User Guide
Add the video
Any common format — MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, WebM. Up to 300 MB. The engine loads once (~30 MB) and is cached thereafter.
Choose the output format — this is the whole decision
MP3 plays everywhere. WAV is uncompressed and huge. AAC is smaller than MP3 at the same quality. OGG is open and patent-free. The section below explains when each is right.
Pick WAV only if something downstream requires it
WAV runs about 10 MB per minute — a 30 minute recording is roughly 300 MB. It is the correct choice for editing and transcription software, and the wrong one for listening or sharing.
Convert
The video track is discarded and the audio encoded to your chosen format at the encoder’s standard settings. Extraction is quick because no picture is ever decoded.
Download
Check it opens in whatever you needed it for — especially with AAC and OGG, where support is good but not quite universal.
If you specifically want the best MP3
Use the MP4 to MP3 or Video to MP3 tools instead. Those request LAME quality V2 explicitly, which is a higher setting than the default used here.
About the Video to Audio Converter
This tool takes the soundtrack out of a video and lets you choose what to save it as: MP3, WAV, AAC or OGG. That choice is the reason to use this page rather than one of the dedicated MP3 tools, and it is worth making deliberately — the four formats are genuinely different, not four names for the same thing.
Choosing the format
| Format | Type | Size, 30 min | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| MP3 | Lossy | ~30 MB | It has to play everywhere, no exceptions |
| WAV | Uncompressed | ~300 MB | Editing, mastering or transcription software needs raw audio |
| AAC | Lossy | ~28 MB | Apple devices, or better quality per megabyte than MP3 |
| OGG | Lossy | ~26 MB | Open formats matter, or the target is a game engine or Linux app |
What sets them apart
MP3 is the oldest and the least efficient of the three lossy options, and it remains the right default for one reason: nothing refuses to play it. Every phone, car stereo, smart speaker and thirty-year-old MP3 player handles it.
WAV is not compressed at all. It stores raw samples, so the size is pure arithmetic: CD-quality audio at 44.1 kHz, 16-bit, stereo is 1,411 kbps, which works out at 10.1 MB per minute exactly. Choose it when software downstream demands uncompressed input — some transcription engines and audio editors do — and never for listening or sharing.
AAC was designed as MP3’s successor and is meaningfully better at low bitrates. It is the native format of the Apple ecosystem and the standard audio codec inside MP4. If your source was an MP4, choosing AAC here also avoids a second generation of lossy encoding.
OGG Vorbis is open and unencumbered by patents, which is why it became standard in game engines, on Wikipedia and across Linux. See the Xiph Vorbis project for background. Its weakness is hardware: many car stereos and older players do not support it.
Lossy and lossless, and why it matters here
Three of these four formats discard information permanently. Converting from one lossy format to another compounds that, because different codecs discard different things and the losses do not cancel out. The MDN audio codec reference covers the behaviour of each.
The practical rule: convert once, from the best source you have. Do not convert an MP3 to OGG to AAC hoping to improve it — each hop costs quality and none of them can restore what an earlier one removed. WAV is the only option here that adds no further loss, which is exactly why it is the format editing software asks for.
A note on quality settings
This tool encodes at each codec’s standard default rather than a specific quality target, which keeps the four formats comparable. If MP3 is what you want and you want it at the highest sensible quality, the dedicated MP4 to MP3 and Video to MP3 tools explicitly request LAME quality V2 — around 200 kbps average per the LAME encoder documentation — which is a higher setting than the default applied here.
Privacy and limits
Everything runs through a WebAssembly build of FFmpeg loaded into the browser tab on first use (about 30 MB, cached afterwards). Nothing is transmitted — there is no upload and no copy of your file on any server. A single-threaded WebAssembly module addresses only about 2 GB of memory, so files over 300 MB are rejected and anything above 60 MB warns that it will be slow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which format should I choose?
MP3 if it simply has to play everywhere. AAC for Apple devices or slightly better quality per megabyte. OGG if open formats matter or you are targeting a game engine. WAV only when editing or transcription software specifically requires uncompressed audio.
Why is the WAV file so enormous?
Because WAV is not compressed. It stores raw samples, so CD-quality stereo works out to exactly 10.1 MB per minute — a 30 minute recording is around 300 MB. That is the format working as intended, not a fault.
Is AAC really better than MP3?
At the same bitrate, yes — AAC was designed as MP3’s successor and is noticeably better at lower bitrates. MP3 keeps its place only because absolutely everything plays it, which AAC cannot quite claim.
Should I pick AAC if my source is an MP4?
It is a good reason to. MP4 audio is normally already AAC, so choosing AAC avoids adding a second generation of lossy encoding on top of the first.
How do I get the best possible MP3?
Use the dedicated MP4 to MP3 or Video to MP3 tools. Those explicitly request LAME quality V2, around 200 kbps on average, which is a higher setting than the codec default this page applies.
Can I convert to a lossy format and back to recover quality?
No. Lossy encoding discards information permanently, and no later conversion can restore it. Converting MP3 to WAV produces a large file containing exactly the quality the MP3 already had — nothing more.
Is OGG safe to use?
Technically it is excellent and completely free of patent restrictions, which is why game engines and Linux software adopted it. The catch is hardware: many car stereos and older portable players will not read it.
Does the video get uploaded to extract the audio?
No. FFmpeg runs as WebAssembly in your browser tab, reading the file from disk and writing the audio straight back out. Nothing is transmitted at any stage.