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?
- Nothing is lost, but nothing is gained either. WAV stores exactly what MP4 hands over, including the gaps MP4 left behind when it compressed. No tool can bring those back, and the file grows several times over. This conversion makes sense for editing, not for quality.
- How many files, and how large?
- Up to 5 files at a time, 500 MB each. No sign-up, no watermarks.