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.aac

Low risk

Advanced Audio Coding

MP3's successor — higher audio quality at the same bitrate, and the default codec on YouTube, iTunes Store, and digital broadcasting.

MIME types

  • audio/aac

Category

audio

Aliases

.m4a

What opens this file

  • iTunes / Music.app
  • VLC
  • foobar2000
  • Windows Media Player

How to open by OS

Windows

  • Media Player, VLC.

Mac

  • Music.app, QuickTime Player.

Linux

  • VLC, Audacious.

Ios

  • Music.

Android

  • Virtually every music app.

Safety notes

  • Past Core Audio AAC parser CVEs have affected iOS and macOS. Keep OSes up to date.

Common mistakes

  • .aac and .m4a carry similar content, but .m4a (AAC-in-MP4) has broader player support. Prefer .m4a for distribution.
  • Below 64 kbps the codec gets hissy. Aim for 128 kbps and above for music.

Related extensions

References