WAV to MP3 Converter
Turn large WAV recordings, studio bounces and voice-recorder files into MP3s small enough to email, upload or keep on a phone.
Audio Converter
or drag MP3, WAV, M4A … files here ·
Up to 95 MB each· 20 files at once· Removed after 30 min
Your files are removed from our servers 30 minutes after processing.
Constant bitrate (CBR) gives a predictable size and works on every player. Variable bitrate (VBR) spends bits where the music needs them and is usually smaller at the same quality.
Keep the source rate unless a device asks for one. 44.1 kHz is CD standard, 48 kHz is video standard, 8 kHz is used by phone systems and AMR.
Mono halves the size of lossless files and is fine for voice recordings.
16-bit is CD quality. 24-bit keeps headroom for editing and mastering; converting a 16-bit source up does not add detail.
Optional. Seconds (e.g. 75) or minutes:seconds (1:15). Leave empty to start at the beginning.
Optional. Same format as the start time. Leave empty to keep everything up to the end.
Files are deleted 30 minutes after processingPrivacy policy
A WAV stores every sample uncompressed; as MP3 the same recording takes a fraction of the space and plays on every device.
Where all those megabytes come from
WAV is the working format of audio. Field recorders, audio interfaces, DAWs such as Audacity or GarageBand and many dictation devices write WAV because it stores the raw samples with no compression, which makes editing fast and lossless. Microsoft and IBM introduced the format in 1991, and it is still what most studios exchange.
Raw samples add up quickly. CD-quality stereo, 44,100 samples per second at 16 bits on two channels, comes to 1,411,200 bits for every second of sound. A three-minute song is around 30 MB, an hour-long interview several hundred, and recordings at 48 or 96 kHz and 24 bits are larger still. Mail services, chat apps and upload forms often refuse files that size.
WAV's simplicity is also why it travels badly. The format carries little room for tags, so files from a recorder often arrive named only by date and number, and many consumer apps treat them as raw material rather than music. MP3, by contrast, has carried title, artist and cover fields for decades and is recognized by every player, from car stereos to smart speakers.
WAV
WAV audio
The Waveform Audio File format Microsoft and IBM introduced in 1991. It usually stores uncompressed audio, so there is no quality loss and files are large. Recording studios, audio editors and sound effect libraries use it, and every computer can play it.
- Lossless
- Vendor format
MP3
MP3 audio
MPEG-1 Audio Layer III, developed largely at Fraunhofer IIS and standardized in 1993. Its lossy compression made digital music portable, and it remains the most widely supported audio format. Every phone, car stereo, browser and media player can play it.
- Lossy
- Open standard
Why convertGoing from WAV to MP3 is the step from a working file to a delivery file: the size drops to a fraction and the sound stays close to the source, but the MP3 is not meant for further editing. Keep the WAV for that, and send the MP3.
1,411 kbps
the data rate of CD-quality WAV: 44.1 kHz, 16-bit, stereo.
The preset MP3 rate of 192 kbps is about a seventh of that. At 95 MB per upload, a CD-quality WAV can be about nine minutes long.
Convert WAV recordings to MP3
Upload the WAV files
Drop up to 20 .wav files on the box above, or press Choose Files. Each file can be up to 95 MB.
Pick a bitrate
192 kbps is preset. Use 320 kbps for a finished mix you want to share, or 128 kbps with Mono for speech.
Convert and download
Press Convert to MP3. Download the files one by one or together when they are ready.
WAV to MP3 questions
How much smaller is an MP3 than a WAV?
CD-quality WAV runs at 1,411 kbps. An MP3 at 192 kbps uses about a seventh of that data rate, and one at 128 kbps about an eleventh. Recordings at higher sample rates or bit depths gain even more, because the MP3 rate stays the same while the WAV rate grows.
My WAV is bigger than 95 MB. What can I do?
At CD quality, 95 MB holds about nine minutes of stereo audio. Split longer recordings into parts with Trim Audio, or export them from your recorder as mono, which halves the size.
Which bitrate is best for a song I mixed myself?
Use 320 kbps for sharing a finished mix; it is the MP3 maximum and keeps the most detail. Keep the WAV as your master for mastering, streaming distributors or later edits.
Will a 24-bit WAV convert correctly?
Yes. 24-bit and 32-bit float WAV files are read normally. The MP3 does not store bit depth as such, so the result is the same kind of MP3 as from a 16-bit file.
Do WAV recordings keep their names and tags as MP3?
The file name is kept. WAV files often carry little or no tag information, so the MP3 may have empty title and artist fields; add them in your music app afterwards if you need them.
Should I normalize a quiet field recording?
If it is hard to hear, yes. Normalize volume under Trim & volume raises the level evenly. For music that has already been mastered, leave it off.
Common reasons to convert
Most WAV to MP3 conversions happen when a recording is finished and needs to go somewhere. The settings that suit each case differ a little, mainly in bitrate and in whether stereo is needed at all.
Whichever case applies, convert from the original WAV rather than from an MP3 you made earlier. Each lossy encode removes a little more detail, so a fresh MP3 from the uncompressed source always sounds better than one made from another MP3, even at the same bitrate.
Sending a mix for feedback
320 kbps keeps the detail a collaborator needs to judge the mix, at a size that attaches to an email.
Podcast and course uploads
Many hosts and learning platforms ask for MP3. 128 to 192 kbps is common for spoken episodes.
Listening on the go
MP3 copies of rehearsal or lesson recordings fit on a phone without filling it.
Archiving dictation
Mono at 64 to 96 kbps keeps speech clear and makes long recordings small enough to keep.
Settings worth knowing
Bitrate is the main choice. The preset 192 kbps suits most music and mixed batches; raise it to 256 or 320 kbps for finished songs, and lower it for speech. Bitrate mode stays on Constant (CBR), which every player reads correctly; Variable (VBR) is often smaller at the same quality.
Channels can be set to Mono for single-microphone recordings such as interviews, lectures and voice notes; it halves the data with no loss in how the voice sounds. Sample rate stays at Same as source unless a platform asks for a specific rate. With Start at and End at you can drop the count-in at the start of a take or the silence at the end while converting.
If a recording is longer than the 95 MB upload limit allows, cut it into parts first with Trim Audio and convert the parts in one batch. For mono speech the limit covers about twice as much time as for stereo music, since a single channel holds half the data.
Up to 20 WAV files go in one batch. Uploads are deleted after processing and the MP3s 30 minutes later. For FLAC or other lossless targets that keep every sample, use the main Audio Converter; for a recording that is already MP3 but still too large, Compress Audio lowers its bitrate.
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