HOW TO - Convert Between CD / AIFF / WAV / MP3 / AAC File Formats

Among the thousands of free tools, two most well known software tools are Any Video Converter and Total Media Converter.

However, when it comes to quality product, with guaranteed quality and stability, iTunes is always my choice. Many people may not know that iTunes is capable of converting CD / AIFF / WAV audio files to MP3 or AAC formats, and vice vera.

Third-party tools may post security concerns. Quality is also not guaranteed. In comparison, iTunes is safer, more reliable, yet free.

To choose the destination format settings you want, do this:

1. Go to "Edit", "Preferences..."*, press the "Import Settings" button
2. On the "Input Settings" field, choose the output format you want
3. On the "Settings" field, choose the quality, number of channels, etc. Example, when output to MP3 format, you may choose "Custom..." to get more setting options
4. "Ok" to confirm

*On Mac, the menu location is a bit different; this example is based on the Windows version

To convert an audio file, do this:

1. Drag your audio / music files to iTunes
2. Right click on the file item, you will see the option e.g. "Convert AAC Version" or "Convert MP3 Version". Select it.
3. The progress bar now moves, showing you the conversion progress. Right click on the table title bar and check and show more fields like "Kind", "Bit Rate", "Sample Rate", etc. to give you more information on identifying which item is which format

To copy the converted file to a folder:

1. Open a Windows Explorer window
2. Drag the converted files to back to the folder in the Windows Explorer window