How to Easily Convert MP3 Files to High Quality WAV Audio

Hey there audio enthusiast!

Have you ever needed to convert your MP3 music library over into the WAV audio format? Perhaps you wanted to burn songs to a CD or needed to edit WAV versions in Audacity before remixing tracks. Or maybe you just wanted to archive important albums in the highest lossless format possible.

Well you’ve come to the right place! In this comprehensive 2000 word guide, we’ll explore:

• A friendly overview of MP3 and WAV file formats
• 4 simple methods for converting MP3 to WAV
• Specific walkthroughs for VLC, iTunes and Audacity
• Quick online converter options needing no software
• Detailed tips from an audio quality fanatic!

I’ve personally converted thousands of audio tracks over my career – so let me share everything I’ve learned to help you quickly and easily convert over your MP3 library into fantastic sounding WAV files. Let‘s get started!

Comparing MP3 and WAV Audio Formats

The first step is understanding what makes the MP3 and WAV formats different under the hood before we convert between them:

MP3 stands for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. It’s been the most popular digital audio format for 2 decades! MP3 uses perceptual “lossy” compression techniques that remove certain high and low frequencies deemed hard for the human ear to hear – allowing extreme file size shrinkage with minimal perceived effect on quality.

For example: A 3 minute song as an uncompressed audio file would be 30-40 MB. Converted to a typical 192kbps MP3 it becomes just 3-4 MB in size – allowing easy streaming and sharing!

The downside is that an MP3 tosses out some of the original audio data forever, so quality is lower than the master source audio. But for everyday listening the quality is still excellent compared to the radical file size savings.

WAV stands for Waveform Audio File Format. It’s the de-facto standard for storing uncompressed, CD-grade audio on computers. WAV files retain 100% perfect quality capturing all the detail of source audio. However the tradeoff is very large file sizes vs lossy formats like MP3.

For example: That same 3 minute song stored as a WAV at 44.1 kHz, 16-bit (CD-quality) would consume 30-40 MB of drive space. But it contains every single sample from the original studio master track!

Now let’s see why you may want to convert MP3 over to these high-quality WAV files and how to do it…

Why Convert MP3 to WAV Audio?

Before we get into the HOW, here are the top reasons you’d want to convert MP3 files into the WAV format:

1. To Edit or Mix Audio Files – Most advanced audio editing apps can only work with uncompressed or lossless audio formats like WAV. So you’ll need to convert MP3 into WAV format first.

2. To Burn an Audio CD – Music CDs universally use uncompressed 16-bit / 44.1 kHz WAV files under the hood. So converting MP3 to WAV is required for burning.

3. For Audio Quality Archiving – If you want to backup the highest quality versions of beloved albums, convert them from lossy MP3 to pristine WAV format first.

4. For DJ Applications – Applications like Virtual DJ that mix sound live perform best with the high quality WAV format rather than lossy MP3.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas on how converting over to WAV can be useful before we dive into the HOW!

Method #1: Convert MP3 to WAV with VLC Media Player

Let‘s start out with the popular free VLC app. It has a fast batch audio conversion tool built right in!

The Key Benefit: Fast conversion of multiple files at once.

Step 1: Add MP3 Files to Convert

Open VLC and click Media > Convert to open the conversion dialog. Click Add and select all the MP3 files you want to convert.

VLC will queue up all the files nicely:

Pro Tip: You can drag/drop MP3 files directly here too!

Step 2: Configure New WAV Profile

We next need to define the audio profile for the WAV output. Click the "Create a new profile" button:

Enter a name like "WAV Conversion" and choose these key settings:

Audio Codec: WAV (Microsoft)
Channels: Stereo or surround depending on source
Sample Rate: Highest available like 44100 Hz

Step 3: Start Converting MP3 to WAV!

Finally click the "Start" button to begin converting the MP3 files over to perfect quality WAV versions!

The conversion progresses very quickly thanks to VLC‘s multi-threading. And now you have fantastic WAV versions ready for other applications.

Pro Tip: Save the profile in VLC for future batch conversions!

So in summary, VLC provides a fast way to bulk convert MP3 collections thanks to batch queueing and one-click conversion profiles. It just takes a few clicks!

Method #2: Convert MP3 to WAV with iTunes

The iTunes app built into every Mac makes MP3 to WAV conversion seamless.

