Cookies for analytics and advertising
We use cookies for analytics and advertising, both sent to Google. Refusing changes nothing you can see.Read the privacy page
MP3 vs WAV
WAV is the original, MP3 is the copy you can send.
Choose MP3 when
Anywhere size matters: a phone, a podcast feed, an email. A tenth of the size and, at a sensible bitrate, indistinguishable to most listeners on most equipment.
Choose WAV when
Editing, mastering, and anything that will be processed again. WAV is uncompressed, so nothing has been thrown away yet and nothing accumulates.
The thing that catches people out
Converting MP3 back to WAV makes a large file, not a better one. What the MP3 discarded is gone; the WAV just stores the result without compressing it.
Side by side
| MP3 | WAV | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | MPEG Audio Layer III | Waveform Audio |
| Extension | .mp3 | .wav, .wave |
| Media type | audio/mpeg | audio/wav |
| Compression | Lossy — file size is bought with quality | Uncompressed |
| This site can write it | Yes | Yes |