Convert WAV to AAC
Free online converter for WAV files. Efficient successor to MP3 used in broadcast and streaming. Nothing to install, no watermark, and every file is deleted automatically.
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Upload a WAV file to convert it to AAC. Up to 3 files at once, 100 MB each.
Free · up to 3 files · 100 MB each · files deleted automatically after 1 hour.
About WAV and AAC
WAV .wav
Raw uncompressed audio samples in a thin container. Exactly what came off the recorder, at roughly 10 MB per minute of stereo CD-quality sound.
Good for
- Bit-for-bit perfect — nothing is discarded
- No decoding overhead, so editors handle it fastest
- The standard working format for recording and editing
Trade-offs
- Very large — around 10 MB per minute
- No built-in tags for artist or album
- Impractical for distribution or streaming
audio/wav
AAC .aac
MP3's designated successor, and the default in the Apple ecosystem and most streaming services. Better sound than MP3 at the same bitrate.
Good for
- Noticeably better than MP3 at equal bitrates
- The default across Apple devices and most streaming
- Handles multichannel audio properly
Trade-offs
- Lossy
- Patent licensing is more involved than Opus or Vorbis
audio/aac
WAV and AAC side by side
| WAV | AAC | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Uncompressed PCM | Lossy |
| Typically used for | Recording, editing, mastering | Streaming, Apple devices, video soundtracks |
What changes when you convert WAV to AAC
This is a re-encode, not a repackage
Some tools can move a stream into a different container untouched when the codecs happen to line up. We do not — every job here is decoded and encoded again, so the conversion takes time in proportion to the length of the file and costs a small amount of quality even where a repackage would have been possible. In exchange the output is predictable: it plays everywhere, rather than inheriting whatever the source happened to contain.
What your AAC will contain
The output is AAC — at 192 kbps, written as a raw ADTS stream rather than wrapped in a container. AAC is meaningfully better than MP3 at the same bitrate, which is why it became the default for streaming and broadcast. If you want tags and artwork to travel with it, choose M4A instead — the same audio in a container that has somewhere to put them.
This step is irreversible
WAV holds every sample; AAC keeps a close approximation. The file gets dramatically smaller, and converting back later will not undo it. Keep the WAV original if it is a master you will work from again.
Tags may not survive intact
WAV stores its metadata as RIFF INFO chunks, which many players ignore entirely, and AAC uses ID3. Standard fields such as title, artist and album normally map across. Anything without an equivalent on the other side — unusual custom fields, some ratings and play counts, occasionally embedded artwork — has nowhere to go. Check the tags before deleting the original if your library depends on them.