The Key Benefit: Tight integration for importing right into your music library.

iTunes will handle not just conversion, but importing the WAV results right into its music database complete with ID3 tags, playlists and more.

Here‘s how to leverage iTunes for pristine WAV import…

Step 1: Configure Import Settings

Open iTunes Preferences > Import Settings and choose the WAV Encoder:

This step tells iTunes to convert any imported files over to WAV format automatically.

The key setting is the WAV Encoder which encodes to 100% lossless 16-bit 44.1 kHz by default – perfect!

Step 2: Add MP3 Files to Library

Next simply drag and drop any MP3 files (or folders) directly into the iTunes library.

The app gets to work decoding the MP3 data, converting over to WAV in real time, and importing the lossless audio into the music database. Quite slick!

The status area will display "Converting" during this process:

Under the hood iTunes uses a professional WAV encoding codec to guarantee perfect conversions every time.

Step 3: Find WAV Files in Library

Once importing and conversion finishes, simply navigate to the files within iTunes and you‘ll now have high quality WAV versions!

You can play the lossless versions directly within iTunes or use the File > Export option to save copies elsewhere.

So in summary – iTunes makes it simple to batch convert and import MP3 music collections into pristine WAV audio files ready for enjoyment!

Method #3: Convert with Free Audacity Audio Editor

If you want to do audio editing and enhancement during the MP3 to WAV conversion process, the free Audacity app is the tool to beat.

The Key Benefit: Editing and optimizing tracks during conversion.

Audacity gives you a wide range of audio effects to polish up songs including:

• Noise Reduction
• Equalization
• Hard Limits
• Compression
• Fading Effects

Let‘s explore the workflow…

Step 1: Import MP3 Files

Install Audacity and launch the app. Click File > Open and select the MP3 tracks you want to convert:

Audacity stores the compressed MP3 data in temporary uncompressed form for editing.

Audacity uses 32-bit float precision under the hood for all temporary audio data, exceeding CD 16-bit quality

Step 2: Apply Audio Effects

With the MP3 files now open, you can start improving and enhancing the tracks with built-in audio effects:

For example applying:

• Compression to even out uneven volume levels
• Noise Removal to clean up hissy background noise
• Equalization to boost bass or treble tones

I always take time to polish up every recording for best results before final WAV export.

Step 3: Export Final Audio as WAV

Finally when editing is complete, render out the cleaned up tracks as WAV files via File > Export Audio:

Be sure to pick WAV as the export type for perfect quality results every time.

Now you have studio-polished WAV audio files mastered and EQ‘d to perfection ready for listening!

So in summary, Audacity is perfect for fine tuning tracks during the MP3 to WAV conversion process thanks to the built-in editing suite.

Bonus: Use Online Audio Converter Tools

If you just need a quick MP3 converted over to WAV once, free online audio converters are handy when you don’t want to install any software.

Here are my picks for top 2 online MP3 to WAV websites:

Online Audio Converter

Benefits: Very fast, batch convert support, detailed audio options

• Drag MP3s right onto site
• WAV downloads ready in seconds
• Can tweak sample rate, channels, etc

Convertio Audio Converter

Benefits: Supports uploads from Google Drive & Dropbox!

• Connect cloud storage accounts
• Upload gigs of music at once
• Interface simpler than other tools

Both sites take the hassle out of quickly getting MP3 audio over to high quality WAV files. Give them a try for your next quick conversion needs!

Let‘s Recap…

We covered a ton of ground here on the best ways to convert back and forth between the MP3 and WAV audio formats using both desktop and online tools!

Here’s a quick recap:

• MP3 is the popular compressed format good enough for everyday listening
• WAV is the lossless format used for highest audio quality archiving and editing
• Reasons to convert MP3 to WAV include audio editing, CD burning, and quality archiving
• VLC Media Player makes fast work out of batch converting thanks to queued exports
• iTunes can seamlessly import MP3 collections into pristine WAV files
• Audacity is perfect for fine tuning and enhancing tracks during conversion
• Online tools provide quick one-off MP3 => WAV conversion when needed

I hope this guide spelled out the difference between these formats, why WAV can be useful, and how to painlessly convert MP3 libraries over to lossless quality with either desktop or web apps!

Let me know if you have any other questions. And happy converting!