WAV vs WMA
How do WAV and WMAcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
.wav
Full guide →Waveform Audio File Format
WAV is an uncompressed audio format that stores raw audio data at full quality. It's the standard format for professional audio editing, music production, and any application where quality is paramount.
.wma
Full guide →Windows Media Audio
WMA is Microsoft's proprietary audio format. While it offered competitive quality in the early 2000s, it has largely been superseded by AAC and other formats. It's still encountered in legacy Windows media libraries.
| Specification | WAV | WMA |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Waveform Audio File Format | Windows Media Audio |
| Extension | .wav | .wma |
| MIME type | audio/wav | audio/x-ms-wma |
| Category | Audio | Audio |
| Developer | Microsoft / IBM | Microsoft |
| Year introduced | 1991 | 1999 |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy |
WAV advantages
- Lossless — full audio quality preserved
- Industry standard for audio production
- Simple format — fast to process
- Universal support on all platforms
WAV limitations
- Very large file sizes
- No compression
- No metadata support in basic format
- Not practical for streaming or sharing
WMA advantages
- Good compression at low bitrates
- DRM support for content protection
- Native Windows support
- Lossless mode available
WMA limitations
- Limited cross-platform support
- Proprietary format
- Declining popularity
- Not supported on many portable devices
Which should you use?
WAV preserves full audio quality with no compression artifacts. WMA offers much smaller files at the cost of some quality. For casual listening, WMA is fine. For production or archival, use WAV.
Best uses for WAV
Best uses for WMA
Convert between WAV and WMA
Need to switch formats? Convert for free with SquishConvert.