Can it write 24-bit, or 48 kHz?

Not 24-bit — the output is 16-bit. The sample rate is carried over from the source, so 48 kHz video audio comes out at 48 kHz (anything above that lands at 48). 16-bit is the CD standard, and editors, hardware and transcription services essentially never refuse it. Where 24-bit is genuinely required is recording and production, and that is a reason to record at 24-bit; converting a 16-bit file up adds no information.

I was told to submit WAV. Is one made from an MP3 acceptable?

Depends what they meant. If they need a format their system can read, it works. If they asked for WAV because they want the quality, an MP3-derived WAV does not meet it — the container is right but what the MP3 discarded is still gone. Where you can, go back to the uncompressed source and convert from that.

The WAV is too big. What now?

Shorten it. WAV costs a fixed amount per second, so length is size. Trim to the part you need with the audio trimmer before converting. Going mono would halve it, but this tool always writes stereo, so that step needs other software.

Audio your software or hardware will not load

Convert MP3 or M4A to WAV — the format almost nothing refuses.

Input

Drag & drop a file

or click to choose

Images (JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, AVIF, GIF, SVG, BMP, ICO), audio (MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG, Opus, AIFF) and video (MP4, MOV, WebM and more — audio extraction)

Result

From—

To—

Why these settings

A WAV is little more than the waveform written out as numbers — no compression in the way, no codec for the other side to implement. That is why almost nothing refuses one. "This audio file cannot be read" is usually not a broken file but an unimplemented codec inside it: AAC, Opus, or a variant nobody got round to. Take the compression out and it goes through.

It does not improve the sound. Converting an MP3 to WAV cannot bring back what the MP3 discarded; the only thing that grows is the file, by roughly tenfold — about 50 MB for a five-minute track. "WAV is higher quality" is true of a recording made as WAV, not of one converted into it.

The output is 16-bit stereo PCM, the shape editors, samplers and transcription services expect. A mono source is written as two identical channels, so if something specifically asked for a mono WAV, this is not the last step.

If the file is going somewhere with an upload limit, remember the WAV will be about ten times the size of the MP3. Some places accept WAV in principle and then reject it on size.

Common questions

Can it write 24-bit, or 48 kHz?: Not 24-bit — the output is 16-bit. The sample rate is carried over from the source, so 48 kHz video audio comes out at 48 kHz (anything above that lands at 48). 16-bit is the CD standard, and editors, hardware and transcription services essentially never refuse it. Where 24-bit is genuinely required is recording and production, and that is a reason to record at 24-bit; converting a 16-bit file up adds no information.
I was told to submit WAV. Is one made from an MP3 acceptable?: Depends what they meant. If they need a format their system can read, it works. If they asked for WAV because they want the quality, an MP3-derived WAV does not meet it — the container is right but what the MP3 discarded is still gone. Where you can, go back to the uncompressed source and convert from that.
The WAV is too big. What now?: Shorten it. WAV costs a fixed amount per second, so length is size. Trim to the part you need with the audio trimmer before converting. Going mono would halve it, but this tool always writes stereo, so that step needs other software.

Related purposes

iPhone photos that will not open on Windows Pull just the audio out of a video Make images smaller with WebP File conversion