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WAV to MP3 converter

Drop a WAV here for an MP3 a seventh of the size, with a quality loss most people cannot hear.

Convert a WAV file to MP3

Drop a WAV file here

or choose one from your device

Up to 2.0 GB. Stays on your device.

How to convert WAV to MP3

Three steps, all on this page.

  1. Choose your WAV

    Choose or drop a WAV file. The page reads what is inside and checks that this browser can convert it before anything starts.

  2. Convert to MP3

    Pick the options you want, then press Convert to MP3. Tracks that an MP3 can hold as they are get copied, which is near instant.

  3. Check and download

    The new file is opened again and checked against the original before it is offered. Listen in the preview, then download it.

What changes from WAV to MP3

  • WAV, short for Waveform Audio File Format, was developed by Microsoft and IBM and first released in 1991. It is a form of RIFF, the same family as Apple’s AIFF, and nearly every WAV holds uncompressed linear PCM. Source
  • MDN sums WAV up as uncompressed PCM audio, delivering the highest fidelity at the cost of larger file sizes. Source
  • FLAC is lossless: decoded, it is identical to the original down to the bit, and it usually cuts the size by up to 40 to 50%. macOS needs extra software to play it, and iOS does not support it at all. Source
  • MP3 in its usual MPEG-1 form runs from 32 to 320 kbps. MDN recommends at least 128 kbps for stereo, and at least 192 kbps for music where possible. Source
  • MDN advises against lossy compression for audio that will be remixed or compressed again, because the loss is compounded each time. Source
  • Browsers have no MP3 encoder of their own. This page uses LAME 3.100, the long-standing open-source MP3 encoder, built to run inside the browser. Source
  • Audacity exports a project to an audio file, MP3 included, with File › Export Audio. Source
  • The Music app on a Mac converts a file to MP3 once Import Using is set to MP3 Encoder (Settings › Files › Import Settings), with File › Convert › Create MP3 Version. Source

WAV file

WAV

  • Picturenone
  • SoundPCM, uncompressed

MP3 file

MP3

  • Picturenone
  • SoundMP3, 128 to 320 kbps

Who converts WAV to MP3

People with a recording that is too big to send. A WAV is what a studio, an audio interface, a field recorder, GarageBand, Logic, Audacity and most voice-over sessions hand you: uncompressed, about 10 MB for every minute of stereo. That is too large for most email, slow to share over a messaging app, and more than a podcast host or a client needs for a first listen. The usual cases are a voice-over going to a producer, a band demo for friends, a podcast episode before upload, and a lecture or interview captured on a recorder.

Why a WAV is so large, and what MP3 throws away

A WAV stores every sample the recorder took, with nothing removed. CD-quality stereo, 16-bit at 44.1 kHz, is 1,411 kbps, or about 10 MB a minute. A 24-bit, 96 kHz studio file is more than three times that: about 33 MB a minute. That is ideal while you are still editing and mixing, and wasteful once the recording is finished and only needs to be heard.

MP3 gets its size down by leaving out detail the ear is least likely to notice: very quiet sounds next to loud ones, and the far top of the frequency range. At 192 kbps it keeps about one byte in seven. What it removes is gone for good, which is why the WAV is the copy to keep and the MP3 is the copy to send.

Is WAV or MP3 better quality?

WAV is better quality: it is the recording exactly as it was captured, while an MP3 is an approximation of it. Whether you can hear the difference is another matter. At 192 kbps most listeners cannot pick an MP3 from its WAV on ordinary headphones or speakers; at 320 kbps very few can, even on good equipment.

The difference shows up later, not on first listen. An MP3 that is edited, mixed and exported again loses a little more each round, and a mastering engineer or a broadcaster will want the WAV for exactly that reason. For listening, sharing and uploading, an MP3 does the job.

Which bitrate to choose

These are the sizes we measured converting a three-minute stereo WAV on this page. Each one is fixed by the bitrate, so they hold for any recording of the same length.

  • 128 kbps, about 0.9 MB a minute: speech. Voice-overs for review, podcasts, lectures, interviews and voice notes. A one-hour episode is about 55 MB.
  • 192 kbps, about 1.4 MB a minute (the default): music and anything mixed. Transparent for most listeners, and the best balance for a demo or a finished track.
  • 320 kbps, about 2.3 MB a minute: the most MP3 allows, for a master you are sending somewhere that insists on MP3, or listeners with critical ears. Still under a quarter of the WAV’s size.
BitrateMP3 sizeShare of the WAVTime taken
128 kbps2.7 MB9%1.3 s
192 kbps4.1 MB14%1.5 s
320 kbps6.9 MB23%1.3 s
A 3:00 stereo WAV, 16-bit 44.1 kHz (30.3 MB), converted on this page in Chrome 155 on an M1 Mac. The 24-bit 96 kHz copy (98.9 MB) gave the same MP3 sizes, in 1.7 s at 192 kbps. Sizes as the converter shows them.

24-bit, 32-bit float and 96 kHz files

Recorders and audio interfaces often save at 24 bits or 32-bit float, and at 48, 88.2 or 96 kHz. All of them convert. MP3 itself stops at 48 kHz, so anything above that is resampled to 44.1 kHz on the way, and the page says so before you convert. Nothing audible is lost: the extra range in a 96 kHz file sits above what people hear, and the extra bits of a 24-bit file are headroom for editing, which MP3 does not keep anyway.

Mono stays mono, which matters for voice-overs and podcasts: a mono MP3 at the same bitrate spends all of it on the one channel. Title, artist and album written into the WAV are copied into the MP3’s ID3 tags, so a music player shows the track by name.

The one kind that will not convert is a WAV whose sound is itself compressed, such as the ADPCM some older dictaphones and voice recorders use. Browsers cannot read it, and the page says so as soon as you choose the file; Audacity or VLC will convert it.

WAV or FLAC, and when to choose FLAC instead

FLAC is lossless: a FLAC file plays back bit for bit the same as the WAV it came from, at roughly half the size. Neither is better quality than the other. FLAC is the better way to store a music library or archive a session, because it saves space and can carry proper tags; WAV is what recording and editing software expects, and plays everywhere, including iPhones and Macs, which do not play FLAC without extra apps.

So the choice is less WAV against FLAC and more what the copy is for. To keep every detail in less space, choose FLAC, with a free tool such as Audacity or ffmpeg (shown below; this page does not write FLAC). To send, share or upload, choose MP3.

When not to convert

Do not convert the only copy. Keep the WAV of anything you may edit, mix, master or hand to an engineer, and send the MP3 alongside it. Converting the MP3 back to WAV later only makes a large file of the MP3’s quality: what was left out does not come back.

Do not convert to fix a recording. Hiss, clipping, room echo or a quiet voice come through an MP3 just as they were, and a higher bitrate preserves them more faithfully. If the problem is a microphone that sounds wrong, check it first with the microphone test. And if the receiver takes WAV, such as a radio station, a distributor or a mastering engineer, send the WAV: they will ask for it anyway.

Other ways to convert WAV to MP3

Audacity Windows, Mac or Linux

  1. Open the WAV in Audacity (File › Open).
  2. Choose File › Export Audio.
  3. Set the format to MP3 Files, pick a bitrate or quality, and click Export.

Free, offline, and good for a quick trim or a volume fix before export. The same dialog writes FLAC.

Music app Mac

  1. In Music › Settings › Files › Import Settings, set Import Using to MP3 Encoder, choose a setting and click OK.
  2. Drag the WAV into your library.
  3. Select it and choose File › Convert › Create MP3 Version. The MP3 appears beside the WAV in the library.

Built in, and it handles many files at once, but every file lands in your music library.

VLC Windows, Mac or Linux

  1. Choose Media › Convert / Save (on a Mac: File › Convert / Stream) and add the WAV.
  2. Pick the profile Audio – MP3; the spanner button next to it sets the bitrate.
  3. Name the destination with .mp3 at the end and press Start.

Free and offline, and it converts a batch in one go.

ffmpeg Any computer, from the command line

  1. Install ffmpeg (on a Mac with Homebrew: brew install ffmpeg).
  2. Run ffmpeg -i take.wav -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 192k take.mp3 for an MP3 at 192 kbps.
  3. For a lossless FLAC instead, run ffmpeg -i take.wav take.flac.

The same LAME encoder this page uses. Best for a whole folder, and it writes FLAC too.

Frequently asked questions

How do I change an audio file from WAV to MP3?

Drop the WAV on the converter at the top of this page, pick 128, 192 or 320 kbps and press Convert to MP3; the MP3 saves to your downloads with the same name. Audacity, VLC and the Music app on a Mac do it too, with the steps above.

What does WAV stand for?

Waveform Audio File Format. Microsoft and IBM developed it in 1991, and it holds sound uncompressed, which is why WAV files are large.

Is WAV or MP3 better quality?

WAV, because it is uncompressed and an MP3 leaves some detail out. At 192 kbps or more, though, most people cannot hear the difference, and the MP3 is about a seventh of the size.

Is there a free way to convert WAV files to FLAC?

Yes. Audacity’s Export Audio dialog has FLAC as a format, and ffmpeg makes one with ffmpeg -i take.wav take.flac. Both are free and lossless. This page converts to MP3, not FLAC.

What is better, FLAC or WAV files?

They sound identical, since both are lossless. FLAC is about half the size and carries tags well, so it suits a library or an archive; WAV suits recording and editing software, and plays on iPhones and Macs without extra apps.

What is the best WAV to FLAC converter?

For most people, Audacity: it is free on Windows, Mac and Linux and shows the result before you export. For many files at once, ffmpeg or a batch tool such as fre:ac is quicker.

Is this WAV to MP3 converter free?

Yes, with no sign-up, watermark or limit on how many files you convert. It runs on your own computer, which is also why a long recording converts in a second or two.

Is my file uploaded?

No. Your WAV is read, converted and checked on your own computer, so there is no upload and no queue. In Chrome and Edge on a computer files of any size work, written straight to a file you choose; in other browsers, files up to 2.0 GB. We count anonymous page views and whether a conversion worked; when one fails, the event also carries the step, your browser’s error and the file’s codecs, size and length in broad bands, never the file or its name. If a conversion fails you can choose to send us the file, which is deleted within 30 days. See the privacy policy.

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