WAV to MP3 converter
Convert WAV to MP3 in your browser. No upload and no account: the file never leaves your device, so the only size limit is your device’s memory.
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Every request this page makes is listed as it happens. You’ll see our own code loading, and for some formats a codec engine, but never your file going out.
- Waiting for network activity…
Check it yourself: open your browser’s developer tools on the Network tab, or turn off Wi-Fi once the page has loaded. The tools keep working.
Related conversions
Need it the other way round? Convert MP3 to WAVConvert other formats to MP3
Read more about the WAV format and the MP3 format, or see every audio tool and all audio conversions.
Should you convert WAV to MP3?
WAV recordings are about 10 MB per minute — too big for email and chat apps. MP3 cuts that by around 90% with little audible difference.
A good trade for listening and sharing: MP3 is a fraction of the size of WAV, and at 192 kbps or more the difference is inaudible for most people. Keep the WAV as your master if you’ll edit or convert again.
WAV is uncompressed, studio-quality audio; MP3 is the most compatible lossy audio format ever made. Use MP3 when you don’t know what will play the file: cars, old players, podcasts hosts and upload forms all take it.
How to convert WAV to MP3
- 01
Add your WAV
Drop your WAV file onto the box, or click to choose it. It is read from your disk and stays there.
- 02
Check the settings
The output is already set to MP3. Change the bitrate if you want to; the defaults suit most files.
- 03
Save the MP3
Press convert and save the MP3. Several files come back together as a ZIP.
What changes when WAV becomes MP3
From lossless to lossy
WAV holds every sample; MP3 keeps what the ear notices and discards the rest. Pick the bitrate by use: 128 kbps for speech, 192 to 256 kbps for music.
Expect a much smaller file
WAV: About 10 MB a minute at CD quality. MP3: About 1 MB a minute at 128 kbps, 2.4 MB at 320 kbps. Shrinking the file is often the main reason to make this conversion.
This page is put together from our notes on each format, choosing only what is true of WAV and MP3, so every pairing states the same facts the same way. How these pages are made.
Why it doesn’t upload
Recordings are often private: interviews, voice notes, unreleased music. Your browser can decode and encode audio itself, so there is no reason to send it anywhere.
How to check for yourselfWorth knowing
- About the WAV. A WAV made from an MP3 is ten times bigger but sounds exactly like the MP3; the lost detail doesn’t come back.
- About the MP3. Converting a low-bitrate MP3 to 320 kbps makes it bigger without making it sound any better; what was thrown away is gone.
- MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, Opus and FLAC are converted by your browser directly. WMA, AMR, APE, AC3 and the other specialist formats use the FFmpeg engine, a one-time 31 MB download.
Questions
Does converting WAV to MP3 lose quality?
MP3 is lossy, so a little is discarded, but at the default bitrate the difference is inaudible for nearly everyone.
Will an MP3 play in my car or on my phone?
MP3 opens everywhere: every phone, computer, car stereo, speaker and app.
Read more about this
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