AUD · Audio tools

Convert Audio to 48 kHz

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Settings are written to the URL as you change them. Nothing differs from the defaults yet.

Resample to 48 kHz

Drop an audio file and export it at 48 kHz as a WAV. Anything recorded above that rate is filtered and resampled down; anything already below it is left where it is.

Why video runs at 48 kHz

The rate divides cleanly against the frame rates video uses, so each frame holds a whole number of audio samples. That keeps picture and sound locked together across a long timeline without accumulating drift, and it is why editors, broadcast chains, and game engines settled on it.

Hand a 44.1 kHz file to a video editor and it resamples on import anyway. Doing it first means the conversion happens once, under settings you chose.

The 24 kHz ceiling

Half the sample rate is the highest frequency the file can carry, so 48 kHz tops out at 24 kHz. That sits above the range of human hearing, which is why dropping a 96 kHz or 192 kHz recording to 48 kHz removes nothing anyone can hear.

The content above the new limit is filtered out before the rate changes. Skipping that step would fold those frequencies back down into the audible band as aliased tones that were never in the recording.

Upward conversion is refused

Resampling up interpolates between existing samples. It produces a larger file with no additional detail, and every player and encoder does the same thing on the fly when it needs to. A file below 48 kHz is exported at its own rate instead.

Other delivery rates

Music heading to streaming or CD wants 44.1 kHz. Speech models usually want 16 kHz. For mono downmixing, a different output format, or a rate not listed, use the full Sample Rate Converter.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. Resampling upward interpolates between samples that already exist and adds no detail the recording never captured. A file already below 48 kHz is exported at its own rate rather than padded up to one that would only look higher.

It divides evenly against common video frame rates, so a whole number of samples lands in each frame and audio stays aligned across long timelines. Film and broadcast workflows standardised on it for that reason.

Everything above 24 kHz, which is above the range of human hearing. The content is filtered out before the rate drops rather than left to fold back as an aliased tone in the audible band.

WAV, which keeps every sample the resampler produces. The full Sample Rate Converter also writes FLAC, MP3, M4A, and Ogg Opus.

Convert straight to a rate

Full Audio Sample Rate Converter tool

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