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Definition
WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) is an uncompressed audio format developed by Microsoft and IBM. It stores raw audio data at full quality, making files very large but preserving every detail. WAV is the standard working format in audio production and editing.
WAV files store audio as raw PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) data without any compression. A stereo CD-quality WAV file (44.1 kHz, 16-bit) uses about 10 MB per minute of audio. A 4-minute song is roughly 40 MB as a WAV file, compared to about 4 MB as a 128 kbps MP3.
Despite the large file sizes, WAV is essential in professional audio workflows. Recording, editing, and mixing are done with WAV or AIFF (Apple's equivalent) files because there is no compression loss at any step. Lossy compression is only applied at the final export stage when creating distribution copies (MP3, AAC, etc.).
WAV files support various bit depths (8, 16, 24, 32-bit) and sample rates (8 kHz to 384+ kHz). The format also supports metadata through LIST chunks, though this is less standardized than ID3 tags in MP3. For archival purposes, FLAC is often preferred over WAV because it provides identical quality at 50-60% of the file size through lossless compression.