Why is the WAV so big?

WAV stores every sample uncompressed: 16-bit stereo at 44.1 kHz is about 10 MB per minute. That is normal and is exactly why editors prefer it.

Does 24-bit improve quality?

Not if the video’s audio was AAC or MP3 — the source already lost that precision. 24-bit is useful when you will process the file heavily or match a studio session.

Can I extract just a section?

Yes, enter a start and end time in seconds in the Trim field.

Does the video get uploaded?

No. Decoding runs in your browser; only the audio is written out.

Audio Converters

MP4 to WAV

Editors, samplers and transcription tools want WAV, not video. Pull the soundtrack out of an MP4 as PCM audio at the bit depth and sample rate you need.

Runs in your browser — files never leave your device.

Drop MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM files here

or click to browse · paste from clipboard · up to 2000 MB each

Select files

Options

Bit depth

Sample rate

Trim (start–end, seconds, optional)

Why convert MP4 to WAV

WAV is the working format of audio editing: no compression artefacts, instant seeking, compatible with every DAW, subtitle tool and speech-to-text service. Extracting it straight from the video avoids an extra lossy MP3 step.

The audio track is decoded once and written as PCM. The file is large — about 10 MB per minute at 16-bit stereo, 44.1 kHz — so this is the right choice for editing and the wrong one for sharing; use MP4 to MP3 for that.

How to convert files to WAV

Drop the video file onto the page.
Pick 16-bit (CD) or 24-bit (studio) and a sample rate, or keep the source rate.
Click Convert and download the WAV.

About the formats

MP4 · MPEG-4 Part 14 video · .mp4

The video format that works everywhere: phones, TVs, browsers, social networks. Normally H.264 video with AAC audio.

MP4 is a container; the codec inside (H.264, HEVC/H.265, AV1) decides what can play it.
H.264 MP4 is the safe choice for uploads and sharing; HEVC MP4 from newer iPhones needs extra codecs on Windows.
The “moov atom” placement decides whether a browser can start playing before the whole file downloads.

MOV · QuickTime movie · .mov

Apple’s QuickTime container, the default for iPhone videos and Mac screen recordings; very close to MP4 but not accepted everywhere.

MOV and MP4 share the same underlying structure, so MOV to MP4 usually only needs repackaging, not re-encoding.
iPhone MOV files are often HEVC (H.265) with HDR, which Windows and many web apps cannot play without conversion.
Screen recordings on Mac are MOV with H.264 and can be very large.

MKV · Matroska video · .mkv

An open container that can hold any codec plus multiple audio tracks, subtitles and chapters; popular for rips and downloads, unsupported by iPhone and many TVs.

MKV to MP4 keeps the video quality when the codec is H.264 or HEVC — only the container changes.
MP4 cannot carry every MKV feature: soft subtitles and some audio codecs (e.g. DTS) must be converted or dropped.
Most desktop players (VLC, MPV) play MKV; Safari, iOS and PowerPoint do not.

WebM · WebM video · .webm

The royalty-free web video format (VP8/VP9/AV1 video, Vorbis/Opus audio) produced by browser screen recorders, Discord and many online tools.

WebM is based on Matroska and plays in every browser, but not in iMovie, Premiere or on most phones without conversion.
Browser recording APIs output WebM, which is why screen recordings from web apps come as .webm.
WebM to MP4 requires re-encoding the video, because MP4 does not carry VP9 widely.

Related conversions

More in Audio Converters · All converters