7 Best MP3 Converter for Mac [2023]

It can say that MP3 is the most widely used audio format. Although it's not as high quality as the lossless formats like WAV and FLAC, it takes much smaller space on the storage and can offer a good experience for most people while listening to music. Most importantly, it's supported in the widest range of software, platforms, and devices.

Therefore, there must be a time when you want to convert the audio, video, or DVD to an MP3 file. For the reason that Mac is a relatively closed system for desktop software, you may find it hard to find the exact MP3 converting tool which meets all your needs.

Also, some freeware can already do well in MP3 converting while some payware may be better to satisfy your specific needs, and it usually takes time and efforts to distinguish and choose the one you need.

So, to help more easily find the best MP3 converter for you, here we have listed and reviewed 7 best MP3 converter for Mac.

1. VLC Media Player – Simple and Free Way to Convert Multiple Files to MP3

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.

Price: Free

As VLC is well-known as a cross-platform multimedia player that supports playing a huge variety of audio and video formats, it's likely that many of you have already got it on your Mac. It's open-source software that can be one of the best solutions to play not only the common media file formats but also the unpopular or unsupported ones on your Mac, including MPEG (ES, PS, TS, PVA, MP3), AVI, ASF/WMV/WMA, MP4 / MOV / 3GP, WAV, FLAC, FLV, and much more.

Actually, besides being a useful media player, it's also a convenient MP3 converting program. If you have got VLC on your Mac, you can find the converting feature under VLC media player > Convert & Stream at the top menu. Import a local media file, choose the MP3 profile to convert to, customize the quality, and select a destination, you can easily get your video or audio converted to MP3.

For those who just want to make simple conversions, VLC is an unmissable choice.

2. iTunes / Apple Music – The Official MP3 Converting Tool Without Extra Downloading

Platform: Mac, Windows

Price: Free

As iTunes or Apple Music is usually familiar to you when you want to purchase and listen to songs from Apple, you might neglect that either of them contains some useful features like converting your songs to other formats. Actually, they can be used as an MP3 converter when you have AAC, AIFF, WAV, or other Apple-supported audio formats imported into the program.

The advantage is that you basically have no need to download another software for an MP3 conversion; however, the tool can only support limited audio file types and the files should be local.

From macOS Catalina 10.15, instead of iTunes preinstalled on your old macOS, you will see your songs appeared in Apple Music. But luckily, the way that you convert your songs to MP3 on Mac is still similar. In order to convert the audio to MP3, you first need to set up the import settings. Go to Music > Preferences > Files > Import Settings in Apple Music, while you have to select Edit > Preference > General > Import Settings in iTunes.

After that, just click File > Convert, you can easily create an MP3 version for any audio.

3. Online Audio Converter – Best Tool for Converting Small-Size Files to MP3

Platform: All

Price: Free

When you don't prefer to download a new program, but the preinstalled tools cannot fulfill the conversion job, Online Audio Converter is a great option for you. As its name indicates, it does not ask you to get the software and all the settings and conversion can be finished online. It's pretty convenient, although this also requires you to have a stable network and a relatively small file to convert, or the conversion may take hours or fail.

Another advantage of this online MP3 converter is that apart from uploading files from Mac, you can also directly choose from Google Drive, Dropbox, or an URL (though some may fail to recognize it). The files can be converted to multiple outputs when you can customize the details and ID3 tags. The interface is also clean and straightforward, so you can know how to use it immediately.

4. TuneFab MP3 Converters – Save Different Streaming Music as Local MP3 Files

Platform: Mac, Windows

Price: Free trial available, then go for a subscription at $14.95/month, $49.95/year, $79.95/lifetime

If you use the streaming music service and want to get an MP3 format of it to listen to the songs regardless of time and place, you may find many of the converting tools cannot satisfy your need. Since the songs from Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. are usually DRM protected, even though you have got a premium and are able to download them, you cannot leave the platform to listen. And TuneFab MP3 converter suite are the best choices to overcome the difficulty.

There are 3 types of products in the TuneFab MP3 converter series, for instance, iTunes Audio Converter (for Apple Music), TuneFab Music Converter (for Spotify songs), and the newly-released Amazon Music Converter. All of them share the main feature that is to remove the DRM from the songs and enable you to get the music in almost lossless quality to enjoy anytime and anywhere.

