Guide · Audio

MP3 vs WAV: which should you use?

These two sit at opposite ends of the audio spectrum: MP3 is tiny and lossy, WAV is huge and uncompressed. Neither is "better" outright — they're built for different jobs. WAV to make and edit audio, MP3 to listen and share it.

Quality & compression

WAV stores raw, uncompressed PCM — every sample exactly as recorded, nothing discarded. MP3 uses lossy compression: it permanently throws away audio detail the ear is least likely to notice to shrink the file. At a good bitrate (256–320 kbps) most people can't tell an MP3 from the original in casual listening, but the discarded data is gone for good — and re-encoding an MP3 loses a little more each time.

File size

The gap is enormous. A WAV runs roughly 10 MB per minute of CD-quality stereo; the same minute as a 320 kbps MP3 is about 2.4 MB — often a 10× difference or more. That's why MP3 won the portable-music era and WAV never leaves the studio.

Editing

For any real editing — mixing, mastering, cutting, applying effects — WAV is the right working format. Each save is lossless, so you can edit and re-export as many times as you like with no cumulative quality loss. Editing an MP3 repeatedly compounds its lossy artifacts. Do the work in WAV, then export an MP3 at the end for distribution.

When to use which

• Use MP3 for: listening, podcasts, sharing, streaming, and anywhere small size and universal playback matter.
• Use WAV for: recording, editing, mastering, CD burning, and handing audio to another tool without quality loss.

Convert either way

Processed privately, auto-deleted after an hour:

• Convert WAV to MP3 — small, shareable, ready to publish.
• Convert MP3 to WAV — uncompressed PCM for editing (it won't restore lost detail).

Want lossless without the huge size? See FLAC vs WAV.

TL;DR

WAV for creating and editing — uncompressed, lossless, big. MP3 for listening and sharing — small, universal, lossy. Master in WAV, ship in MP3.