Convert AVI to MP3
Keep the voices and music from old AVI clips by converting them to MP3, a format that plays on phones, computers and car stereos.
Keep the voices and music from old AVI clips by converting them to MP3, a format that plays on phones, computers and car stereos.
AVI dates back to early versions of Windows and was the default for years: digital still cameras with a movie mode, early camcorders, capture cards used to digitize VHS tapes, and the DivX and Xvid files that filled hard drives in the 2000s. Many of those videos now sit in archive folders, and some modern players and phones no longer handle the older codecs inside them.
Extracting the audio as MP3 is a practical way to preserve what matters from those clips. The converter discards the video and writes an MP3 at a steady 192 kbps. Sample rate and channel count carry over from the source, with two exceptions: surround is mixed down to stereo, and anything above 48 kHz is resampled to 48 kHz. No settings screen, no decisions to make.
Old AVI files come from so many sources that it helps to know what you have. Right-click the file and open its properties, or play it in VLC and check the codec information, to see the size and audio format.
| AVI audio track | Typical origin | Conversion notes |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 | DivX and Xvid files | Decoded and encoded again at 192 kbps; no gain if the original was lower |
| Uncompressed PCM | Digital cameras, tape capture | Lossy MP3 from a lossless source, much smaller file |
| AC3 | Rips of DVDs | Surround mixed to stereo if present |
When the AVI already has MP3 audio, this is still a full re-encode, not a copy. If that original track was 128 kbps, the 192 kbps file you download is larger but sounds no better, and it carries one extra round of compression. The difference is usually hard to hear, but it's worth knowing if you are deciding which copy to keep.
PCM tracks from cameras are often mono and recorded at low sample rates, which was enough for home movies at the time. The MP3 keeps that sample rate and mono channel, so it will sound as narrow and muffled as the original did; conversion doesn't restore detail that was never captured. Stereo PCM from tape captures shrinks dramatically: a minute of 44.1 kHz stereo PCM is about 10 MB, while its MP3 version is around 1.44 MB.
Cut the AVI into shorter pieces with a video editor, or re-export it at a lower resolution or with a more efficient video codec; neither step needs to touch the audio. Then convert each part on its own.
Some capture setups recorded video only, and a few old cameras had no microphone. Check that the original AVI has audible sound in a media player. If it doesn't, there's no audio track for us to extract.
Sync problems between picture and sound don't matter once the picture is gone. The MP3 contains the audio track from start to finish as stored in the file.
For a lossless copy of camera PCM audio, the WAV converter is a better match. More general information on MP3 output is on the MP3 converter page.
| Full name | MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer III |
|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy |
| Developed by | Fraunhofer IIS / MPEG |
| Introduced | 1993 |
| File extension | .mp3 |
| Typically used for | Music libraries, podcasts, everyday listening |
| Plays on | Virtually every phone, computer, browser, car stereo and media player |
| Our output | LAME MP3, 192 kbps CBR, stereo |
No. Conversion keeps what's in the original audio track and can't add detail. Many early digital cameras recorded mono sound at a low sample rate, and the MP3 keeps that same sample rate and channel count. It will sound essentially the same as the video did, just in a more convenient format.
No, the audio is decoded and encoded again at 192 kbps. If the original track was a lower bitrate, such as 128 kbps, the new file is larger without sounding better, and it goes through one more round of compression. The difference is normally hard to hear.
Split it into shorter parts with a video editor, or re-export it with a more efficient video codec or lower resolution, which reduces size without changing the audio. Then upload and convert each part. Tape captures with little or no video compression are the files most likely to be too large.
The AVI most likely has no audio track. Some capture setups recorded only the picture, and a few older cameras had no microphone. Check the original in a media player such as VLC; if it plays silently there, there is no audio to extract.
No. The converter runs in your browser on a computer or phone, and the conversion happens on our servers. There is no sign-up. Your uploaded AVI is deleted once the MP3 is created, and the MP3 itself is removed automatically within about an hour.
Need detailed information or want to set a different default format? Visit our specific converter pages: