WAV to MP4 converter
Turn WAV audio into an MP4 video with your own picture or a plain colour, free. No upload, no sign-up, no watermark: it runs in your browser.
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Quick answer: To turn WAV audio into MP4 video, add the WAV file to the iHateFiles WAV to MP4 converter, choose a picture if you want one, and press the button. The conversion runs in your browser, so the file is never uploaded, and it is free with no sign-up, watermark or size limit. A video needs something to show, so one picture of your choosing, or a plain colour, stays on screen for the whole WAV.
A much smaller file than the WAV
A WAV is usually a master, a bounce from an editor or a recording from a field recorder, and at about 10 MB a minute it is too heavy to pass around. Three minutes of CD-quality WAV is about 30 MB; as an MP4 with a picture it comes to around 5 MB.
For a track you are premiering, raise the bitrate to 320 kbps, since this file is what listeners will hear. Keep the WAV as your master: the MP4 is for sharing, and its sound is compressed.
Should you convert WAV to MP4?
Worth doing when something only accepts video, such as YouTube or a social post. If you just need to send or play the sound, keep the WAV. The MP4 sounds no better and shows one still picture for its whole length.
What happens to the WAV sound
WAV sound is uncompressed, and it is encoded to AAC here, at 192 kbps unless you change it. That takes the sound from about 10 MB a minute of CD-quality stereo to about 1.4 MB.
Where the MP4 picture comes from
From you. Choose a photo, cover art or a logo and it stays on screen for the length of the WAV; choose nothing and the screen is a plain colour. The shape can follow the picture or be set to widescreen, square or vertical, and a picture that does not fit either gets coloured bars or is cropped to fill. Most image formats work, HEIC photos included.
Why the MP4 is not much bigger than the sound
A picture that never changes takes almost no space as video, roughly 16 kbps plus a little for each repeat of the full picture. Nearly all of the MP4 is the sound itself, and a long recording does not cost a long video encode: the picture is prepared once.
WAV and MP4 side by side
| WAV | MP4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the file | uncompressed PCM | H.264 video with AAC sound |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy |
| Carries sound | Yes | Yes |
| Shows a picture | No | Yes |
| Plays on | every editor, DAW and operating system | every phone, laptop, TV, browser and messaging app |
| Here | Read and write | Read and write |
What usually goes wrong
About the MP4. Two MP4 files can behave completely differently depending on the codecs inside. A file that will not play is usually an unusual codec in an ordinary container, not a broken file.
How to convert WAV to MP4
- Add your WAV file. It is read from your disk and stays there.
- Choose a picture to show, or leave it on a plain colour.
- Press convert and the MP4 file is saved back to your device.
MP4 converter: everything that converts to MP4
Questions
How do I convert WAV to MP4?
Open this page, add your WAV file, choose a picture if you want one, and press the button. Your browser builds the video and saves it to your device. Nothing is uploaded.
Is this WAV to MP4 converter free?
Yes, completely. There is no account, no sign-in, no watermark and no daily limit, because there is no server doing the work. Your own device does it.
Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. There is no upload endpoint. The conversion runs inside this browser tab, so your file never leaves your device. You can open your browser's network panel and watch: nothing carrying your file is sent.
Is there a file size limit?
No fixed limit. Because the work happens on your machine there is no server quota. The only ceiling is your own device's memory, which for video means very large files may be slow.
Do I have to add a picture?
No. Without one the video shows a plain colour, black unless you choose another, with your WAV playing over it.
Does the sound lose quality?
A little. WAV is uncompressed and an MP4 is not, so the sound is encoded to AAC. That is why the video comes out far smaller than the WAV. Choose 256 or 320 kbps for music.
Can it make a waveform or lyric video?
No. One picture stays on screen for the whole of the WAV and nothing moves.
Will the MP4 work on YouTube?
It is an ordinary MP4: H.264 picture at 30 frames a second with AAC sound, which is what video sites ask for. Choose the shape that suits the site. Each one sets its own limits on length and file size.
Can I convert several WAV files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are converted one after another, then offered as a single ZIP. They all use the same picture.