ALAC vs AIFF - Convert Apple Music to AIFF for Editing

"Which lossless format is better, ALAC or AIFF? I have downloaded many Apple Music songs on my iTunes library and want to convert them for editing on my Mac with the Final Cut Pro. What is the best way to do that?"

ALAC means Apple Lossless and AIFF means Audio Interchange File Format. Both are non-lossy formats developed for using on Macintosh computers. It is difficult to find out the quality difference when you play the files with these formats. The main difference is that AIFF requires less processing power on editing software. To make it more smooth to edit your project, we'd suggest you convert Apple Music M4P to AIFF. Following is the best solution.

View also: How to Convert Apple Music M4P to AIFF

• Part 1. How to Convert iTunes Songs to AIFF Directly
• Part 2. How to Make Apple Music Editable by Removing DRM
• Part 3. More Details: AIFF vs ALAC

Part 1. How to Convert Music to AIFF with iTunes

iTunes is an all-in-one tool for buying, managing and converting media files. If you have already saved your music on iTunes offline, you can try to convert them with iTunes directly.

Step 1. Launch iTunes, click the top menu "Edit" and select "Preferences" to open the settings window.

Step 2. On the general tab of the settings window, click "Settings" > "Import Settings".

Step 3. Choose "AIFF Encoder" for the "Import Using" option and click "OK" to confirm.

Step 4. Go back to iTunes main window, select the files you want to convert and click "File" menu > "Convert" > "Create AIFF Version". With a quick while, your DRM music will be converted to AIFF files.

Step 5. After converting, you will see a new copy of your original files with the AIFF format. You can delete your original music files.

Part 2. Solve the Problem That Apple Music Can't Be Converted

"I have converted a few tracks to AIFF perfectly in iTunes but some can't be converted with the error that they can't be converted because they are protected. I have no idea what it means."

iTunes has abandoned the FairPlay DRM protection for the purchased songs since 2009. Regarding to this case, some of your songs maybe purchased prior to 2009 or you didn't buy them yet but just subscribe to the Apple Music subscription. This membership only allows you to streaming music online.

So is it the only way to repurchase the songs again for converting and editing? That would be a lot of money and honestly I can't afford them. Unless you are made of money, I don't recommend you to buy the songs or albums.

Here you can use a secret tool DRM Apple Music Converter for Mac from DRmare to remove DRM protection so that to make Apple Music convertible and editable. It is totally legal to use as long as you use it for personal. But please don't try to sell the converted songs online.

DRmare M4P to AIFF Converter

• It is not only easy to use but also with high efficiency which will save you a lot of time
• Convert both DRM and DRM-free music to lossless files such as WAV and FLAC
• 100% lossless quality, keep ID3 tags, metadata, Album, author, title, artist, year
• Lifetime free update, works with all versions of iTunes and systems

Download Download

The trial version is totally free with the limitation to convert1/3 of your songs. That is good enough for you to find out how does it work.

Step 1Start DRmare Apple Music Converter

After installing, you just need to click the software shortcut icon on the desktop to launch it. It is based iTunes to work, so you will see iTunes being opened simultaneously too.

Step 2Import the music you want

The most intuitive way is to drag & drop the tracks or albums from the iTunes library to the DRmare main screen. Note: Please make sure the songs are downloaded on the iTunes completely and authorized to play well, else they may not be imported.

Step 3Choose an output format

DRmare supports the lossless formats WAV and FLAC as well as other lossy formats MP3, M4A, M4B, AAC. Here I'd suggest you to choose "FLAC" or "WAV". If doesn't has an "AIFF" format yet, but you are easy enough to convert them to "AIFF" format with iTunes by following the solution we have mentioned above after removing DRM.

Step 4Remove DRM and convert Apple Music

Now please just click "Convert" to export M4P music files to lossless format files. In this case, you will not only make them editable, but also help to retain 100% original quality.

Part 3. The Detailed Difference between ALAC and AIFF

Still not sure about the details of AIFF vs ALAC? Let me quickly explain them for you.

Compression rate and file size

Though both are lossless formats, ALAC is compressed while AIFF is not. As a result, for a same file, ALAC will have a significantly smaller size and you will need a larger drive for saving AIFF files. But since computers are with huge space nowadays , it won't be a problem.

Compatibility

Because there is not compression, AIFF doesn't require to be uncompressed the files during playback or editing. As a result, AIFF runs much smoothly than ALAC. Another advantage of AIFF is that it can keep the ID3 tags, metadata better. That is why it is recommended to convert M4P songs to AIFF for editing.

That is it. Do you have any questions about Apple Music? Please don't hesitate to let's know from the comment window below, we will do our best to help you.