Speichere das originale AAC-Audio jedes YouTube-Videos als M4A-Datei. Ohne Neukodierung, ohne Qualitätsverlust, ohne Konto – und es läuft nativ auf iPhone, iPad, Mac und Android.
Mit der Nutzung von Y-Download stimmst du unseren Nutzungsbedingungen und unserer Datenschutzerklärung zu.
Copy the video URL from your browser, or tap Share → Copy link in the YouTube or YouTube Music app. Regular videos, Shorts, Music tracks and public playlists are all supported.
Paste the link into the box above. In about two seconds you will see the title, the duration and the audio formats YouTube offers for that video, each with its bitrate and an estimated file size.
Click Download next to M4A. Because the AAC stream is saved as is, there is no conversion to wait for: the file starts arriving almost immediately, with a progress bar for longer videos.
On iPhone the file lands in the Files app and plays with a tap; on a Mac you can drag it straight into the Music app; on Android any player opens it. The file is named after the video, so it is easy to find.
Every other audio format involves decoding and re-encoding. M4A does not: you receive the exact AAC bytes YouTube streams, so there is no generation loss and no encoder in the chain.
Skipping the conversion step means the file is ready as soon as it has been fetched. A typical song arrives in a few seconds, and long recordings are limited only by your connection speed.
M4A is Apple's native audio format. It opens in the Music app, GarageBand, iMovie, Final Cut Pro and QuickTime without any conversion, and AirPlay and CarPlay treat it like any purchased track.
Android has decoded AAC since its earliest versions, Windows 10 and 11 play M4A in Media Player and Movies & TV, and VLC handles it everywhere else. M4A is not an Apple-only format.
AAC is more efficient than MP3, so a 128 kbps M4A is about 1 MB per minute, less than half the size of a 320 kbps MP3 made from the same source, with essentially the same sound because both come from the same stream.
No account, no daily cap and nothing to install. Downloaded files are deleted from our servers after 30 minutes, and the links you paste are not stored beyond short-lived operational logs.
Y-Download saves YouTube to M4A without converting anything. YouTube stores the sound of nearly every video as an AAC stream inside an MP4 container, and the M4A option simply extracts that stream and hands it to you as a file. Nothing is decoded or re-encoded, so the audio is bit-for-bit what YouTube streams, the download finishes faster than any conversion could, and the file is the smallest one you can get. Paste a video, Short or YouTube Music link, choose M4A, and you are done in a few seconds.
M4A is the audio format of the Apple ecosystem. The iTunes Store has sold music as AAC in M4A files since 2003 and Apple Music streams AAC today, so the Music app on iPhone, iPad and Mac, plus GarageBand, iMovie, Final Cut Pro and QuickTime, open it natively, and Android, Windows 10 and 11, Chromebooks, VLC and most car systems play it too. If you want to add a track to your library in the Music app or drop it onto a timeline on a Mac, M4A fits without a single conversion step.
Compared with MP3 at the same bitrate, AAC is the more efficient codec, which is part of why YouTube uses it. A 128 kbps M4A from YouTube is widely regarded as a match for an MP3 at 160–192 kbps, yet it weighs only about 1 MB per minute, less than half the size of a 320 kbps MP3 made from the same source. The audio itself is passed through untouched, but Y-Download still writes the title, artist and a square cover image into the M4A container, so tracks look right in Apple Music, Files or any other player. Files are deleted from our servers 30 minutes after they are prepared.
The AAC stream YouTube uses for nearly all videos, typically 128 kbps, saved without changes. About 1 MB per minute. Choose it when you want the truest copy, the quickest download or a file for Apple devices.
YouTube also stores audio in Opus, often around 160 kbps, and Y-Download can save that stream untouched too. It plays in Chrome, Firefox, Android and VLC, but Apple's Music app will not import .opus files, so M4A is the safer pick for iPhone and Mac.
When compatibility with older car stereos and budget players matters, choose MP3 at 320 or 128 kbps. It is re-encoded from the same source, so pick 320 kbps to keep the loss negligible.
These decode the same stream into uncompressed or losslessly compressed audio. They are up to ten times larger and sound identical; use them only when the audio is headed into an editor or DAW.
M4A saves YouTube's own AAC audio stream exactly as it is, with no conversion. MP3 decodes that stream and encodes it again in the older MP3 format. Both files get the title, artist and cover art embedded. M4A is smaller, faster and technically truer to the source; MP3 is the safer choice for old car stereos, budget portable players and any device that has never heard of AAC.
Almost. AAC is the codec, the method used to compress the sound. M4A is the container, an MP4 file that holds only audio. When people search for YouTube to AAC they normally want an M4A file, which is exactly what this page delivers: plain AAC audio in an M4A container, with no DRM.
Yes. The AAC stream is copied straight from YouTube without being decoded or re-encoded, so the quality is identical to what YouTube itself streams to your device, typically 128 kbps AAC. No downloader can deliver more than that, because YouTube does not store higher-quality audio for normal videos.
Yes. M4A with AAC is the format Apple has used for music since the iTunes Store opened, so the Files app, the Music app, QuickTime, GarageBand, iMovie and Final Cut Pro open it without conversion. On iPhone, download in Safari and the file appears in Files; on a Mac, drag it into the Music app to add it to your library.
Yes. Android plays AAC natively in its built-in players, Samsung Music, VLC and practically every third-party app, and Windows 10 and 11 open M4A in Media Player and Movies & TV. Only very old MP3-only devices, such as some early car stereos and cheap flash players, lack AAC support.
Both are original streams saved without re-encoding. Opus is often available at a slightly higher bitrate and is excellent for speech, but Apple's Music app and many car systems will not play it. M4A plays on nearly everything, so unless you know your player handles Opus, M4A is the practical choice.
About 1 MB per minute at 128 kbps: a four-minute song is roughly 4 MB and a one-hour podcast roughly 58 MB. That is less than half the size of a 320 kbps MP3 from the same video and about a tenth of a WAV. The estimated size is shown next to the M4A button before you download.
It is legal when you own the content, when it is released under a permissive license such as Creative Commons, or when the creator has given you permission. Downloading copyrighted music without permission violates YouTube's terms and may infringe copyright in your country. Use Y-Download for your own videos, licensed material and content you are allowed to keep.