WAV to MP3 Converter
Convert a WAV to MP3 in your browser. WAV is uncompressed PCM — beautiful quality, but huge file sizes that fill up phones, fail to attach to emails, and get rejected by upload limits. MP3 keeps the audio listenable while shrinking the file 10× or more. No upload, no signup.
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Stays on your device
Your audio is decoded into your browser's memory by the Web Audio API, re-encoded by a JavaScript library running in the same tab, and the result goes straight to your downloads. No upload, no log, no third party. Sensitive recordings, voice memos, copyrighted tracks — none of it leaves your machine.
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WAV → MP3 done right
WAV files are typically 10MB per minute of stereo audio. MP3 at 192 kbps is about 1.4MB per minute — same length, roughly 7× smaller, indistinguishable to most ears. That tradeoff is why MP3 dominated music distribution for two decades.
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Quality control
Pick the MP3 bitrate that matches your use case — 128 kbps for podcasts and voice (smaller files), 192 kbps for music (our default, near-CD quality), or 320 kbps for archival (best fidelity, largest files).
Frequently asked questions
Does my audio ever leave my device?
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser. We decode your file using the Web Audio API and re-encode it using a JavaScript encoder library, all in your browser tab. Open DevTools while you convert — you'll see zero traffic carrying your audio.
Is there a file size limit?
No fixed limit from us. The real ceiling is your device's memory: decoded audio sits in RAM as raw PCM, which is roughly 10 MB per minute of stereo audio at 44.1 kHz. A typical 5-minute song needs about 50 MB of working memory — fine on any modern phone or laptop. Hour-long podcasts may struggle on older devices.
Will the conversion change the audio quality?
MP3 is a lossy format, so encoding to MP3 always involves some quality loss compared to the source. At 192 kbps (our default), the difference is inaudible to most listeners on most playback hardware. WAV is lossless — if you're converting TO WAV, the output is bit-identical to what your source decoded into. If you're converting FROM a lossy source (MP3, M4A), the WAV won't be higher quality than the source — it'll just be uncompressed.
How long does conversion take?
Decoding is near-instant. Encoding speed depends on output format: WAV is essentially instant (just writing bytes). MP3 takes about 1 second of compute per 10 seconds of audio on a modern laptop — so a 5-minute song encodes in roughly 30 seconds. Phones are slower; expect 2-3x longer. Progress is shown live as the encoder works.
Does this work on mobile?
Yes. Tap the drop zone to open the file picker, choose your audio file, hit Convert. The result downloads to your device's standard download location. iOS users: the file lands in the Files app under Downloads.
What about ID3 tags (artist, album, song title)?
Original ID3 tags are not preserved in v1 — the encoded file gets no metadata. The audio itself is preserved exactly. If you need to keep artist/album/title info, you'll want to re-tag the output with a tool like MP3Tag (Windows) or Kid3 (cross-platform) after converting.
How much smaller will the MP3 be?
Roughly 7-10× smaller at 192 kbps. A 50MB WAV typically encodes down to 5-7MB. At 320 kbps you'll see closer to 4× reduction; at 128 kbps you'll see 12-15× reduction. The result panel shows you the exact before/after sizes.
Will I lose audio quality?
Some, technically — MP3 is lossy and discards information that's hard for humans to perceive. At 192 kbps (default), most listeners can't tell the difference from the original WAV in a blind test. At 320 kbps, the difference is essentially academic. If you need perfect fidelity for archival or further editing, keep the WAV.
What bitrate should I pick?
128 kbps for podcasts, audiobooks, and voice recordings (smaller files, perfectly intelligible). 192 kbps for music — our default, sweet spot of size vs quality. 320 kbps for archival or critical listening — the highest MP3 quality available.
What if my WAV has a non-standard sample rate?
MP3 supports specific sample rates: 8/11.025/12/16/22.05/24/32/44.1/48 kHz. Most WAV files use one of these (44.1 or 48 kHz are by far the most common). If your WAV uses an unusual rate, you'll see a helpful error message telling you what's wrong.