Convert TS to M4A Online
Extract audio from MPEG-TS digital TV and DVR streams for iPhone and Apple devices, free, in your browser.
.ts, .mts · up to 100 MB
What it's for
TS to M4A: broadcast TV and DVR audio for iPhone
Native AAC stream copy
If the TS has AAC audio, direct extraction to the M4A container without re-encoding. Maximum quality.
DVR and digital TV on iPhone
Convert recordings from your Humax, Topfield or TiVo DVR to M4A for commute listening on iPhone.
Podcast from DVB radio
Record DVB-T radio broadcasts and convert to M4A to create private podcasts or publish episodes.
No servers, 100% private
Your TV recordings are processed locally with FFmpeg.wasm. No uploads, no registration.
How it works
Three steps, no hassle
Upload your TS file
Drag or select the .ts recorded with your DVR, DVB capture card or TV stream. Up to 500 MB, no signup.
Audio extraction and conversion in the browser
FFmpeg.wasm detects the TS audio codec (AAC, AC-3/Dolby, MP2) and converts it to AAC-LC in an M4A container. No server uploads.
Download the M4A for iPhone and podcasts
Audio from TV programmes, DVB radio, or DVR recordings ready to listen on your commute, import into Apple Music, or publish as a podcast.
FAQ
Got questions?
MPEG Transport Stream (TS, .ts extension) is the container format defined in ISO/IEC 13818-1 (MPEG-2 Systems) for transmitting and storing digital audio and video in broadcast. It's the format used by DVB-T (digital terrestrial TV in Europe), DVB-S (satellite), DVB-C (cable), ATSC (terrestrial TV in North America), and ISDB-T (terrestrial TV in Latin America and Japan). Domestic DVRs — Humax, Topfield, Dreambox, TiVo — record TV programmes directly in TS format. DVB capture cards for PC (Hauppauge, TeVii, TBS) also generate .ts files. The result is recordings of programmes, series, films, and sports broadcasts in .ts containing the audio exactly as broadcast.
It depends on the broadcast standard and channel. Most common in European TS files: AC-3 (Dolby Digital, most common in pay channels and HD), AAC-LC or HE-AAC (modern European HD channels), MPEG-1 Layer II (MP2, still used in some DVB-T SD channels), and in international broadcasts also DTS or PCM. The tool detects the codec automatically: if AAC, stream copies to the M4A container (no re-encoding); if AC-3, MP2 or other, decodes and re-encodes to AAC-LC 192 kbps for M4A.
Yes, that's one of the most practical use cases. Many national and regional radio stations broadcast simultaneously on DVB-T (digital radio multiplex). DVB cards for PC can record these transmissions in TS format. By converting the TS audio to M4A, you get podcast-ready radio episodes: import the M4As into GarageBand for basic editing (cut ads, add intro/outro), add metadata with iTunes, and upload to any podcast hosting platform. This technique also works for capturing interviews and special programmes broadcast on DVB radio that have no official podcast version.
iPhone and iOS do not support the MPEG-TS (.ts) container as a direct audio playback format. iOS uses MPEG-TS internally for HLS (HTTP Live Streaming), but only accepts .ts files as part of M3U8 playlists served by an HTTP server, not as locally downloaded files. To play the audio from a TS recording on iPhone, you need to extract the audio to a compatible container: M4A (native Apple), MP3, or AAC. M4A is the best option for the Apple ecosystem for its compatibility with Apple Music, iCloud Music Library, and all Apple devices.
In the current implementation, FFmpeg.wasm automatically selects the first audio track in the TS (generally the channel's main language). Broadcast TS files can have multiple audio PIDs for different languages (e.g., original version + dubbed version). Manually selecting a specific track would require a stream selection interface that is on our roadmap. For now, if you need audio from a specific non-primary language, use desktop FFmpeg with the -map 0:a:1 flag to select the second audio track.
Yes. DVB-T2 broadcasts commonly use AC-3 (Dolby Digital) for pay channels and AAC/HE-AAC for free-to-air HD channels. DVRs compatible with DVB-T2 (Humax FVR-10HD, Engel recorders, USB DVB-T2 sticks) record in .ts. The tool processes these TS files correctly: channels with AC-3 are converted to AAC-LC for the M4A, and channels with native AAC are stream-copied directly.
Convert TS to M4A: digital TV, DVR and DVB radio audio for iPhone
MPEG Transport Stream (.ts) is the broadcast container par excellence: the format in which DVB-T (digital terrestrial TV), DVB-S (satellite), DVB-C (cable), and ISDB-T data packets travel from transmitter to receiver. Each TS packet has a fixed size of 188 bytes (defined in ISO/IEC 13818-1), a structure that optimises transmission over lossy channels but that is awkward for conventional file systems and general-purpose media players, especially Apple devices. Domestic DVRs (Humax, Topfield, Dreambox, Engel) record TV programmes directly in .ts preserving the original broadcast multiplex streams, including audio exactly as broadcast: AC-3/Dolby Digital on pay channels, HE-AAC or AAC-LC on free-to-air HD channels, and MPEG-1 Layer II (MP2) on some legacy SD channels. Converting the audio from these TS files to M4A is the fundamental operation for bringing your TV recording audio to a format playable on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and any Apple ecosystem device.
The technical advantage of extracting TS audio to M4A over other conversions is that European DVB-T and DVB-T2 transport streams for HD channels increasingly use HE-AAC v2 (High Efficiency AAC version 2, also known as AAC+ or aacPlus v2) as their primary audio codec. HE-AAC v2 combines AAC-LC with Spectral Band Replication (SBR) and Parametric Stereo (PS) to produce acceptable stereo audio at just 24-32 kbps — the minimum bandwidth needed to multiply the number of HD channels in a DVB-T multiplex. When the TS contains HE-AAC v2, conversion to M4A can preserve the stream without re-encoding, producing a minimal-size M4A with audio identical to the original broadcast. For TS with AC-3 (the standard audio format in Blu-ray, pay channels, and high-quality broadcasts), FFmpeg decodes to PCM and re-encodes to AAC-LC 192 kbps, with perceptually transparent quality for speech and music content.
Convertir.ai executes TS-to-M4A audio extraction entirely in the browser via FFmpeg.wasm, with automatic detection of the TS audio stream codec to optimise the process (stream copy for native AAC, re-encoding for AC-3 and MP2). The output M4A is compatible with all Apple devices, podcasting platforms (Anchor, Buzzsprout, Spotify for Podcasters), automatic transcription systems (Whisper, Rev, Otter.ai), and professional audio editors (Logic Pro, GarageBand, Audacity). The complete use case for mobile listeners: record a radio programme or debate on DVB-T with a capture card or DVR, convert the .ts to .m4a with Convertir.ai, import into Music.app and sync with iPhone for commute listening. No servers, no registration, no watermarks, no usage limits.