WAV, MP3, or OGG: which format should you export?

You just finished a recording. The app asks what format you want. WAV, MP3, OGG. You pick one, probably the one you picked last time, and move on. Most people never think about it again.

That's fine for most situations. But if you're recording a podcast master, sending stems to a collaborator, or emailing a quick voice note to a client, the right format actually changes. And picking wrong can mean re-recording, re-exporting, or losing quality you can't get back.

This is a short guide to help you pick. Start with what you're doing with the file.

WAV: the master copy

WAV is uncompressed audio. Every sample from your microphone gets written to disk exactly as captured. Nothing is thrown away. The file is large (roughly 10 MB per minute of stereo audio at 44.1 kHz) but the quality is as good as it gets.

Use WAV when:

• You're keeping a master copy you might edit later. You can always convert a WAV to MP3 afterward. You can't go the other direction.
• You're sending stems or raw takes to a producer, editor, or collaborator who'll process the audio in a DAW.
• You're a voice actor delivering final takes to a client. Most production houses expect WAV or AIFF.
• You're uploading to a platform like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. These platforms re-encode your file into their own format. Starting from a lossless source means the re-encoding only happens once.

The downside is file size. A 30-minute recording is about 300 MB as a stereo WAV. Too large for email, slow to upload on a weak connection. But storage is cheap. If you have the space, WAV is the safest default.

Orec exports WAV for local downloads. You can always compress later, but you can't uncompress.

Before you export, it's worth running the file through the LUFS normalizer if it's going to a podcast platform. Spotify targets -14 LUFS, Apple Podcasts targets -16 LUFS, and YouTube normalizes to -14 LUFS. Getting this right before upload means the platform's normalization won't alter your mix unexpectedly.

MP3: the universal format

MP3 has been around since the early 1990s. Every device, browser, and media player on earth knows how to open an MP3. That compatibility is its biggest advantage.

MP3 is lossy compression. The encoder analyzes your audio and discards information it predicts your ears won't notice. A 128 kbps MP3 is roughly one-tenth the size of the equivalent WAV. At 192 kbps or 320 kbps, most listeners can't tell the difference from the original in a blind test.

Use MP3 when:

• You're emailing a recording to someone. A 30-minute MP3 at 128 kbps is about 30 MB instead of 300 MB.
• You're sharing with non-technical people who might not know what OGG or FLAC is. MP3 just works.
• You're uploading to a platform that re-encodes anyway. The platform will compress it again regardless.
• You want a quick backup that doesn't eat your cloud storage quota.

The downside is quality loss. At low bitrates, MP3 can sound thin or introduce artifacts: a metallic shimmer on cymbals, a slight warble on sustained notes. At 192 kbps and above, this is rarely an issue for speech. Music is more demanding.

For speech recordings, the audio trimmer can tighten the file before you export, removing the silence at the start and end so the recipient doesn't wait through a blank lead-in.

OGG/Opus: better quality, less compatibility

OGG is a container format. Opus is the codec inside it. Together they deliver better audio quality than MP3 at the same file size. At 96 kbps, Opus sounds as good as MP3 at 128 kbps or better. The compression is more efficient because Opus was designed decades after MP3, with the benefit of modern psychoacoustic research.

Orec uses Opus for share links. When you share a recording via link, the audio encodes to Opus at 64 kbps VBR with the voip application profile, which is tuned for speech. The recipient opens it in any modern browser. No install required.

Use OGG/Opus when:

• You control the playback environment. If you know the listener will open the file in a browser or a modern media player, Opus is the better choice.
• You're building a web app or game that needs to serve audio efficiently. Opus is the standard for real-time web audio.
• You want smaller files without the quality tradeoff of MP3.

The downside is compatibility. Older devices, some car stereos, and basic media players may not support OGG or Opus. If you're handing a file to someone and you don't know what they'll play it on, MP3 is the safer bet.

The decision tree

Recording for yourself (archiving, editing later)? Export WAV from the recorder. Keep the lossless master. Convert to MP3 or Opus later if you need a smaller copy.

Sharing with a client or collaborator? Use Orec's share link. The audio encodes to Opus for quality and the recipient opens it in their browser. Read how sharing audio recordings with a link works.

Uploading to Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or similar? Export WAV. These platforms re-encode everything. Give them the best source material, and check your levels with the LUFS meter first.

Emailing a recording? Export MP3. Email attachments usually cap at 25 MB, and MP3 is compact enough to fit a reasonable recording.

Embedding audio in a website or app you control? Use Opus. Smaller files, better quality, every modern browser supports it.

Why Orec defaults to WAV

Every format decision involves a tradeoff between quality and file size. But one direction is reversible and the other isn't.

You can take a WAV file and compress it to MP3 or Opus whenever you want. The conversion takes seconds. You can't take an MP3 and recover the audio data discarded during compression. That information is gone.

So Orec defaults to WAV for local downloads. Your first copy of any recording is always lossless. If you need a smaller version, export again in a different format or run it through any audio tool. You always have the full-quality original to go back to.

For sharing links, Orec uses Opus because file size matters when streaming audio over the internet, and Opus gives the best quality at small sizes. The local copy on your device stays lossless.