When WAV is the better choice
WAV is plain, uncompressed PCM audio, and almost every audio program understands it. People convert OGG to WAV when a video editor will not import .ogg, when a hardware sampler or drum machine only loads WAV, when a game mod tool expects WAV sources, or when they want to burn an audio CD. Editing is another good reason: every time you save a lossy file again, it loses a bit more, while a WAV can be cut and saved many times without new damage.
What happens to quality
The audio is decoded exactly as an OGG player would decode it and then stored without compression. The result sounds the same as the OGG file, not better. Details that the Vorbis encoder removed are gone, and no converter can recreate them. What you gain is a stable, edit-friendly copy.
Size and settings
| Format | Typical bitrate | Size per minute (stereo) |
|---|---|---|
| OGG Vorbis, quality 5 | about 160 kbps | about 1.2 MB |
| WAV 16-bit, 44.1 kHz | 1411 kbps | about 10.1 MB |
| WAV 24-bit, 48 kHz | 2304 kbps | about 16.5 MB |
Expect the WAV to be roughly eight to ten times larger than the OGG. 16-bit is enough for listening, CDs and most uses. Choose 24-bit or 32-bit float if you will apply heavy processing such as large volume changes, because extra depth protects quiet details during later edits.
Leave the sample rate unchanged when you can. Vorbis files are usually 44.1 kHz. If the OGG holds Opus audio (common for voice messages), it decodes at 48 kHz, which is also the standard rate for video projects. Switch a stereo voice recording to mono to halve the size.
After converting
WAV has only basic support for tags, so titles and artists from the OGG file may not appear in every program. That rarely matters for editing. Open the result in the audio editor to cut, fade or join it with other clips, or use Noise Reduction first if the recording has hiss or hum. When you are done, you can still make a small copy with WAV to MP3.