How to open AMR voice recordings
AMR files are voice recordings from older phones and call recorders. Why they will not play on a computer, and how to turn them into MP3.
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In short: AMR is a speech codec used by older phones and call recorders. Most computers and players cannot open it. The AMR to MP3 converter turns it into an MP3 that plays anywhere, in your browser and without uploading it.
Where AMR files come from
Voice recorder apps on older Android phones, Nokia and feature phones, call-recording apps and some dictation devices. It was designed for mobile calls and keeps a minute of speech in about 100 KB.
What converting can and cannot do
AMR only records the frequencies a voice needs, roughly up to 4 kHz. The MP3 will open anywhere, but it will still sound like a phone call; the rest was never captured. A 64 kbps MP3 holds everything the AMR has.
If the recording is quiet, Make Audio Louder or Normalize Audio helps a lot.
Questions
What plays AMR files?
VLC does. Most other players do not; convert to MP3 for them.