Convert MP4 to WAV
We turn MP4 into WAV right in your browser — the file never goes to a server.
What you will lose
- Title, artist and cover art will be lost: the target format does not carry them reliably.
How they differ
| MP4 | WAV | |
|---|---|---|
| Lossless | no | yes |
| Lossy | yes | no |
| Multichannel | yes | yes |
| Tags | yes | no |
| Released | 2001 | 1991 |
| Author | MPEG | Microsoft, IBM |
MP4
Good at
- Plays on everything: TVs, car stereos, phones a decade old
- Carries several audio tracks, subtitles and chapters in one file
- Streams well: playback starts before the file has finished loading
Awkward about
- Anything can be inside — the extension does not tell you if it will play
- The audio is almost always lossy, so it is not a master copy
- Editing without re-encoding is close to impossible in this container
Use it when
- The video is being sent or published and has to open for everyone
- Footage from a phone that people will simply watch
- One audio track is all you need
WAV
Good at
- Lossless and uncompressed: what was recorded is what is stored
- Opens instantly in any editor, nothing to unpack
- Works as a master for further processing
Awkward about
- Enormous: a minute of stereo is about 10 MB
- Tags exist on paper but not everything reads them
- Usually too big to send by email
Use it when
- Editing or processing is coming and quality must not drop
- A short fragment: an interface sound, a sample
- The file is for a program, not for a listener
Common questions
- Does the file get uploaded to a server?
- Yes, this pair needs the server: browsers cannot encode that format. The file and the result are deleted within a couple of hours and never shared.
- Will surround sound survive?
- Yes, WAV carries more than two channels — 5.1 stays 5.1.
- Can I get the original quality back afterwards?
- Yes, WAV supports lossless compression, so you can go back to the original.
- How many files, and how large?
- Up to 5 files at a time, 500 MB each. No sign-up, no watermarks.