How to convert mp4 to mp3 files in bulk that keeps good quality?

I once used AudioKies to batch convert a large number of MP4 video files to MP3 audio files, highly recommended!

https://www.audiokies.com/mp4-to-mp3.html

Let me summarize everyone's answers.

FFmpeg is free and powerful, but it's hard to install, there's no GUI, and it's a bit of a barrier to entry.

VLC is free, but it can't convert mp4 to mp3 files in bulk on a Mac.

Handbrake is free, but only allows you to convert video to MP4, MKV, and WebM.

AudioKies is a dedicated audio converter, but it's not free. Maybe you can try MediaHuman Audio Converter, which is freeware.

iMovie is free but doesn't support batch conversion, and the output format is .m4a, not .mp3.

That's all.

ADDED: I use Cisdem Video Converter. It converts/compresses/downloads audio and video, and also exports audio and video from DVD/Blu-ray, but it's a paid program.

Why .mp3? A quick method to convert to AAC .m4a is to select the .mp4 movies in Finder > right-click Services > Encode Select Video Files > Setting: Audio Only.

Or QuickTime Player > File > Export As... > Audio only.

If you insist on .mp3, you could use 3rd party apps like ffmpeg or GUIs that use it:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:a libmp3lame output.mp3

No one recommend VLC? It is not only a powerful media player but also a good MP4 to MP3 converter. Here's how you can use VLC to convert mp4 to mp3.

• Launch VLC on your computer.
• Go to Media in the top menu and select Convert/Save... or press Ctrl + R.
• In the Open Media window, click the Add... button and select the MP4 file(s) you want to convert.
• Click the Convert/Save button at the bottom of the window.
• In the Convert window, choose the profile Audio - MP3 from the Profile dropdown list.
• Click the Browse button to select the destination folder and name the output file with an .mp3 extension.
• Click the Start button to begin the conversion process. VLC will convert the MP4 file to MP3 and save it to the specified location.

By following these steps, you can easily convert MP4 files to MP3 using VLC Media Player and takes advantage of its robust feature set and flexibility.

On Sonoma 14.5, I have selected two .m4a files and there is no Encode Select Video Files on the Services menu.

Yes, with .mp4, there is Services > "Encode Selected Video Files":

But if the audio is already AAC that service does not work because it outputs AAC only:

On Sonoma 14.5, I have selected two .m4a files and there is no Encode Select Video Files on the Services menu.

I found the free fre:ac tool (GUI) that I used to convert my .m4a music to .mp3 files — because the 2011 Saab 9-5 audio wants .mp3 music via the USB AUX input. Drag a folder of .m4a onto fre:ac, select the LAME 3.1 encoder, and an output folder (in this case on a mounted USB stick), and quality conversion takes place in mere seconds.

Bulk converting MP4 files to MP3 is definitely possible, like HandBrake that can help you achieve high-quality conversions quickly and efficiently. With this software, you can select multiple files, choose the desired output format (MP3), and adjust the settings as needed.

FFmpeg is a powerful command-line tool for converting mp4 to mp3 on Mac or Windows computer. It provides excellent control over the conversion process and maintains high quality.

Download FFmpeg from the official website. Follow the installation instructions for your operating system. Navigate to the folder where your MP4 files are stored. Use the following command to convert all MP4 files in the directory to MP3:

for %i in (*.mp4) do ffmpeg -i "%i" -q:a 0 "%~ni.mp3"

This command loops through each MP4 file and converts mp4 to MP3 while maintaining high quality (-q:a 0 ensures the best audio quality).

I once used AudioKies to batch convert a large number of MP4 video files to MP3 audio files, highly recommended!

https://www.audiokies.com/mp4-to-mp3.html (100% works)

I was not disappointed. I used this tool to convert a bunch of MP4 to MP3 and it was awesome! It saved me a lot of time! Thanks!

iMovie. Import the video files and then export them as Audio Only.

Oh, .mp4, not .m4a. My bad. 😎

Vote FFmpeg! This is a powerful, free, and open-source command-line tool that can convert MP4 to MP3 in bulk. You'll need to use the command-line interface, but it's relatively easy to use.