-up, no watermark.

Why Convert MPG to AAC?

MPG (the MPEG program stream container, .mpg / .mpeg) was the dominant video format from the mid-1990s through the DVD era. It packages MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video with an audio track that is almost always MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (MP2) — a 1991-vintage codec that predates MP3 — or, on DVD-Video, AC-3 (Dolby Digital). AAC (Advanced Audio Coding, MPEG-4 Part 3, standardized 1997) is the modern successor: roughly twice as efficient as MP2 at equivalent quality and natively supported across iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple Music, YouTube, PlayStation, and the Nintendo Switch lineage.

• Move audio onto Apple devices — iTunes / Apple Music store songs as 256 kbps AAC. AAC drops straight into a library; MP2 from a DVD rip does not, and the iTunes Store has never sold MP2.
• DVD soundtrack extraction — Pull a film score, commentary track, or live concert audio from a DVD rip stored as .mpg / .vob and listen on the go. AAC at 192 kbps stays under most podcast-app upload caps.
• TV and broadcast captures — DVB and DAB broadcasts, PAL DVD authoring, and HDV camcorder tape rips ship MP2 audio. AAC is more compatible with web players, mobile apps, and modern editing software.
• Smaller files for speech archives — A 90-minute MPG lecture / sermon / podcast holds video you may not need. Extracting AAC at 96 kbps mono drops the file to roughly 65 MB — small enough for Gmail's 25 MB attachment cap if trimmed, or any podcast host.
• Editing and distribution — Logic Pro, GarageBand, Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve, and most DAWs prefer AAC over MP2 for ingestion. Streaming platforms (SoundCloud, Spotify uploads, podcast feeds) expect AAC or MP3, not raw MP2.
• Legacy archive future-proofing — MPG with MP2 audio still plays today, but device support is shrinking. AAC is the current MPEG audio standard and is unlikely to be deprecated for decades.

MPG Audio (MP2) vs AAC — Format Comparison

AAC Bitrate Choice

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the audio inside my MPG file MP2 instead of MP3?

MP2 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer II) was finalized in 1993 — before MP3 was widely deployed — and became the default audio codec for the MPEG program stream that .mpg files use. MP2 also became standard for PAL DVD-Video, DVB digital television broadcasts, DAB radio, and HDV camcorders, so most .mpg files captured from those sources carry MP2. DVD-Video discs additionally use AC-3 (Dolby Digital). XConvert detects whichever codec is inside and re-encodes to AAC.

What bitrate should I pick for music versus speech?

For music: 192 kbps AAC is hi-fi transparent for most listeners; 256 kbps matches what Apple Music and the iTunes Store sell; 128 kbps is the typical "transparent enough" floor. For speech (lectures, sermons, podcast guests, broadcast dialogue): 96 kbps stereo or 64 kbps mono is plenty — the human voice has a narrow frequency range that AAC compresses very efficiently.

Will the AAC file play on my iPhone, iPad, or in Apple Music?

Yes. AAC is Apple's native audio codec — iTunes / Apple Music, the iTunes Store, every iPhone since the original, every iPad, and every Mac with iTunes / Music app handle it without conversion. Drop the .aac (or its .m4a sibling) into the Music app, AirDrop it across, or attach it in Mail. There's no transcoding step at the device.

Can I extract audio from a DVD-Video VOB file the same way?

VOB is the file extension DVDs use, but underneath it is an MPEG-2 program stream — the same container family as .mpg. Rename your .vob to .mpg (or upload as-is, depending on your tool) and the converter will read it. DVD audio is usually AC-3 stereo or 5.1; this converter decodes the AC-3 and downmixes to AAC stereo or mono per your channel choice. For multi-track DVD rips, the primary audio track is extracted by default.

Will the AAC file be smaller than the original MPG?

Substantially smaller, because AAC keeps only the audio. A 30-minute MPG with 480p video is often 200-400 MB. Extracting AAC at 128 kbps yields about 28 MB — typically a 90% reduction. The exact ratio depends on the original video bitrate and your AAC bitrate choice.

Should I match the source sample rate or set 44.1 kHz?

Match the source when known — DVD-Video and broadcast MP2 audio is almost always 48 kHz, while audio CDs and music masters are 44.1 kHz. Setting the output to "Original" preserves whatever the source uses and avoids the small quality cost of resampling. Pick 44.1 kHz only if your destination workflow (e.g., a CD-burning tool) explicitly requires it.

Can I trim to extract just one scene's audio?

Yes. Set a start time and a duration in the Trim section — both accept seconds (e.g., 75.5) or HH:MM:SS.sss (00:01:15.500). Only the audio inside that window is decoded and re-encoded to AAC, which is faster and produces a much smaller file than processing the whole video. Useful for pulling a single song out of a concert recording or one quote from a long lecture.

What's the difference between .aac and .m4a, and which do I get?

.aac is a raw AAC audio bitstream (ADTS framing). .m4a is AAC packaged inside an MP4 container, which adds metadata fields (artist, title, album art) and chapter support. iTunes, Apple Music, and most media players prefer .m4a. This page outputs .aac; if you need an .m4a wrapper for iTunes metadata, use MPG to M4A instead.

Is the converter free, and are there file size limits?

Files are processed in your browser session, not uploaded to a server, so there is no per-file size cap imposed by the upload pipeline — practical limits depend on your device's RAM. There are no watermarks, no sign-up, and no email required. For related conversions see MPG to MP3 (universal MP3 output), MPG to WAV (uncompressed PCM), or Audio Cutter for trimming an existing AAC file.