WAV to MP3 Converter
Your files never leave your device
Conversion runs inside your browser using WebAssembly. Nothing is uploaded; the only downloads are this page and the conversion engine. You can confirm it in your browser's network tab.
Why convert WAV to MP3?
WAV files are large (about 10.6 MB per minute at CD quality); MP3 makes them small enough to email, upload or put on a phone.
What changes in the MP3
- Files shrink by about 7–8× at the quality used (from 1,411 kbps to around 190 kbps for CD-quality stereo).
- The encoding is lossy, but at VBR quality 2 the difference is inaudible to most listeners on most equipment.
- Sample rates above 48 kHz are reduced to 48 kHz, the maximum MP3 supports.
How Convertz converts it
FFmpeg (WebAssembly) encodes MP3 with LAME at VBR quality 2, typically 170–210 kbps, which most listeners can’t tell from the source. Title, artist and album tags are copied as ID3v2.3.
Everything happens on your device; the file is never uploaded.
Common pitfalls
- Keep the WAV as your master if you will edit, master or re-encode the audio later.
- Tags stored in WAV files are inconsistent between programs and may not all carry over.
WAV vs MP3
| Property | WAV | MP3 |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Waveform Audio File Format | MPEG-1 Audio Layer III |
| Compression | Uncompressed | Lossy |
| Transparency | — | — |
| Works with | All editing software, DAWs, samplers and CD-burning tools. | Every audio player, phone, car stereo and editing app. |
What is WAV?
Microsoft and IBM’s 1991 audio container, almost always holding uncompressed PCM audio. CD-quality stereo (16-bit, 44.1 kHz) takes about 10.6 MB per minute, and a WAV file can’t exceed 4 GB (about 6¾ hours at CD quality).
What is MP3?
The universal compressed audio format, standardised in 1993. It removes sounds that are masked by louder ones; at 190 kbps or more most listeners can’t tell it from the original. Its patents expired in 2017.
Related conversions
The converter also handles 22 input formats in total. See all formats