1Upload every file you want combined — at least two of them.
2Drag the uploaded items into the order you want; the order is taken from the list, not from the filenames.
3Start the merge, which joins matching inputs without re-encoding them and reconciles mismatched ones exactly once.
4Download the single combined M4A file.
Merge M4A FAQ
How does Merge M4A join the files together?
+
Concretely, files that already share a codec, sample rate and channel layout are concatenated by copying the encoded frames, so the join costs nothing in quality; mismatched inputs are decoded and re-encoded once to a common format. Upload everything you want combined and the result comes back as a single file.
Can I control the order things are joined in?
+
Yes — drag the uploaded items into the order you want before starting. Order is taken from the list, not from the filenames, so "IMG_2.jpg" sorting after "IMG_10.jpg" is not a problem you have to solve first.
Does it matter if the inputs are different formats?
+
It does. M4A is an MP4 container holding AAC or ALAC audio — the default for iTunes and Apple Music files. Matching inputs take a fast, lossless path; mismatched ones have to be reconciled to a common format, which is slower and costs one encode.
Anything specific to M4A when merging?
+
Yes — an .m4a can hold either AAC or ALAC, so lossy and lossless files share one extension and have to be told apart by inspection. That is worth checking when the inputs did not all come from the same source.
How many files can I combine at once?
+
On the free tier a merge accepts two files at a time, which is deliberately higher than the single-file limit on other tools because merging one file is meaningless. A pass removes the cap entirely.
Is the merge lossless?
+
It is whenever the inputs already agree — the encoded data is copied straight through. It stops being lossless only when the inputs disagree and something has to be re-encoded to make them compatible, and even then it is one pass, not one per file.
What can I upload to Merge M4A?
+
MP3, AAC, M4A, OGG, Opus and WMA are the lossy codecs handled directly, and lossless sources (WAV, FLAC, AIFF) can go in the same batch. The codec is probed from the stream, so an incorrectly named file still works.
Is there a file size limit on Merge M4A?
+
Yes: free accounts process audio up to 200 MB per file, which at typical bitrates is several hours of material; ffmpeg does the decoding and encoding, exactly as it would on a desktop. That is the most generous cap on the site after video, and audio work rarely runs into it.
Will Merge M4A lower the quality of my M4A audio files?
+
A lossy file has already discarded detail once, and re-encoding discards more — that is generation loss and it does not undo. Wherever the job can be completed by copying the encoded stream rather than re-encoding it, that is what happens, and the audio comes back bit-identical.
Can I run Merge M4A on several M4A audio files at once?
+
Yes. Upload the set and they process in parallel with the same settings, which is the practical way to handle a podcast series or an album rather than repeating the job by hand.
Do tags and cover art survive?
+
Yes. ID3, Vorbis comments and MP4 metadata atoms are carried across, cover art included, so a processed file still sorts correctly in a music library. ReplayGain values are recalculated rather than copied, because a stale one is worse than none.
Does Merge M4A cost anything?
+
No. Merge M4A is free without an account and adds no audio watermark or spoken tag to the output. Your upload is deleted from the workers shortly after the job completes.
