Convert to and from MP3, free.
MP3 is the universal audio format. It is lossy, so it throws away detail you are unlikely to hear, and in exchange the file is small enough to email and playable on absolutely anything.
Convert something else to MP3
Pick what you have. Each page opens the editor with MP3 already selected as the output.
Convert MP3 to something else
Pick where it is going. Lossy, so it is not the right master format for further audio editing.
MP3 next to the formats it converts with
Where each one plays, what it is for and how heavy it is, so you can pick the target before you open a converter.
MP3
WAV
M4A
AAC
MP4
MOV
WebM
AVI
MKV
OGG
FLAC
WMV
FLV
MPEG
VOB
TS
| Format | Best for | Plays on | File size |
|---|---|---|---|
| MP3 | Podcasts, voice notes, music you need to send | Every device made in the last 25 years | Roughly a tenth of uncompressed audio |
| WAV | Editing, mastering, voiceover work | Every desktop and audio tool; large for phones | About 10 MB per minute in stereo |
| M4A | Voice memos and Apple audio exports | Apple devices natively, most others too | Slightly smaller than MP3 at the same quality |
| AAC | Audio pulled out of video files | Most modern devices; bare streams can confuse players | Similar to MP3, slightly better quality |
| MP4 | Sharing anywhere, uploads, web embeds | Every phone, browser, TV and editor | Small for the quality |
| MOV | Editing on a Mac, footage straight off an iPhone | macOS and iOS natively, patchy elsewhere | Large, especially ProRes |
| WebM | Web embeds and browser recordings | Chrome, Firefox and Edge; hit and miss elsewhere | Very small at the same quality |
| AVI | Opening archive footage from the 2000s | Desktop players with the right codec pack | Very large for the quality |
| MKV | Archiving with multiple audio and subtitle tracks | VLC and desktop players; rarely anywhere else | Depends entirely on the codec inside |
| OGG | Open-source projects, game audio, voice notes | Browsers and Android; poor on Apple hardware | Small, efficient |
| FLAC | Archiving music without losing quality | Desktop players and Android; limited on Apple | Around half of WAV, still large |
| WMV | Legacy Windows workflows and old PowerPoint decks | Windows; almost nothing else | Moderate, but dated compression |
| FLV | Nothing new: Flash reached end of life in 2020 | Desktop players only, with effort | Moderate, heavily dated |
| MPEG | DVD rips and old camcorder tapes | Desktop players; not phones or browsers | Very large for the picture quality |
| VOB | Ripping the contents of a DVD you own | DVD players and VLC | About 1 GB per chunk, several per disc |
| TS | Broadcast capture, camcorder cards, HLS segments | Desktop players and streaming servers | Larger than MP4 for the same footage |
What MP3 actually is
MPEG audio layer III
MP3 (lossy)
Podcasts, voice notes, music you need to send
Every device made in the last 25 years
Roughly a tenth of uncompressed audio
Plays on every phone, car stereo, browser and podcast host in existence.
Small enough to attach to an email or send in a chat.
Accepted by every transcription and podcast service.
Lossy, so it is not the right master format for further audio editing.
No support for multiple tracks or lossless quality.
Converting an MP3 to WAV makes the file about four to eleven times larger (from 320 kbps down to 128 kbps sources) and restores nothing: the detail MP3 compression removed is gone for good.
REQO exports MP3 as variable bitrate (LAME quality 2), so there is no fixed figure: in our tests speech came back at about 88 kbps in mono and dense stereo sound at about 207 kbps.
Questions about MP3
What is an MP3 file?
MP3 is the universal audio format. It is lossy, so it throws away detail you are unlikely to hear, and in exchange the file is small enough to email and playable on absolutely anything. It is the MPEG audio layer III container, usually holding MP3 (lossy).
Is converting MP3 free?
Yes. Convert and preview free, and a free account downloads the result. Free exports and share pages include a small REQO badge. Go Pro to remove it. Nothing is installed.
Will converting to MP3 lose quality?
Some, whenever the codec changes: every re-encode discards detail. Where the container can simply be rewritten around the existing streams it is lossless, and where it cannot the default settings are chosen so the loss is not visible at normal viewing size.
Other formats
Convert it, then keep editing.
Every converter opens the full editor, so you can trim, caption and share without uploading the file twice.