WAV is the standard uncompressed audio format on Windows and in professional audio. Microsoft and IBM introduced it in 1991, based on the RIFF container. A WAV file usually stores audio as PCM, the raw sample values captured by a recorder, with nothing removed, which is why WAV is the go-to format for recording, editing and mastering.
Sample rate and bit depth
Uncompressed audio is described by two numbers:
- Sample rate: how many times per second the sound is measured. 44.1 kHz is CD quality; 48 kHz is standard for video; 96 kHz is used in studios.
- Bit depth: how precisely each measurement is stored. 16-bit is CD quality; 24-bit gives more headroom for recording and mixing.
Together they decide the file size. CD-quality stereo (16-bit, 44.1 kHz) uses about 10 MB per minute. 24-bit, 96 kHz stereo uses over 30 MB per minute.
What WAV is good at
- Perfect quality. Nothing is discarded.
- Editing. Every editor and digital audio workstation reads WAV, and repeated saves never degrade it.
- Simplicity. Fast to read and write, with no decoding cost.
- Compatibility with professional, broadcast and telephony tools.
Where WAV falls short
- Size. Around 10 times larger than MP3, and about twice the size of lossless FLAC.
- 4 GB limit. Standard WAV can’t exceed 4 GB, roughly 6.7 hours of CD-quality stereo; extended versions such as RF64 remove the limit.
- Limited tags. Metadata support is weaker and less consistent than MP3’s ID3 tags.
WAV and other formats
Convert WAV to MP3 to share recordings or save space. Convert MP3, M4A or video soundtracks to WAV when an editor, transcription service or device needs uncompressed audio. Converting a compressed file to WAV keeps its current quality but can’t restore what was removed.