Who still needs WMA
WMA (Windows Media Audio) was Microsoft's answer to MP3 and was everywhere in the 2000s, when Windows Media Player was the default music program. Today most devices prefer MP3 or AAC, yet WMA is still needed now and then. Some older car stereos and portable players read WMA better than MP3. Certain corporate systems, presentation templates and old Windows Movie Maker projects expect WMA files. Phone systems for on-hold music sometimes require it too.
Quality and bitrate
This converter writes WMA version 2, the most widely supported variant. Like MP3, it is lossy, so converting from MP3 adds a second generation of compression. WMA is roughly as efficient as MP3, which means you should not save space by lowering the bitrate:
- MP3 at 128 kbps: choose WMA at 128 or 160 kbps.
- MP3 at 192 kbps or higher: choose WMA at 192 kbps.
- Speech recordings: 64 to 96 kbps works, ideally in mono.
File sizes are the same as MP3 at equal bitrates: about 1 MB per minute at 128 kbps and 1.4 MB per minute at 192 kbps.
Device compatibility
| Device or app | Plays WMA |
|---|---|
| Windows Media Player, Groove, Windows 10 and 11 | yes |
| VLC on any system | yes |
| Many car stereos from 2005 to 2015 | usually |
| iPhone and Mac Music app | no |
| Android built-in players | varies by phone |
Check the manual of your car stereo or player: some support only WMA without DRM and up to a certain bitrate, often 192 kbps.
Tags and tips
Title, artist and album are written into the WMA (ASF) header, so car displays and players show song names. Cover art may not be copied. If the device also plays MP3, it is usually better to keep the MP3 and avoid the extra encode. To make several songs equally loud before copying them to a car, use normalize; to join a playlist into one file, use merge. Going the other way is covered by WMA to MP3.