MP4 to WAV
Uncompressed audio out of any video, 16-bit or 24-bit. WAV is what editors, transcription services and speech tools ask for, and this writes it in your browser without uploading the video first.
Video to WAV
Uncompressed PCM, the way editors and transcription tools want it.
Starting the extractor…
Why something asked you for WAV
WAV is not a better-sounding format — it is an unpacked one. Every sample sits there uncompressed, so nothing has to decode it and nothing has to guess. That is why editing software, forced-alignment tools, dictation systems and transcription APIs all prefer it: their pipelines are simpler and their results are reproducible when the input is plain PCM.
What WAV cannot do is improve audio that was already compressed. If your video's soundtrack is 128 kbps AAC, the WAV will be twenty times the size and contain exactly the same audio, sample for sample, as the AAC decoded. That is the correct thing to do when a tool demands WAV, and a waste of disk space otherwise. The panel above says which case you are in before it runs.
16-bit or 24-bit
Bit depth is the resolution of each sample: 16-bit is CD quality with about 96 dB of dynamic range, and 24-bit gives you roughly 144 dB, which matters when you still have processing to do and headroom to protect. A phone video's AAC decodes to floating-point audio that fits comfortably inside 16-bit; asking for 24-bit simply makes the file 50% larger with nothing extra in it.
The exception is a camera or editing master that recorded 24-bit PCM in the first place. Then 24-bit preserves what was captured and 16-bit quietly discards eight bits per sample. The panel shows the source depth it found, so the choice is informed rather than superstitious.
For transcription and speech tools
If the WAV is going to a speech-to-text service, two settings help more than bit depth. Fold it to mono — speech is not stereo, and it halves the file — and remember that many APIs have an upload limit measured in tens of megabytes, which an uncompressed hour will sail past. For those, extracting a 64 kbps MP3 or M4A is often the better answer, and most services accept it happily.
What to expect
| Length | 16-bit stereo | 16-bit mono |
|---|---|---|
| 1 minute | about 10 MB | about 5 MB |
| 10 minutes | about 100 MB | about 50 MB |
| 1 hour | about 600 MB | about 300 MB |
FLAC is worth knowing about here: it is lossless, so it holds exactly the same samples as the WAV, at roughly half the size. If whatever you are feeding accepts FLAC, it is strictly the better file.
Step by step
Choose the video
Any container. The extractor reads the real soundtrack rather than trusting the file extension.
Pick a bit depth
16-bit is the standard and what almost everything expects. 24-bit is only useful if the source really is 24-bit — a camera or editing master.
Download the WAV
Expect roughly 10 MB per minute of stereo 16-bit audio. That is what uncompressed means.
About WAV
Does converting video to WAV improve the audio?
No. WAV is uncompressed, not restorative — whatever the video's encoder discarded is gone, and wrapping what remains in a bigger file does not bring it back. WAV is the right choice when a tool demands uncompressed audio, not as an upgrade.
Learn more: Keeping the original16-bit or 24-bit?
16-bit unless the video's soundtrack is genuinely 24-bit PCM, which happens on camera and editing masters. For anything that started life as AAC or Opus, 24-bit only adds bytes.
Learn more: How it worksThe WAV is too big for the service I am uploading to.
Fold it to mono first, which halves it. If it is still too big, extract a 64 kbps MP3 instead — transcription services accept compressed audio and the accuracy difference for speech is negligible.
Learn more: MP4 to MP3Get it on your phone
Your videos are usually on the phone already, and moving one to a laptop to get the sound out is the slowest part of the job. The app converts them where they are — offline, with no browser involved.
- Converts straight from the camera roll or Files
- MP3, M4A, AAC and WAV at 64–320 kbps
- Works with no signal — nothing is uploaded there either
- Twelve audio tools: cutter, fade, speed, pitch, equalizer, denoise and more
Free to install with one free conversion, then a subscription for unlimited use. One video at a time — the queue on this website is the place for a folder of them. 4.6 out of 5 from 41 ratings on the App Store, read on 19 September 2026.