WAV recorder
Record uncompressed audio with no encoding stage in the way. WAV is what you want when the recording is a starting point rather than a finished file — editing, mixing, transcription, or long-term storage.
Ready. Press Record and allow microphone access when your browser asks.
What uncompressed actually means
A WAV file stores the audio as raw numbers: 44,100 or 48,000 measurements of the waveform per second, each one a 16-bit integer. Nothing is discarded and nothing is approximated. That is why the files are large, and it is also why they are the right input to any process that will re-encode later.
MP3, Opus and AAC all work by throwing away parts of the signal a listener is unlikely to notice. That is a good trade for delivery, and a bad one for a master. If you record an MP3, edit it, and export another MP3, you have run the signal through two lossy passes and the second one is working on already-damaged audio.
How the browser produces a WAV
Browsers do not offer WAV as a MediaRecorder output. This page takes a different route: it taps the raw sample stream from the Web Audio API, collects the float samples as you speak, converts them to 16-bit integers on Stop, and writes a standard 44-byte RIFF header in front of them. The result is an ordinary .wav file that any application will open.
Because no compression is involved, Stop is essentially instant even for long recordings — there is no encoder to wait for, unlike on the MP3 recorder.
Specification
- Container
- RIFF / WAVE
- Encoding
- Linear PCM, uncompressed
- Bit depth
- 16-bit signed integer
- Channels
- Mono
- Sample rate
- Follows your hardware, typically 44.1 or 48 kHz
- File size
- About 5.3 MB per minute at 44.1 kHz mono
- Opens in
- Audacity, Reaper, Logic, Pro Tools, Premiere, Audition, DaVinci Resolve
Watch the file size
| Length | WAV size | Same in MP3 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 minute | 5.3 MB | 0.96 MB |
| 10 minutes | 53 MB | 9.6 MB |
| 30 minutes | 159 MB | 29 MB |
| 1 hour | 318 MB | 58 MB |
Two consequences worth planning around. First, most email providers cap attachments around 25 MB, so anything past about four minutes will need a file-sharing link or an MP3 instead. Second, the recording is held in your device's memory until you download it — an hour of WAV means holding roughly 318 MB in RAM, which a phone may not tolerate. For long sessions on mobile, record MP3 or break the session into shorter takes.
- MP3 recorderA sixth of the size, right for sharing.
- Recording singingWhere uncompressed audio genuinely matters.
- MP3 vs WAVThe full comparison.
- Recording voiceoverDelivery specs clients usually ask for.
Questions
Why are WAV files so much larger than MP3?
Because nothing is removed. WAV stores every sample at full precision, roughly 5.3 MB per minute of mono audio. MP3 discards the parts of the signal that are hardest to perceive, which is how it reaches a sixth of the size.
Is the WAV really uncompressed, or is it compressed and relabelled?
Genuinely uncompressed 16-bit linear PCM. You can confirm it from the file size: if a one-minute recording is around 5 MB it is PCM, and if it is under 1 MB something has compressed it.
Can I record 24-bit or 32-bit float?
Not from this page — output is 16-bit, which is CD quality and more than adequate for voice. Higher bit depths mainly buy headroom during multi-stage mixing, which is a desktop DAW job rather than a browser one.
Will this WAV open in Audacity?
Yes. It is a standard RIFF/WAVE file and opens in Audacity, Reaper, Logic, Pro Tools, Premiere, Audition, DaVinci Resolve and anything else that reads WAV.
My browser ran out of memory on a long recording. Why?
The take is held in RAM until you download it, and uncompressed audio consumes RAM quickly. On a phone or a low-memory laptop, switch to MP3 for long sessions, or stop and download every fifteen minutes or so.
Is the file mono or stereo?
Mono. For a single microphone that is the correct choice — a stereo file from one source is just the same signal duplicated at twice the size.