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Convert WAV to MP3 or MP3 to WAV

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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!

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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. Chris Heilmann

    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. Chris Heilmann

    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. Bhumi

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

  7. Eric

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

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