Broadcast Wave Format

Writable

audio

file format family based on the Microsoft Wave file format

Identify it

Extensions	`.bwf.wav`
MIME types	`audio/x-wav`
Wikidata	`Q922446`

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Open it

cdparanoiaOpen sourcewrites · GNU General Public License
DinOpen sourcewrites · GNU General Public License
KinoOpen sourcewrites · GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later
Q141674392Open sourcereads and writes · Apache Software License 2.0 / MIT License
Sonic PiOpen sourcewrites · MIT License
A Better CD EncoderOpen sourcewrites · Artistic License 1.0 / GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later
AndroidOpen sourcereads and writes · Apache Software License 2.0 / GNU General Public License, version 2.0
ArdourOpen sourcewrites · GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later
FFmpegOpen sourcereads and writes · LGPL-2.1-or-later / GPL-2.0-or-later
Free Lossless Audio CodecOpen sourcewrites · 3-clause BSD License / GNU General Public License, version 2.0 / GNU Library General Public License, version 2.0
libsndfileOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU Lesser General Public License
Q141647665Open sourcewrites · Apache Software License 2.0 / MIT License
Q1849222Open sourcereads and writes · BSD licenses
Q191782Open sourcereads and writes · GNU General Public License, version 3.0
Q240192Open sourcewrites · GNU General Public License, version 3.0
SoXOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU General Public License
SpleeterOpen sourcereads and writes · MIT License
AquadOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License
GravemanOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License
LiquidsoapOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 2.0
OpenFLOpen sourcereads · MIT License
PhotoRecOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License
Q1576579Open sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later
SciPyOpen sourcereads · BSD licenses
SweepOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License
SWFToolsOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 2.0
XfburnOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later
Apache TikaOpen sourcereads · Apache Software License 2.0
ExifToolOpen sourcereads · Artistic License / GNU General Public License, version 1.0 or later
GodotOpen sourcereads · MIT License
JHOVEOpen sourcereads · GNU Lesser General Public License
Kid3Open sourcereads · GNU General Public License / GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later
Music on ConsoleOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License
mutagenOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 2.0
NulloyOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 3.0
OpenPuffOpen sourcereads · GNU Lesser General Public License
Q117725Open sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 2.0
Q20474100Open sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 3.0
sigrokOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License
SongRecOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License, version 3.0

And 103 more in the JSON record.

Convert it

To	With	Fidelity	Command and losses
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) 1.2.1	FFmpeg	Lossless	`ffmpeg -i in.wav out.flac` Lossless for decoded audio; a lossy source stays as degraded as it was. WAV may reduce bit depth or drop metadata.
Matroska 1-4	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.wav out.mkv` Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container.
MPEG 1/2 Audio Layer 3	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.wav out.mp3` Lossy re-encoding.
MPEG-4 Part 14	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.wav out.mp4` Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container.
Ogg	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.wav out.ogg` Lossy re-encoding.
WebM	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.wav out.webm` Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container.

Documentation

kaitai grammar: https://github.com/kaitai-io/kaitai_struct_formats/blob/master/media/wav.ksy

Versions and variants (3)

Broadcast WAVE 0 GenericPartly documented
Broadcast WAVE 1 GenericPartly documented
Broadcast WAVE 2 GenericPartly documented

Sources

From Kaitai Struct format gallery, Wikidata. Updated 2026-10-24.

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