Convert WAV to MP3
Turn a large WAV recording into a 192 kbps MP3 that is easy to email, upload or play anywhere. Free, no sign-up, files up to 50 MB.
Turn a large WAV recording into a 192 kbps MP3 that is easy to email, upload or play anywhere. Free, no sign-up, files up to 50 MB.
WAV is the format most recorders, DAWs and sound cards write by default because it stores audio as plain, uncompressed PCM. That makes it ideal while you are recording or editing, and awkward everywhere else: a single song can be too large for an email attachment, a chat app or a website upload field. Turning it into MP3 keeps the sound close to the original while cutting the file to a fraction of its size.
Every MP3 this page produces uses the same settings: LAME MP3 at 192 kbps constant bitrate. The sample rate of your WAV is kept as long as it is 48 kHz or lower, mono files stay mono and stereo stays stereo. There are no options to set, so the result is predictable every time.
CD-quality stereo WAV runs at about 1,411 kbps. At 192 kbps, the MP3 needs roughly one seventh of that, so a 50 MB WAV comes back as a file of around 7 MB. The table shows typical per-minute sizes for common WAV flavors next to what you get out.
| WAV source | Approx. size per minute | Longest file under 50 MB | MP3 output per minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, mono | 5 MB | about 10 minutes | 1.44 MB |
| 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, stereo | 10.1 MB | about 5 minutes | 1.44 MB |
| 24-bit, 48 kHz, stereo | 16.5 MB | about 3 minutes | 1.44 MB |
| 24-bit, 96 kHz, stereo | 33 MB | about 1.5 minutes | 1.44 MB |
Because the bitrate is fixed, the output size depends only on duration, not on how the WAV was recorded.
MP3 is lossy. The encoder throws away detail it predicts you are unlikely to hear, and that detail cannot be recovered later. At 192 kbps most listeners on headphones or speakers will not notice a difference on typical music or speech, but the MP3 is a delivery copy, not a master. Keep the original WAV if you might remix, re-edit or re-encode it later.
If you would rather keep every bit of the original while still saving some space, WAV to FLAC is a lossless alternative, though the savings are smaller.
Long takes and full live sets usually are. Since this tool does not trim, split the recording into shorter parts in your editor, or export a mono version if the source is a single voice, then convert each part.
A 96 kHz or 192 kHz WAV is resampled to 48 kHz for the MP3, and bit depth stops mattering once audio is MP3-encoded. That is expected and not a flaw of the conversion; the 192 kbps encode is the real limit on fidelity.
Six-channel or other surround WAV files are downmixed to stereo, because the MP3 output is limited to mono or two channels.
WAV files can hold artist info, cue points or broadcast metadata, but support for these varies. Don't count on any of it carrying over; add tags to the MP3 afterward in a tag editor if they matter.
Your upload is deleted as soon as the MP3 is ready, and the MP3 itself is cleaned up automatically within about an hour. For other target formats, see the WAV converter.
| WAV | MP3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Waveform Audio File Format | MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer III |
| Compression | Uncompressed (PCM) | Lossy |
| Developed by | Microsoft and IBM | Fraunhofer IIS / MPEG |
| Introduced | 1991 | 1993 |
| File extension | .wav | .mp3 |
| Typically used for | Recording, editing, mastering, broadcast | Music libraries, podcasts, everyday listening |
| Plays on | All desktop systems and audio editors; most phones and browsers | Virtually every phone, computer, browser, car stereo and media player |
| Our output | 16-bit PCM, original sample rate and channels | LAME MP3, 192 kbps CBR, stereo |
A standard 16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo WAV runs at about 1,411 kbps, while the MP3 is 192 kbps, so the MP3 is roughly seven times smaller. In practice, a minute of CD-quality WAV takes about 10 MB and the same minute as MP3 takes about 1.44 MB. High-resolution WAV files shrink even more.
Yes, a little. MP3 is a lossy format, so some audio detail is permanently removed during encoding. At 192 kbps constant bitrate the difference is usually hard to hear on everyday music and speech, but the MP3 should be treated as a listening copy. Keep your original WAV if you plan to edit or re-encode it later.
No. The converter has no settings, so every MP3 is encoded with LAME at 192 kbps CBR. The sample rate is kept up to 48 kHz, higher rates are resampled to 48 kHz, and mono or stereo is preserved. Fixed settings keep results consistent, but if you need a specific bitrate you would have to use a desktop encoder.
The upload limit is 50 MB per file, which is about five minutes of CD-quality stereo WAV. Split the recording into shorter parts in an audio editor such as Audacity, or export a mono version if it is a single voice, then convert each file separately. The converter itself cannot trim or split audio.
It converts normally. MP3 has no bit depth setting, so a 24-bit source simply becomes a 192 kbps MP3, and sample rates above 48 kHz are resampled to 48 kHz. Keep in mind that hi-res WAV files are large, so a 24-bit, 96 kHz stereo file reaches the 50 MB limit after only about a minute and a half.
Need detailed information or want to set a different default format? Visit our specific converter pages: