WAV to MP3 shrinks large WAV recordings into MP3 files that play on every phone, car and computer. Pick the quality, convert and download; it runs in your browser, works on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, and the WAV is never uploaded.
How to convert WAV to MP3
- Choose a .wav file.
- MP3 is already selected under Save as. Pick the quality.
- Click Convert, listen to the preview and download the MP3.
WAV vs MP3
| WAV | MP3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | Lossless | Very close at 192–320 kbit/s |
| Size of 3 minutes | about 30 MB | about 3–7 MB |
| Plays on | Most devices | Every device |
Why WAV files are so big
WAV stores every sample without compression. A minute of CD-quality stereo (16-bit, 44.1 kHz) is about 10 MB; a minute from a recorder at 24-bit, 48 kHz is about 17 MB. Audio interfaces, field recorders, recording software, call recorders and CD rips all produce WAV, which is why an hour of recording can easily be 600 MB or more.
Which quality for which WAV
| Your WAV | Quality | 3 minutes as MP3 |
|---|---|---|
| A finished song or mix | 320 kbit/s | about 7 MB |
| Music for phones and streaming to friends | 192 kbit/s | about 4.3 MB |
| Voice recording, podcast, interview | 128 kbit/s | about 2.9 MB |
What happens to the audio
- Sample rate: 44.1 and 48 kHz are kept. Higher rates (88.2, 96, 192 kHz) become 48 kHz.
- Bit depth: 24-bit and 32-bit float WAV files are read at full precision before encoding.
- Channels: mono stays mono, stereo stays stereo. Files with more than two channels are mixed down to stereo.
Tips
- If you are going to edit the recording, do that first and convert to MP3 at the end, so the sound is compressed only once.
- To clean up or level a voice recording, the Noise Reduction and Volume Booster tools read the WAV and save MP3 directly, in one step.
- For a smaller file than MP3 at the same quality, M4A / AAC is also offered under Save as.