MP3 vs WAV vs FLAC for Video Editing

Which audio format is best for video editing?#

WAV is the best audio format for video editing: it stores uncompressed PCM samples, so DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro all import it and play it without decoding. FLAC is the same audio compressed losslessly, MP3, M4A and OPUS are lossy, and the difference between them on a timeline is compatibility, not sound.

The working rule fits in one line: edit in WAV, archive in FLAC or the native M4A or OPUS file, share references as MP3. For material downloaded from YouTube, one more fact settles the quality question. From a YouTube source, MP3, WAV and FLAC all start from the same lossy stream, so none sounds better than that stream; WAV is simply the safest to edit.

B-ROLL, a free Windows app for editors, saves YouTube audio in all five formats, so the choice is yours at download time. Every format in this comparison sits in the hub on codecs and formats for editing YouTube footage.

How do MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A and OPUS compare?#

MP3, M4A and OPUS are lossy and small, WAV is uncompressed and large, and FLAC is lossless but compressed. The table compares the five formats on the points that decide what goes on a timeline, with NLE support taken from the vendors’ own format lists.

The support column follows the DaVinci Resolve 20 codec list for Windows (July 2025), Apple’s Final Cut Pro supported media formats, which names AAC, AIFF, BWF, CAF, MP3, MP4, RF64 and WAV, and Adobe’s Premiere Pro supported file formats. The MP3 size is the calculation 128 kbps x 60 s / 8 bits per byte / 1000.

Lossy means the encoder has already discarded detail, and FLAC or WAV made later cannot restore it. Why a WAV from YouTube cannot beat the stream it came from is covered in YouTube audio quality explained: Opus, AAC and bitrates.

Which audio formats do NLEs import?#

WAV, MP3 and AAC in M4A are the three audio formats that DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro all list. FLAC and Opus are where the editors part ways, so check the list for your NLE before you pick them.

DaVinci Resolve 20 on Windows has the widest audio list of the three. Blackmagic Design’s codec list gives WAV decode and encode as Linear PCM at 16, 24 and 32 bit, FLAC decode and encode, AAC or M4A at constant, variable and average bit rate, and MP3 at constant bit rate only. Opus appears once, as audio inside .mov and .mp4 files, not as a standalone .opus file.

Final Cut Pro sticks to Apple’s formats. Its media list names WAV, AIFF, BWF, CAF, RF64, MP3, AAC and MP4, and neither FLAC nor Opus. Apple notes that Media Extensions on macOS Sequoia can add third-party formats, so a plug-in can change that picture on a given Mac.

Premiere Pro reads WAV, MP3 and AAC, and its supported formats page does not list FLAC. For the video side of the same workflow, the steps are in downloading YouTube videos for Premiere Pro and After Effects.

The MP3 line in Resolve’s list matters for downloads. B-ROLL’s audio Quality menu passes Best to yt-dlp as variable quality, while 320, 256, 192 and 128 kbps pass a fixed bitrate. The FFmpeg codecs documentation describes the MP3 encoder’s bitrate option for constant bit rate and its quality option for variable bit rate. So when an MP3 must go into Resolve, pick a kbps value rather than Best.

When does saving YouTube audio as WAV help an edit?#

Saving YouTube audio as WAV helps when the file goes on a timeline you will cut, stretch, clean up or export several times. WAV adds no detail, but it removes decoding from playback and keeps every later step lossless until your final render.

Four situations make WAV worth the disk space:

• Music beds you cut to picture. Precise edits on the beat need sample-accurate positions, which PCM has by design.
• Dialogue you clean up. Noise reduction, EQ and loudness passes work on decoded samples anyway; starting from WAV skips a decode on every playback and render.
• Round trips. Audio sent to a DAW and back, or through several exports, stays lossless in WAV and loses detail again in every MP3 step.
• Resolve with MP3 from Best. A variable bit rate MP3 falls outside Resolve’s listed MP3 decode, so a WAV is the dependable file.

WAV does not help for temp music, transcription or a client reference, where an MP3 or the native M4A plays everywhere. Wherever the audio came from, confirm the right to use it before it reaches the final mix: music is the content most often claimed, and the routes to permission are in can you use YouTube clips in your video.

B-ROLL’s audio Quality menu, Best down to 128 kbps, shows for every audio format but has no effect on WAV and FLAC. With Save audio to a different folder turned on, every audio download lands in its own folder, away from the video files. The full list of audio options is in extract audio from YouTube for video editing.

How big are WAV and FLAC files per minute?#

A stereo WAV at 48 kHz and 16 bit takes 11.52 MB per minute (48,000 x 16 x 2 x 60 / 8 / 1,000,000). At 24 bit the same minute takes 17.28 MB (48,000 x 24 x 2 x 60 / 8 / 1,000,000). FLAC has no fixed size: it compresses the same samples by an amount that depends on the material, so a FLAC is always smaller than its WAV but by a varying margin.

The table gives the storage per minute for stereo audio at 48 kHz, calculated as sample rate x bit depth x 2 channels x 60 s / 8 bits per byte / 1,000,000. Lossy formats use bitrate x 60 s / 8 / 1000 instead.

B-ROLL shows the measured bitrate of every finished audio file on its card, for example “160 kbps”, which is file size divided by duration. That readout turns any FLAC, M4A or OPUS download into an exact size per minute with the calculation in the table’s notes.

WAV size also depends on sample rate: a 44.1 kHz 16-bit stereo WAV is 10.584 MB per minute (44,100 x 16 x 2 x 60 / 8 / 1,000,000). Whether to keep 44.1 kHz audio or match the project is its own question, covered in 48 kHz vs 44.1 kHz: sample rate for video editing.

Which audio format should you pick for music, voice and effects?#

Pick WAV for music, voice and effects that go on the timeline, FLAC for a lossless archive when your NLE reads it, and MP3 only for references. The verdict is WAV, and it holds for every NLE on the list.

When to pick each format:

• WAV: anything you will cut, mix or export: music beds, dialogue, interviews, sound effects. The one format DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro all read without conditions.
• FLAC: a lossless archive of a cue you may need again, when disk space matters. Convert to WAV before the edit if you cut in Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro.
• M4A: a compact copy of an AAC stream, fine on most timelines as a placeholder.
• OPUS: a compact copy of an Opus stream for the archive, not for the timeline.
• MP3: temp music, scratch voice, a preview for a client, a file for transcription.

Short effects and stingers cost almost nothing as WAV: a 5-second hit at 48 kHz 16-bit stereo is 0.96 MB (11.52 x 5 / 60). Save only the part you need as an audio clip, and the file stays that small.

B-ROLL’s ProRes and DNxHR files follow the same verdict for sound. When you download a video as an edit-ready .mov, B-ROLL stores its audio as uncompressed 16-bit PCM, the same sample format as a 16-bit WAV, so the sound track of every converted clip needs no decoding on the timeline.