When you need to edit the audio from a video — a recorded interview, a lecture, a conference talk — the usual tool of choice is an audio editor. Most audio editors work best with WAV: it handles processing without quality degradation, has no compatibility issues with any audio software, and gives you a clean starting point.
How to Convert a Video to WAV
- Open MP4 to WAV.
- Upload the video file.
- Convert.
- Download the WAV.
- Import into your audio editor.
Why WAV for Editing
Each time an MP3 is decoded (to play or edit) and re-encoded (to save), a small amount of quality is discarded. For one conversion this is minimal; for audio that goes through multiple processing steps — noise reduction, normalisation, mixing, then final export — the cumulative effect becomes more noticeable. WAV avoids this entirely: it stores raw audio data, so each processing step works on the full original quality.
Typical Editing Workflow
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Record or receive video | MP4, MOV or similar |
| Convert to WAV | Full audio extracted, uncompressed |
| Import to audio editor | Audacity, GarageBand, Adobe Audition |
| Edit: trim, clean up, mix | Working on lossless data |
| Export final audio | MP3 or AAC for sharing/podcasting |
The final export to MP3 or AAC is the only lossy step, applied once at the end — not repeated through the editing process.
If You're Not Editing
If you just need the audio to listen to rather than edit, extracting as MP3 is simpler and produces a much smaller file. See how to extract audio from a video for that process, and MP4 to MP3 for the tool.
File Size Expectation
WAV is large by design. A 30-minute video's audio as WAV at CD quality is around 300 MB. This is normal — the file is uncompressed. After editing, export as MP3 or AAC to get a small, shareable file. For audio format comparisons, see MP3 vs WAV vs FLAC vs M4A.
WAV vs MP3 for Different Editing Software
Most professional and semi-professional audio editors (Audacity, Adobe Audition, GarageBand, Reaper) work natively with WAV. Some simpler or mobile audio editors may work with MP3 directly — for those, the WAV conversion step isn't needed. If you're unsure, check what format your editing software imports most cleanly. For video editing software (Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut), WAV audio extracted from a video is often cleaner to work with than the re-encoded audio in a converted MP4, particularly for high-quality podcast or interview content. For audio-only extraction when WAV isn't needed, see how to extract audio from a video.
