by Christine Smith • 2020-10-28 17:36:19 • Proven solutions
MKV is a multimedia container format that is capable of storing video and audio files. There are a number of situations when you would need to extract audio from MKV files. The common reasons for getting MP3, WAV, and AC3 from your MKV files are as follows:
Mkv codec free download - AC3 Codec, CODEC, Free MKV to iMovie, and many more programs. Convert MKV and other videos to any popular video/audio format on Mac. Free to try User rating. IEffectsoft Video to MKV Converter for Mac is an outstanding Mac MKV Video Converter that can convert any videos to MKV/MKA file format on Mac OS. It supports AVI, XviD, WMV, MPEG, MPG, FLV, DAT, RM, RMVB, MOV, ASF, FLV and much more video/audio. Jul 23, 2020 The best players to open the MKV extension with include Elmedia Player, Windows Media Player, 5KPlayer (containing MKV codec) and VLC (although sound and subtitles may be unavailable). MKA files These are mostly used as audio files and normally contain various audio compression formats such as MP2, MP3, AAC, AC3, DTS among others. The best K-Lite Codec for Mac – Perian. Perian is one stop codec resource on Mac similar to K-Lite Codec Pack on Windows. Perian is a free, open source, QuickTime component that extends QuickTime support for many popular types of media, including MKV, FLV, WMV, AVI, DivX, and XviD. How to download and install K-Lite Codec for Mac – Perian. MKV (Matroska Multimedia Container) is an open container format to pack video, audio, picture and subtitle track in one file, you may notice that many movie and TV shows are saved in MKV format, it has a lot of benefits but there is a compatibility issue on macOS, you will have to convert MKV to a macOS-friendly video format, like MOV (an Apple.
- Need only the music or the audio part from your MKV music video file.
- Reduce storage space: Extracting audio files from your MKV videos, reduce the file size, and thus saves a lot of storage space.
- Compatibility issues: If your music player is not compatible with MKV format, converting it to MP3, WAV, and other audio formats are the best solution.
In all the above and other situations, the top 3 MKV audio converters are introduced here for your high-quality and super fast MKV to audio conversion.
Part 1. Best MKV Audio Converter Mac/Windows
To extract MKV audio in a professional yet straightforward manner, Wondershare UniConverter (originally Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate) is the best choice. Compatible with Windows and Mac computer, this conversion software allows converting your MKV videos to an array of audio formats, including MP3, WAV, AC3, and others.
Wondershare UniConverter - Your Complete Video Toolbox for Windows/Mac
- Supports over 1,000 formats for conversion including preset for specific devices
- Convert MKV to audio formats at super-fast speed and lossless quality conversion
- Allows adding MKV files from computer or directly from a range of devices
- Converted audio files can be transferred to the iPhone, iPad, and other devices
- Download videos/audio files from YouTube and other 10,000+ video sharing sites
- Customize videos with Crop/Trim/Rotate/Watermarks/Effects and other features
- Burn and customize videos to DVD with free menu templates
- Toolbox with additional functions like VR Converter, GIF Maker, and more
- Supported OS: Windows 10/8/7/2003/Vista/XP, Mac OS 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14, 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, 10.10, 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6
Steps for Audio MKV Conversion Using Wondershare MKV Audio Converter:
Step 1 Open Wondershare MKV Audio Converter and Import MKV Videos
Launch Wondershare UniConverter on your PC and choose the Video Converter tab from the main software interface. Click on the Document icon to locate and add MKV videos from your PC. Files can be dragged and dropped as well.
Step 2 Choose An Audio Output Format
Added files appear on the software interface. Click on the Setting icon. From the Audio tab, choose your desired audio format, such as AC3 and the output quality.
Step 3 Convert MKV to Audio Files
Free Mkv Audio Codec Converter
Customize the folder on PC, where you want to save the converted file by clicking the File Location tab. Click the Convert button to start converting MKV to AC3 audio format.
Video Tutorial to Convert MKV Videos to Audio Files with Wondershare UniConverter:
Part 2. How to Extract Audio from MKV with Handbrake and Popcorn
A lot of people search for Handbrake as a solution to get the audio codec for MKV files. But actually, this method does not work as Handbrake software does not support audio conversion. Thus, using this program, you can extract any type of audio files from MKV or other videos. Handbrake supports video only conversion.
Another popular software that is used to get audio files from MKV is Popcorn MKV audio converter. This decent and light software allows converting your MKV videos to MP3 and DTS format. The program is compatible with Windows 98 and earlier versions of the OS. The software also supports removing DTS tracks and converts the OGG audio files to MP3, AAC, and AC3.
Steps to Use Popcorn MKV Audio Converter:
Step 1: Download, install, and open Popcorn MKV audio converter. From the main interface, choose MKV tools and click on the Browse button to add the MKV file from your computer.
Step 2: On the right-side panel of the interface, select the VORBIS tab, and choose AC3 as the desired output format. Also, choose the bit rate of the file.
