“How can I convert AAX to M4A format? My device does not have permission to play Audible AAX audiobooks, so I would like to convert them to M4A format without losing any quality. Is it possible to make it happen? If so, any suggestions?”
No worries, the answer is absolutely yes. Although the AAX format of Audible audiobooks causes some troubles in that you can only play these audiobooks on specific devices and players, there are ways around that. Luckily, this guide will share the best methods to convert AAX to M4A with ease. Just read on to find the answer you are looking for.

Part 1. What’s the Difference between AAX and M4A
AAX files are actually encrypted M4B files where the audio will be encoded in AAC format of varying quality. Moreover, the AAX file extension is a data file format associated with Audible, which are basically multimedia digital audiobooks, and are also considered to be an enhanced format for AA files. More importantly, AAX format files are not compatible with most media players, which also means you can only play AAX audiobooks from Audible-supported devices.
In contrast, M4A stands for an audio file extension of MPEG 4, which is usually encoded with lossy compression of AAC codec. The presence of the M4A file extension brings significant advantages and people enjoy it as the preferred format for audiobooks since it is compressed while offering lossless quality. Besides, M4A audio files can be successfully accessed on well-known Windows and MacOS media players.
Part 2. How to Convert AAX to M4A on Windows/Mac - Best Way
Here is an excellent tool to assist you in converting Audible AAX audiobooks to M4A format. That’s AudFree Audible Converter, which not only converts Audible AAX files to M4A or other widely used formats, but also works with Apple Music, iTunes songs and common audio tracks.
Surprisingly, the converter is available for both Windows and Mac users. And you are permitted to cut large audiobooks into smaller segments by chapter or time period. Of course, Audible’s ID3 tags and chapter information will be well preserved in the M4A file, including title, artist, author, date, etc. With such an easy-to-use tool, you can always play Audible audiobooks on various M4A-compatiable devices, such as iPhone, iPad, Sony Walkman, etc.
AudFree Audible Converter
How to Convert AAX to M4A on Mac/Windows
- Step 1Import AAX Audiobooks to AudFree Auditior
- Start by launching and registering AudFree Auditior on your PC/Mac. After that, you can find the AAX audio file on your computer’s hard drive and drag it to the conversion window of AudFree Auditior. Alternatively, you can use the first Add button to import the files. Since this AAX to M4A converter also supports batch conversion, you can add multiple files at once for conversion. As a reminder, the second button is for adding common audio.
- Step 2Customize Audible Audiobook Output Format as M4A
- Just click the "Format" button and select the audiobooks output format to M4A. Meanwhile, you can also choose to define other audio properties such as codec, channel, sample rate, etc. By clicking the "Edit" icon, you will be directed to a new window where you can divide large audiobooks into small segments by chapters or fixed time intervals. Finally, if you want to save the output audiobooks in lossless quality, just check the "Keep lossless quality" option.
- Step 3Convert AAX Audiobooks to M4A
- Now, click the "Convert" button at the bottom right of the interface to let AudFree Auditior start saving Audible AAX to M4A files. Once the conversion is done, you can get the converted M4A audiobooks from your computer locally, thus you can freely transfer them to anywhere you like and listen to Audible offline without any restrictions.
Part 3. How to Convert Audible AAX Files to M4A - AudKit Audible AAX Converter
Besides this relatively superior converter above, AudKit Audible AAX Converter is also becoming the leading Audible audiobook converter that deserves your attention. It is dedicated to converting Audible AAX audiobooks to M4A, MP3, AAC, etc. at up to 100X speed, which is indeed very convenient and fast.
It is worth mentioning that it combines many powerful and professional features, including a built-in audiobook splitter, ID3 tag editor, lossless output quality, and much more. With such a great assistant, you have the privilege of having full control over Audible audiobooks. After the conversion of Audible books to M4A, you can transfer them directly to your favorite portable devices and players for unlimited playback.
Step 1. Download AudKit Audible AAX Converter on your computer. There are two ways to import Audible AAX audiobooks into AudKit Audible Converter for conversion. The simple way is to drag and drop audiobook files directly from your computer to the program’s conversion window. Or click the Add File button to select the AAX file you want to load.
Step 2. Once all Audible AAX books have been uploaded to AudKit Audible Converter, press the “Format” button in the lower left corner to launch the setup window. At this point, you can define the output format as M4A according to your needs. In this step, you can also customize other Audible parameters such as bit rate, sample rate, audio channels, etc.
Step 3. Click the Edit button and you will obviously find three sections. The Tags section allows you to customize ID3 tags with information such as year, title, etc. The Split section is for splitting large audiobooks into smaller segments, and in the Effects section you can adjust the volume, speed and pitch of the audiobook playback.
Step 4. Before starting the conversion process, please click the top menu bar and click Preferences > Convert to change the output pitch. After that, just press the Convert button at the bottom right center and this intelligent converter will download and convert AAX audiobooks to M4A files at up to 100X faster speed.
Part 4. FAQs About audible AAX and M4A
Q: What is Audible AAX?
A: The full spelling of AAX is Audible Enhanced Audiobook, which is a file extension designed by Audible. These files contain images, links, videos and timelines for digital audiobooks. At the same time, AAX files can be played by iTunes, Apple iPod, Microsoft Zune and Creative Zen. This implies that you can also open AAX format files with Apple iTunes in Microsoft Windows and Mac based operating systems.
Q: What’s the advantage of the M4A format?
A: In fact, M4A files are compressed in lossless quality, which means you can get smaller files and original quality. Besides, you can set M4A audio as iPhone ringtone directly by just renaming the file extension from M4A to M4R. Since M4A is an audio file without digital rights management protection, it makes the editing and transfer process much smoother.
Q: Is it legal to convert AAX to M4A?
A: As long as your conversion of these AAX audiobooks to M4A is for personal use only, such as transferring them on your media player for personal enjoyment, or burning them to CD for playback in your car, these practices are reasonable and legal.
Part 5. In Conclusion
All in all, this article presents two advanced ways to convert AAX to M4A, as well as specific instructions on how to operate the Audible AAX to M4A converter. So don’t hesitate to take action and enjoy Audible audiobooks on all devices that can recognize M4A files without any hassle.
May 19, 2022 11:00 AM
Posted by Ivan Scott to Audiobook