WAV is uncompressed audio: every sample your recorder or software produced, stored as is. That is ideal while you record, edit and mix, and it is what audio software, field recorders and voiceover clients usually work with. It is also big. A three minute song exported from a DAW as 24-bit, 48 kHz stereo is about 50 MB, too large for most email attachments and slow to send to a phone.
MP3 is how you share that audio once the work is done. This converter makes the MP3 on our server from WAV files (and FLAC, M4A, OGG and other audio), with the size difference shown before you convert.
How to convert WAV to MP3
- Drop the WAV onto the box above or click to choose it. The drop box shows today's size and length limits; WAV files reach them sooner than compressed formats, so check long recordings.
- Pick 128, 192 or 320 kbps. The line below shows the length, the expected MP3 size and how many times smaller it is than your WAV.
- Click Convert to MP3. Large WAV files spend most of their time uploading; the conversion itself is quick.
- The MP3 downloads and plays on the result screen so you can listen before sending it on.
How much smaller the MP3 is
WAV size depends on bit depth, sample rate and channels. MP3 size depends only on bitrate and length:
| Audio | Per minute | A 3 minute track |
|---|---|---|
| WAV, 16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo (CD quality) | about 10 MB | about 32 MB |
| WAV, 24-bit, 48 kHz stereo (common DAW export) | about 17 MB | about 52 MB |
| MP3, 320 kbps | about 2.4 MB | about 7 MB |
| MP3, 192 kbps | about 1.4 MB | about 4.3 MB |
| MP3, 128 kbps | about 1 MB | about 2.9 MB |
Figures are in megabytes of a million bytes; the tool shows the exact numbers for your file. A mono voice recording is half the WAV size, while the MP3 stays the same size per minute at the bitrate you choose.
Check your WAV's format
To know what you are converting, look at the file's details. On Windows, right-click the WAV, choose Properties > Details and read Bit rate, Audio sample size and Channels. On a Mac, select it in Finder and choose File > Get Info. The free MediaInfo app shows everything on both. A bit rate of 1,411 kbps is CD quality (16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo); 2,304 kbps is 24-bit, 48 kHz stereo.
Which bitrate for which job
- 320 kbps: finished music for clients, bandmates, demos and reference copies. Very hard to tell from the WAV on most systems.
- 192 kbps: previews, rough mixes for feedback, music for social clips. A good balance of size and quality.
- 128 kbps: voiceover auditions, spoken word, podcast drafts, meeting recordings. Speech stays clear at a third of the 320 kbps size.
Tip: Always make MP3s from the WAV, never from another MP3. Each MP3 conversion throws away detail, and converting an MP3 again at a higher bitrate cannot bring it back.
Leave headroom before you convert
MP3 encoding slightly changes the shape of the waveform, and a master that peaks right at 0 dBFS can clip a little after conversion, which you may hear as crackle on loud hits. Mastering engineers leave about 1 dB of headroom for lossy formats: set your limiter's ceiling to around -1 dBTP before exporting the WAV you will convert. Speech recordings rarely come that close to full scale and do not need this.
Mono or stereo?
A voice recorded with one microphone is often saved as a stereo WAV with the same signal on both sides, which doubles the WAV size for nothing. The MP3 keeps whatever channels the WAV has. If your editor shows two identical channels, export the WAV as mono first; at the same bitrate a mono MP3 spends all its data on one channel, which helps speech at 128 kbps.
Where WAV files come from
DAW exports
GarageBand, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Reaper and Pro Tools all bounce mixes to WAV (or AIFF on Macs). Export your master in WAV for distribution and archiving, then convert a copy for listening.
Field and podcast recorders
Handheld recorders and audio interfaces record WAV so nothing is lost before editing. Interviews and lectures recorded this way take a lot of space; once edited, an MP3 at 128 kbps is plenty for listening and transcription.
Voiceovers and sound effects
Voice actors deliver WAV to clients, and sound libraries ship WAV. For auditions and approval rounds, an MP3 is easier to send and play on a phone. If you produce voiceovers from scripts, AM Jarvis Voice Studio turns a script into narration with natural voices and timed captions and exports both MP3 and WAV, so you can skip this step.
A worked example
A producer needs to send a 4 minute 10 second mix to a singer for feedback. The 24-bit, 48 kHz WAV is about 72 MB, over the 25 MB attachment limit of Gmail and Outlook.com as of October 2026. At 320 kbps the MP3 is about 10 MB and attaches to any email. The singer plays it on a phone in the car; the producer keeps the WAV for the next session.
A second example: a voice actor auditions for an online casting call that asks for MP3 files under 5 MB. The WAV of a 60 second read is 10.6 MB at CD quality. At 192 kbps the MP3 is about 1.4 MB, well under the limit, and the read sounds the same on the casting director's laptop.
What changes and what stays the same
- Same length and channels. A mono WAV gives a mono MP3, stereo stays stereo.
- Sample rate: 44.1 and 48 kHz files keep their rate. High resolution WAVs (88.2, 96 or 192 kHz) are brought down to a rate MP3 supports, which has no audible downside for listening copies.
- Bit depth does not exist in MP3; the encoder works from the full 24-bit signal.
- Markers, regions and broadcast metadata in the WAV are not carried over.
Converting on a phone
Field recorders and some phone apps save WAV straight to a phone. Open this page in Safari or Chrome, tap the box and pick the WAV from Files. Large WAVs take a while to upload over mobile data, so use Wi-Fi for anything over a few minutes. The MP3 saves to Downloads, ready to share or upload from the phone.
Privacy and limits
Your WAV is uploaded over HTTPS, converted and deleted when the job ends; the MP3 is deleted 30 minutes after it is ready. Long, high resolution WAVs can hit the size limit shown in the drop box. If they do, export the mix again at 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, which is a third of the size of 24-bit 96 kHz, or split long recordings. For audio that started as video, use MP4 to MP3; to go the other way, from MP3 or video to WAV for editing, use MP4 to WAV.
Troubleshooting
The MP3 is quieter or louder than I expected
The converter keeps the level of the WAV exactly. If a mix is quiet, normalize or master it before exporting.
There is a click at the start or end
MP3 adds a few milliseconds of padding. For gapless albums, players that support gapless MP3 playback remove it; otherwise use the WAV or AAC for those tracks.
The file is refused as too large
Export at 16-bit, 44.1 kHz or split the recording, then convert each part.