WAV

Writable

audio · also known as WAVE

Waveform Audio (WAVE) is a chunk-based audio format developed by Microsoft, based on the generic Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF) specification developed by Microsoft and IBM. Structurally, a WAVE file is composed of a number of chunks, each comprising a four character code chunk identifier, the chunk size, and the chunk data. It comprises a RIFF header with a WAVE data type identifier, followed by a series of chunks. Every file must include a Format chunk, which describes the format of the audio data, and a Data chunk, containing the audio data itself. Other optional chunks are also allowed. The format supports a wide variety of compressed and uncompressed audio encodings.

Identify it

Extensions	`.wav.wave`
MIME types	`audio/x-wavaudio/vnd.waveaudio/wavaudio/waveaudio/x-pn-wav`
Signatures	`52494646` at byte 0 (WAVE) `57415645` at byte 8
PRONOM	`fmt/6fmt/141fmt/142fmt/143`
Wikidata	`Q217570`
Library of Congress	`fdd000001fdd000002fdd000356fdd000357`
Apple UTI	`com.microsoft.waveform-audio`

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Open it

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
FFmpeg (WebAssembly)Open sourcereads and writes · 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
Q141674392Open sourcereads and writes · 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
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
The Freesound ProjectOpen sourcereads · Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported / Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported / Creative Commons CC0 License
VLC media playerOpen sourcereads · GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 or later
AgfaPhoto DC-833mwrites
aTube Catcherwrites
FL Studiowrites · proprietary license / shareware
GoldWavewrites · shareware
Mathematicareads and writes · proprietary license
Q139816213writes
Roland FP-90Xreads and writes
Screencamreads and writes
Sound Forgewrites
Sound Forge XP 3.0reads and writes
Sound Forge XP Studioreads and writes

And 44 more in the JSON record.

Convert it

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To	With	Fidelity	Command and losses
FLAC 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.
FLAC 1.2.1	FFmpeg (WebAssembly)	Lossless	in browser Lossless for decoded audio; a lossy source stays as degraded as it was.
Advanced Audio Coding	FFmpeg (WebAssembly)	Lossy	in browser Lossy re-encoding.
Matroska	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.
MP3	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.wav out.mp3` Lossy re-encoding.
MP3	FFmpeg (WebAssembly)	Lossy	in browser Lossy re-encoding.
MP4	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.
Ogg	FFmpeg (WebAssembly)	Lossy	in browser Lossy re-encoding.
Ogg Opus Codec Compressed Multimedia File	FFmpeg (WebAssembly)	Lossy	in browser 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.

Versions and variants (4)

Broadcast Wave FormatWritable
Waveform Audio (PCMWAVEFORMAT)Unknown
Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEX)Partly documented
Waveform Audio (WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE)Partly documented

Sources

From Converters (FFmpeg, ImageMagick, Pandoc, LibreOffice), WebAssembly engines (ImageMagick, FFmpeg, Pandoc, 7-Zip, GDAL, Assimp, resvg), Just Solve the File Format Problem (File Formats Wiki), PRONOM, Wikidata. Updated 2026-10-26.

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