What bitrate should I choose?

128 kbps: Good for speech, podcasts, audiobooks. 192 kbps: Transparent for most music on typical listening setups — our recommended default. 256 kbps: High quality, suitable for music archiving and critical listening. 320 kbps: Maximum MP3 quality, imperceptibly close to lossless for most listeners. If you're uploading to a streaming service like Spotify, they recommend at least 192 kbps and will re-encode it anyway.

Will I be able to hear the difference between WAV and MP3 at 192 kbps?

For the vast majority of listeners in casual listening environments, no. ABX listening tests consistently show that most people cannot reliably distinguish 192 kbps MP3 from the original WAV. Audiophiles with high-end equipment and trained ears may perceive subtle differences on certain types of music (high-frequency content in cymbals and strings).

What is the LAME encoder and why does it matter?

LAME is the open-source MP3 encoder developed collaboratively over 20+ years and regarded as producing the highest-quality MP3 output of any encoder. It's what FFmpeg uses internally. The "-q:a 2" setting enables LAME's variable bitrate mode at near-maximum quality, which produces slightly better results than constant bitrate at the same average file size.

Can I convert WAV files from a digital recorder or field recorder?

Yes. 24-bit WAV files from recorders like Zoom H5 or Tascam are supported. The output will be converted to 16-bit stereo MP3. The 24-bit to 16-bit conversion involves dithering, which is handled by FFmpeg automatically and is inaudible.

Does the MP3 preserve stereo from the WAV?

Yes. Stereo WAV files produce stereo MP3 files. At bitrates of 192 kbps and above, true stereo encoding is used. At 128 kbps, LAME may apply joint stereo optimization, which improves quality by encoding the stereo difference signal more efficiently — it doesn't reduce to mono.

Convert WAV to MP3 — Compress for Sharing

WAV files are large — a 3-minute song can be 30 MB or more. Converting to MP3 at 192 kbps or higher produces files that are 10–12× smaller while retaining excellent audio quality suitable for music streaming, podcasting, and sharing. This converter uses the LAME MP3 encoder (the gold standard for MP3 quality) running via FFmpeg in your browser. No upload required.

Audio Bitrate

Drop files here

or browse to upload

Up to 500.0 MB per file

How to use this tool

Upload your WAV file
Drop a WAV audio file. Up to 500 MB is supported — large WAV files from studios or recordings are common at this size. Multiple file simultaneous conversion is not supported; convert files one at a time.
Choose your bitrate
192 kbps is our default — transparent quality for most listeners on headphones or speakers. Use 128 kbps for voice/podcast content or when file size is critical. Use 256–320 kbps when archiving music or when golden-ear quality is required.
Click Convert
FFmpeg encodes the WAV to MP3 using LAME with the -q:a 2 variable bitrate setting for additional quality. Progress is shown in real time.
Download your MP3
The MP3 is ready to upload to Spotify for Artists, SoundCloud, podcast hosts, YouTube, or share directly. Compatible with every audio player ever made.

Frequently asked questions

Convert MP3 to WAV Convert FLAC to MP3 Convert M4A to MP3 Convert OGG to MP3 Convert AAC to MP3 Extract Audio from Video

Convert WAV to MP3 — Compress for Sharing

How to use this tool

Frequently asked questions

You might also need