Lossless masters, lossy deliverables
WAV and FLAC keep the waveform intact and belong wherever you might still edit, master or archive. MP3, AAC, OGG and M4A discard inaudible detail to reach a tenth of the size, and are what you actually distribute.
The rule that saves the most regret: only ever encode to a lossy format from a lossless source. Converting MP3 to FLAC produces a large file that still sounds like an MP3, because the detail was gone before the conversion started.
Bitrate, sample rate and compatibility
For speech, 96-128 kbps is transparent. For music, 192-256 kbps MP3 or 128-192 kbps AAC is indistinguishable from the source for most listeners on most equipment. Higher numbers mostly buy file size.
If a device is fussy — a car stereo, an old MP3 player, a hardware sampler — MP3 at 44.1 kHz remains the most universally accepted option.
Supported audio converter formats
- MP3
- WAV
- OGG
- AAC
- FLAC
- M4A
Frequently asked questions
Does converting to FLAC improve an MP3?
- No. FLAC preserves whatever it is given; it cannot restore detail that lossy encoding removed.
Why is the first audio conversion slower?
- The FFmpeg WebAssembly engine is downloaded and initialised on first use, then cached for the rest of the session.
Can I extract audio from a video?
- Yes — drop the video in and pick an audio format, or use the dedicated Extract audio tool.