WAV to MP3 Converter
Convert WAV to MP3 free — no upload, no signup
To convert WAV to MP3, drop your WAV audio files into the box below and click Convert. Fylo converts with ffmpeg running inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there's no signup or watermark. A 32 MB WAV song typically shrinks to about 4 MB.
Drop audio files here
or tap to browse · paste with Ctrl+V · add many at once
Your files never leave your device
Advanced
How to convert WAV to MP3
Add your WAV files
Drag and drop WAV files into the box or tap to choose them. The converter engine (about 31 MB) downloads once, the first time you convert.
Pick a bitrate
192 kbps suits music and 128 kbps or less suits speech. Sample rate and mono/stereo are under Advanced.
Convert and download
Click Convert, then download each MP3 file or all of them as one ZIP.
Why convert WAV to MP3?
WAV recordings from voice recorders, DAWs and field recorders are too big to email, upload or put on a phone. MP3 is small and plays everywhere.
What happens when you convert WAV to MP3?
Fylo encodes with LAME at 192 kbps by default — transparent for most listeners — reducing size by around 85%. Choose 320 kbps for maximum quality or 128 kbps for speech.
How does Fylo convert WAV to MP3?
Fylo decodes the PCM audio in the WAV with ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly and encodes it with the LAME MP3 encoder at 192 kbps (adjustable from 96 to 320 kbps). Going from lossless to lossy is where the big saving happens: a 3-minute song is ≈ 32 MB as WAV but ≈ 4.3 MB at 192 kbps as MP3. The original sample rate and channel layout are kept unless you change them under Advanced.
What's the difference between WAV and MP3?
WAV was introduced by Microsoft and IBM in 1991 and, like AVI, uses the RIFF container. Most WAVs hold uncompressed PCM audio: CD quality (44.1 kHz, 16-bit, stereo) runs at 1,411 kbps, or about 10.6 MB per minute.
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) was developed largely at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute and standardised in 1993. It removes sounds the ear is unlikely to notice — a technique called perceptual coding — so a 3-minute song takes about 4 MB at 192 kbps instead of about 32 MB as WAV. The last MP3 patents expired in 2017, so it's now free to use.
Learn more: WAV format guide · MP3 format guide
| Property | WAV | MP3 |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | None (PCM) | Lossy |
| Typical bitrate | 1,411 kbps (CD quality) | 128–320 kbps |
| 3-minute song | ≈ 32 MB | ≈ 4.3 MB at 192 kbps |
| Tags and cover art | Limited | Yes (ID3) |
| Compatibility | Universal on computers; editors and DAWs | Universal |
| Best for | Recording, editing, mastering | Music and podcasts on any device |
| Introduced | 1991 | 1993 |
Frequently asked questions
What MP3 bitrate should I choose?
192 kbps for music, 128 kbps for podcasts and voice, 320 kbps if you want the highest quality.
Can I convert long recordings?
Yes. A 50 MB WAV converts in about 10 seconds on a typical laptop.
Is my WAV file uploaded to a server?
No. Fylo runs ffmpeg, the same engine used by professional video tools, compiled to WebAssembly inside your browser. Your WAV file is read directly from your device and never sent anywhere.
Related tools
Updated
