Convert WAV to MP3 or MP3 to WAV

By  on  

Boy I would have loved this post a decade ago when I was ripping CDs from my local library.  The memory is actually quite hilarious:  I would request 100 CDs at a time from the local library system, pick up however had been delivered at 10 a.m. that morning, and return them at 5 p.m. that day.  I had a giggle with the librarian in those days but the real giggle was the fact that the WAV files were bloating up my hard drive.

The following simple command would convert those WAV files to MP3s:

ffmpeg -i song.wav song.mp3

Of course converting from MP3 to WAV would simply be swapping the extensions in the command above.

ffmpeg is a marvel of a utility.  Video conversion, audio conversion, and probably the key to world peace.  Thank you ffmpeg!

Recent Features

  • By
    7 Essential JavaScript Functions

    I remember the early days of JavaScript where you needed a simple function for just about everything because the browser vendors implemented features differently, and not just edge features, basic features, like addEventListener and attachEvent.  Times have changed but there are still a few functions each developer should...

  • By
    How to Create a RetroPie on Raspberry Pi – Graphical Guide

    Today we get to play amazing games on our super powered game consoles, PCs, VR headsets, and even mobile devices.  While I enjoy playing new games these days, I do long for the retro gaming systems I had when I was a kid: the original Nintendo...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    CSS Filters

    CSS filter support recently landed within WebKit nightlies. CSS filters provide a method for modifying the rendering of a basic DOM element, image, or video. CSS filters allow for blurring, warping, and modifying the color intensity of elements. Let's have...

  • By
    Digg-Style Dynamic Share Widget Using MooTools

    I've always seen Digg as a very progressive website. Digg uses experimental, ajaxified methods for comments and mission-critical functions. One nice touch Digg has added to their website is their hover share widget. Here's how to implement that functionality on your site...

Discussion

  1. Mark Progano

    If you’re on a mac and you want to do it on your machine, after installing X-Code,type in brew install ffmpeg

  2. If you also want to edit your audio first, Audacity has been a trusty companion for years now. Looks like arse, works like a charm. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

  3. MaxArt

    Back in the days, the best mp3 converter was LAME.
    I don’t know if something better came out in the meanwhile, but it’s a highly customizable multiplatform tool.

    It looks like ffmpeg can use the libmp3lame audio codec, I guess it would be nice to know how to use it.

  4. yes, LAME pretty much was the bee’s knees.

  5. Kimomat

    Great tool! A gulp package is also available: https://github.com/cab/gulp-ffmpeg

  6. I have usef ffmpeg for converting images to video. very useful for that.

  7. No joke.. 5 years ago, it would have been such a savior.

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!