Step 3: Under File Specification, choose the location where you want to save the converted file at Target Directory. Finally, click RUN to start the conversion process.
Part 3. How to Make VLC Extract Audio from MKV on Mac
VLC is a cross-platform video player that supports playing videos in almost all popular formats. Using the player, you can extract audio in MP3, OGG, and other formats from your MKV and other video files. The process is fast and straightforward.
Steps for MKV audio codec conversion on Mac using VLC Media Player:
Step 1: Download, install and open the VLC Player app on your Mac. Click Media > Convert/Save.
Step 2: From the Open Media window, click on the + button from the File tab to import MKV files from your computer. Once the files are added, click on the Convert/Save button.
Step 3: A new Convert pop-up window will open. Under the Settings option, choose Convert and then select the desired audio format from the Profile list.
Step 4: At Destination, select folder on Mac where you want to save the converted audio file and click Start to begin the process.
Part 4. Comparison Table for 3 MKV Audio Converters
Listed above are the three tools for MKV audio conversion. The table below compares these tools on various parameters.
| Features/Software | Wondershare UniConverter | VLC | Popcorn MKV Audio Converter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supported System | Windows/Mac | Windows/Mac/Linux and others | Windows |
| Supported Output Formats | An array of audio formats including MP3, WAV, WMA, AC3, and others | Limited audio format support like MP3, FLAC | Limited format like AC3, MP3, MP2, and AAC |
| Extract Audio from MKV in Batch | Yes | No | Yes |
| Extract Audio from MKV with Subtitles | Yes | No | Yes |
| Extract Audio from MKV with Customized Settings | Yes | No | No |
| Option to Select File Parameters | Yes, it allows choosing quality, bit rate, and other parameters of the output file. | Yes, it allows choosing but rate, sample rate, channel, and other parameters. | Allows selecting a bit rate. |
| Output Quality | Lossless quality | Decent | Decent |
| Price | $39.95 for 1Yr/1PC with a free trial version. | Free to use | Free |
About MKV file format
MKV stands for 'Matroska Video'. Matroska is a container file format, capable of holding unlimited number of video, audio and subtitile tracks, along with any metadata. Practically this means that it is possible to put entire movie with multiple sound and subtitle tracks, chapters information and movie thumbnail into single file. Being open and patent-free Matroska gained broad support recently and quickly becomes de-facto standard for storing movies. More information can be found at Wikipedia article.Why MKV
Matroska file format (and Matroska video in particular) has a number of advantages.Divx Audio Codec For Mac
- MKV is open and free. No one holds patents or licenses and anyone can implement it freely. As a result nearly every software player and many hardware devices support it. The best software players out there ( VLC, MPlayer ) have full MKV support and are absolutely free.
- MKV files do not have evil features attached.
- You can play them on any capable hardware. No need for HDCP-certified video card or any 'trusted' environment.
- You can copy them to your laptop and watch anytime, even if your laptop lacks DVD or Blu-ray drive, or any drive whatsoever.
- One file is one title. If you don't want to watch dozen trailers before the movie, you don't have to. And fast forward button always works, too.
- There are no restrictions where to play the file. There are no region-based restrictions. You have control over the content you've paid for.
- MKV files are easy to change. Want to remove unneeded audio track from the file? Thought about converting MPEG-2 video into H264 to make the file 5 times smaller? All of it can be easily done with free software.
- MKV files are compact. For exactly the same content MKV files are about 10% smaller than DVD files and roughly 40% smaller than Blu-ray files.
While MKV is a good storage format not always it can be played directly. Playing MKV files on a computer is not an issue - there are many players and codec packs that enable MKV playback on any platform, be it Windows, Mac or Linux. However many hardware players do not play MKV directly - for that MKV files need to be transcoded into format that particular hardware player understands. Since all meta information is preserved in MKV and compressed media data (video, audio, subtitles) is not changed in any way it is always possible to transcode MKV files into original format. For example, MKV files produced from a Blu-ray disc may be transcoded back to a Bly-ray image or set of M2TS files without any losses by freeware transcoding tools[1].
Playing MKV files
Freeware players that support MKV natively:
- Videolan VLC is a free and very good player for Windows, Mac and Linux that supports MKV directly.
- MPlayer is another free player with MKV support.
- CCCP is a free codec pack for Windows that will enable MKV playback in Windows Media Player and all other DirectShow-based players.
Transcoding tools:
- tsMuxeR is a free tool that can transcode MKV file produced from DVD or Blu-ray back into Blu-ray disc or M2TS file[1].
note
- Please note that commercial blu-ray discs are proteced by technologial measures preventing unauthorized duplication (including, but not limited to, 'Cinavia' technology). MakeMKV doesn't remove such measures, so MKV file produced from a commercial blu-ray disc will not play on a blu-ray player, even when converted back to M2TS format.