Opus to MP3 Converter
Opus is the codec behind most voice messages and internet calls, and the files it leaves on your computer often refuse to open in anything but a browser. Converting to MP3 trades a little efficiency for a file that every device understands.
Audio Converter
or drop MP3, WAV, M4A … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Constant bitrate (CBR) gives a predictable size and works on every player. Variable bitrate (VBR) spends bits where the music needs them and is usually smaller at the same quality.
Keep the source rate unless a device asks for one. 44.1 kHz is CD standard, 48 kHz is video standard, 8 kHz is used by phone systems and AMR.
Mono halves the size of lossless files and is fine for voice recordings.
16-bit is CD quality. 24-bit keeps headroom for editing and mastering; converting a 16-bit source up does not add detail.
Optional. Seconds (e.g. 75) or minutes:seconds (1:15). Leave empty to start at the beginning.
Optional. Same format as the start time. Leave empty to keep everything up to the end.
How to use this tool
- 1
Add your .opus files
Drop up to 20 files, 95 MB each. Plain .opus files and Opus audio stored in .ogg, .oga, .weba or .webm containers are all read.
- 2
Match the bitrate to the content
The page starts at 128 kbps. For a spoken message, lower Bitrate to 64 or 96 kbps and set Channels to Mono; for music, raise it to 192 kbps.
- 3
Press Convert to MP3
Each file is decoded and re-encoded as MP3. Download them one by one or as a single ZIP; uploads are deleted automatically after 30 minutes.
Where .opus files come from
A voice message saved from WhatsApp on a computer, a recording made by a Discord bot, a podcast clip pulled from a browser cache or an audio track ripped from a web video all tend to land as Opus.
The trouble starts outside the browser. A car stereo reading a USB stick, a hardware MP3 player or a video editor timeline may show the file as unknown or play silence. Converting once to MP3 is simpler than hunting for a codec on every machine. If your file ends in .ogg instead, OGG to MP3 covers it with the same settings.
- Opus
- A lossy audio codec published by the IETF as RFC 6716 in September 2012. It merges Skype's SILK speech coder with Xiph.Org's CELT music coder, runs from 6 to 510 kbps, and works internally at 48 kHz. Files usually sit in an Ogg container with the .opus extension.
Opus to MP3 converter: picking a bitrate that fits the source
- 64 kbps
Voice notes and calls in mono, roughly 0.5 MB per minute.
- 96 kbps
Clear speech, interviews and lectures with some room noise.
- 128 kbps
Default here; mixed voice and music clips.
- 192 kbps
Music that was streamed or recorded in Opus at a high setting.
- 320 kbps
Rarely useful from Opus; the file grows without new detail.
A good rule is to give MP3 about twice the bitrate the Opus file used, since MP3 is the less efficient codec, and then stop. Most chat apps record speech well under 64 kbps, so 64 or 96 kbps MP3 in mono already reproduces everything that was captured.
What changes when Opus becomes MP3
Opus always decodes at 48 kHz, even when the sender's microphone captured less, so leave Sample rate on Same as input unless a destination demands 44.1 kHz. A phone voice note is usually mono already; keeping it mono halves the bits the MP3 needs.
Tags stored as Vorbis comments inside the Ogg wrapper, such as title and artist, are mapped to ID3 tags when Keep tags and cover art is on. Chapter markers and the gapless pre-skip information that Opus uses do not exist in MP3 the same way, so a tiny slice of silence can appear at the start of the converted track. For a lossless copy you plan to edit, choose Opus to WAV instead.
Opus and MP3 side by side
OPUS
Opus audio
Opus is an open, royalty-free lossy audio codec standardised by the IETF in 2012. It adapts from low-bitrate speech to full-band music and has very low latency, so it is used by WhatsApp voice messages, Discord, Zoom, WebRTC and YouTube. At the same bitrate it generally beats MP3 and AAC. Many older players, car stereos and editors cannot open .opus files.
- Compression
- Lossy
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 2012 · IETF (Xiph.Org, Skype, Mozilla)
MP3
MP3 audio
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) is a lossy audio format developed largely at the Fraunhofer Institute and standardised by MPEG in 1993. It removes sounds the ear is unlikely to notice, shrinking music to about a tenth of CD size at 128–320 kbps. All patents have expired, and every phone, car stereo, browser and media player supports it. Quality loss is audible at low bitrates and accumulates with re-encoding.
- Compression
- Lossy
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 1993 · Fraunhofer IIS / MPEG
Opus files arrive from chat apps, call recorders and browser downloads, but car stereos, older media players and many editing apps still have no Opus decoder; MP3 gives those recordings a format any device will play.
Convert Opus to MP3: questions
Why does my .opus file open in Chrome but not in my car or music app?
Browsers ship an Opus decoder because the codec is required for WebRTC calls, so Chrome, Firefox and Edge play it without help. Car head units, older MP3 players and many desktop media apps were built before Opus existed and never added it.
Will the MP3 sound worse than the Opus original?
Converting between two lossy formats adds a little new compression error. At 128 kbps or higher the difference from a voice note or call recording is very hard to hear, because the Opus source was already the limiting factor. What you cannot do is regain detail the original encoder discarded.
Why is the MP3 several times larger than the .opus file?
Opus is far more efficient than MP3 at low bitrates, and voice apps encode speech very lean, so MP3 needs more bits for the same sound. Pick Mono and 64 kbps for speech to keep the file small, about half a megabyte per minute.
Can I convert a Discord or Zoom recording that uses Opus?
Yes, if you have it as a .opus, .ogg or .webm file from a bot, browser recorder or call tool. Video-call exports in MP4 belong in the video to MP3 workflow instead.
Do the sender name and date of a voice note carry over?
Chat apps usually keep sender and timestamp in their own database rather than inside the audio file, so there is nothing to copy. If the file does carry tags, Keep tags and cover art copies them into the MP3's ID3 tags.
- OGG to MP3 ConverterConvert OGG Vorbis or Opus audio, Telegram voice notes and game sound files to MP3 that plays on iPhones, car stereos and every editor. Free, no sign-up.
- WEBA to MP3 ConverterConvert .weba audio from browser recorders and web pages to MP3 with a proper duration and seek bar. Opus or Vorbis inside, up to 20 files, no account.
- AMR to MP3 ConverterConvert .amr and .3ga call recordings and voice memos from Android and older phones to MP3 that any computer plays. Mono 64 kbps, 20 files at once.
- Opus to WAV ConverterDecode .opus voice notes, call recordings and browser audio to WAV for editors, transcription and archiving. 48 kHz by default, 20 files per batch.
- MP3 to Opus ConverterRe-encode MP3 as Opus for web pages, chat bots and spoken-word archives. At 96 kbps a minute takes about 0.7 MB. Up to 20 files at once, no account.
- AAC to MP3 ConverterConvert raw .aac files from call recorders, voice apps, dashcams and stream captures to MP3 with correct length and seeking. Free, 20 files at once.