MP3 to WAV converter
Convert an MP3 into a WAV right here on the page. WAV is audio stored exactly as it was recorded, with nothing thrown away. Expect the WAV to be a good deal bigger, which is what keeping every detail costs. Your file never leaves your computer.
Need the other direction? Convert WAV to MP3
How to convert MP3 to WAV
- 1 Drop your MP3 .mp3 file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Check the options. Nothing is thrown away on the way to WAV, so there is no quality dial to set.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the WAV, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert MP3 to WAV
- You want a copy that will not get any worse each time you edit and save it, and WAV gives you that.
- Exactly as recorded, with nothing to unpack before it plays.
- Universally readable by audio software.
- Any step where further processing will happen.
- MP3: detail is thrown away, and converting again takes a little more.
MP3 compared with WAV
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | MP3 | WAV |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .mp3 | .wav |
| Compression | Lossy | Uncompressed |
| Colour depth | 16-bit output, 32 to 320 kbps | 8 to 32 bit, any sample rate |
| Typical file size | Smaller | Largest |
| Introduced | 1993 | 1991 |
| Developed by | Fraunhofer IIS | Microsoft and IBM |
Quality and what changes
WAV stores every pixel exactly, but it can only preserve what the MP3 already contained. The compression artefacts baked into the source are preserved perfectly along with everything else, so the picture does not improve, it just stops degrading. Expect the file to grow substantially, often several times over, because MP3 was discarding data that WAV now has to write out in full.
- One WAV limitation to keep in mind: roughly ten times the size of a good MP3.
Questions about MP3 to WAV
Does converting MP3 to WAV improve the quality?
No. WAV preserves what it is given perfectly, including the compression artefacts already present in the MP3. It stops further loss from happening, which is worth doing before editing, but it cannot recover detail that was discarded.
Why is my WAV bigger than the MP3?
Because MP3 was discarding data and WAV is not. A lossless format has to write out every pixel it is handed, artefacts included, so growing several times over is normal and does not mean anything went wrong.
Is my MP3 file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your MP3 is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as a WAV. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several MP3 files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate WAV downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.