Although all of them are desktop software that you need to download, the conversion is usually quick and stable (up to 10X speed). They also support multiple output formats like MP3, M4A, AIFF, and more, and also preserve the original quality.

For the Apple Music converter, it can directly recognize your songs from Apple Music or iTunes, and you can simply select the playlists or albums to convert. In terms of the Spotify Music converter, it even doesn't require you to get the Spotify app, you can just launch the program and log in to your Spotify account on Web, it will help you to effortlessly convert the songs on your account.

5. FonePaw Video Convereter Ultimate – Powerful Converter Which Not Limits to MP3 Converting

Platform: Mac, Windows

Price: $35.96 (one-year single plan), $48.96 (lifetime single plan), $80.47 (lifetime family plan)

If you are seeking an all-in-one tool for audio and video converting and editing, FonePaw Video Converter Ultimate is one of the best options. As for converting, it supports you to convert almost any format to MP3, and can also help you convert audio and videos to the most proper formats for different devices and platforms. Furthermore, it's useful as an editing tool, no matter you want to clip or merge the audio/video, or want to change the quality, metadata, resolution, and something else, you can easily find the corresponding feature in this tool.

Even if it includes a lot of practical features, it's still a lightweight program. Also, when you use the tool to convert or edit files, it's usually stable and easy. As the software applies hardware acceleration, it can convert your files at 6X speed at most.

6. Wondershare Uniconverter – One-Stop Program for MP3 Downloading and Converting

Platform: Mac, Windows

Price: $39.99 (one-year single plan), $55.99 (two-year single plan), $79.99 (lifetime single plan), $161.98 (lifetime business plan)

Wondershare Uniconverter is a one-stop video / audio downloading, converting, and playing tool that you can make full use of. You may not be satisfied enough with just converting files to MP3, but also want the program to be able to download files from other sites. And this tool is for you to do the job. It allows you to download videos or audio from most of the common sites, for example, YouTube, and straightly convert it to the format you want.

The features in the Toolbox such as Auto Reframe, Smart Trimmer, Intro & Outro are helpful when you want to edit a video. In terms of video editing, it also supports noise cancellation, voice strengthening, and stereo sound. If you prefer to save the output files in Cloud rather than your Mac, you can also upload them directly to your Cloud. Overall, it's a comprehensive video/audio converting and editing tool.

7. Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate – All-in-One Solution for Audio / Video Converting, Downloading, and Ripping

Platform: Mac, Windows

Price: $39.95 (one-year single plan), $49.95 (lifetime single plan), $69.95 or more (lifetime business plan)

Aimersoftware Video Converter Ultimate is a versatile converting tool that can help you do much more things besides converting your audio to MP3. As you look at the interface, you can find there are 5 main features, namely, converting, downloading, burning, transferring, and a toolbox for extra features.

As you expect, the converting feature can help you convert different kinds of files to MP3 in high quality and fast speed. The downloader is for you to download files from various sites and save them locally. Also, you can also use this tool to burn your songs to a CD or transfer the files from Mac to iPhone or Android. If you need, you can even use it to record the desktop screen, convert a VR video, and add your account to one-click share your audio/video to other platforms.

FAQ about MP3 Conversion

Q1: My song is M4A at 128kbps, if I convert it to MP3 at 320kbps, will the quality improve?

No. Basically, converting audio itself cannot improve the audio quality but just preserve it. As the original audio quality is 128kbps, the converted song will remain the same quality, but the format and the file size will change.

Q2: Is there any free MP3 converter for Mac?

Yes. As we mentioned above, VLC, iTunes / Apple Music, and Online Audio Converter are all free MP3 converters that is worth a try. If you find the functions of the free ones are limited, you can also try the latter ones like TuneFab Converters, FonePaw Video Converter Ultimate, and more.

Q3: Can the converter download MP3 songs?

Some of the tools we talked about have got the downloader feature. For example, the TuneFab Converting tools specialize in downloading and converting songs from streaming music platforms like Apple Music and Spotify.

Also, Wondershare Uniconverter and Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate can let you download songs from various sites including YouTube. You can check the details of the products again and choose the one according to your need.