.mka

What is a .mka file?

MKA is the audio-only variant of the Matroska container — like MKV but without video.

Safe format
Type Audio
By Matroska.org
MIME audio/x-matroska

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What is it

MKA is what you get when you take the MKV container and remove the video track. It's a Matroska file containing only audio — which can be any codec: FLAC, AAC, Vorbis, Opus, AC3, DTS, or anything else the Matroska spec supports. Think of it as a universal audio container that doesn't care what's inside.

The format is uncommon compared to standalone audio formats (MP3, FLAC, M4A), but it appears in specific workflows: extracting audio from MKV files, archiving multichannel audio with chapter markers, or bundling multiple audio tracks (different languages) into a single file.

VLC and MPV play MKA files without issue. Foobar2000 handles them on Windows. For conversion, FFmpeg can extract audio from MKA into any standalone format. In practice, most people convert MKA to FLAC, M4A, or MP3 for compatibility with standard music players and streaming services.

Technical details
Full Name
Matroska Audio
MIME Type
audio/x-matroska
Developer
Matroska.org
Magic Bytes
1A 45 DF A3
Safety
.mka is a known, safe format. Audio container. No executable content.
What opens it
VLC
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
foobar2000
FREE Windows
MPV
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
FAQ
What's the difference between MKA and MKV?
MKA is the audio-only variant of the Matroska container. MKV typically contains video and audio. The container format is identical — the only difference is the absence of a video track.
How do I convert MKA to MP3 or FLAC?
FFmpeg handles it: `ffmpeg -i input.mka output.flac` or `ffmpeg -i input.mka -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 2 output.mp3`. If the MKA contains FLAC audio, extracting to .flac is lossless.
Related formats