How to Convert WAV to MP3 and Shrink Recordings

To convert WAV to MP3, compress the uncompressed WAV audio into an MP3, which cuts the file to roughly a seventh of its size with no difference most people can hear. A minute of CD-quality WAV is about 10.6 MB; as an MP3 from our audio converter it's about 1.4 MB. That makes recordings easy to email, message or keep. It's a pro tool; a free account can try it on audio files up to 30 seconds.

Why WAV files are so big

WAV stores sound uncompressed: every sample, exactly as recorded. The size depends only on the recording settings, not on what's in it, so a minute of silence is as big as a minute of music.

WAV settings	Size per minute	Fits in 500 MB
16-bit, 44.1 kHz, mono (voice recorders)	about 5.3 MB	about 94 minutes
16-bit, 44.1 kHz, stereo (CD quality)	about 10.6 MB	about 47 minutes
16-bit, 48 kHz, stereo (video, many interfaces)	about 11.5 MB	about 43 minutes
24-bit, 48 kHz, stereo (studio and podcast recording)	about 17.3 MB	about 29 minutes

The converter also caps files at 60 minutes, so a mono WAV stops at 60 minutes even though more would fit in 500 MB. An MP3 from the converter is about 1.4 MB per minute whatever the WAV settings. A 3-minute song goes from about 32 MB to about 4 MB, and a 10-minute interview from about 106 MB to about 14 MB.

When to convert, and when to keep WAV

Convert to MP3 when you're finished and want to:

• send a recording by email, WhatsApp or a file link;
• play it in a car, on a phone or on any old player;
• upload it to a site or a form that takes MP3, or has a size limit;
• store a lot of recordings without filling your drive.

Keep the WAV when you're still working on it. If you'll edit, mix, or clean up the audio, do it on the WAV and convert the final version once. Every edit-and-save of an MP3 can lose a little more detail. Keep your master WAV (or a FLAC, which is lossless at about half the size) for anything you might re-edit. For a full comparison, see MP3 vs WAV.

Step by step

1. Open the audio converter and sign in.
2. Under Convert to, choose MP3 (the default).
3. Under Choose a file, pick your .wav file. Files can be up to 500 MB and 60 minutes; see the table above for how long a WAV that allows.
4. Press Start, then Download result. Your MP3 is kept for 1 hour.

Recordings with very high sample rates (such as 96 kHz) are brought down to 48 kHz, and surround recordings to stereo, which MP3 players expect.

What bitrate do you get?

There's no bitrate setting to worry about. Every MP3 is saved with a variable bitrate averaging around 190 kbps: the encoder spends more bits on complex passages and fewer on simple ones, at a consistent high quality.

Here's how that compares with fixed bitrates you might know:

MP3 bitrate	Size per minute	Typical use
128 kbps	about 0.96 MB	Speech, background listening
~190 kbps (variable, what you get)	about 1.4 MB	Music and voice, hard to tell from the original
320 kbps	about 2.4 MB	The highest MP3 setting; little audible gain for most listeners

For speech it's more than enough; for music it's a good balance between size and quality. What is audio bitrate explains the numbers in more depth.

Trying it free

The audio converter is a pro tool. A free account can try it on audio files up to 30 seconds, with 5 free tries a day across all our pro tools, enough to hear the result on your own recording before you commit. Longer files need a plan.

Recordings longer than the limit

A long event or a 24-bit podcast session can be over 500 MB. Options:

• Export in parts from your recorder or audio editor, for example per speaker segment or per hour, and convert each part.
• Export as mono if it's a single voice; that halves the WAV size.
• Cut out what you don't need first. The free MP3 cutter opens WAV files your browser can play (up to 200 MB), and saves the part you keep as a WAV on your device, with nothing uploaded.

Polish before you convert

Since conversion should be the last step, do the clean-up on the WAV:

• Trim dead air at the start and end with the free MP3 cutter; see how to trim silence from a recording.
• Reduce hum, hiss and traffic noise with remove background noise, another pro tool; see how to remove background noise from audio. For an audio file it hands back an MP3 already, so there is nothing left to convert.
• Otherwise convert to MP3 for sharing.

Your files and privacy

Conversion runs on our servers, so your file is uploaded. It's deleted as soon as it's converted, and your MP3 is available to download for 1 hour, then deleted too.

Shrink your WAV

Choose MP3 and convert your recording with the audio converter. Files up to 30 seconds can be tried with a free account.