I need to compress a .wav file, but I have to keep it in .wav form. How can I do this?

Although there is mention of compressed wav files, it is pretty unusual. For that matter wav is more a PC-Windows audio format so you're already starting at a disadvantage on the Mac platform for working with wav. Even though AIFF is a more common Mac format, it too is more commonly used for non-compressed files and I looked a the various utilities I have and they don't even do comprssed AIFF, much less compressed wav.

Usually compressing a wav also means putting it into another format such as mp3.

All that said, check a converter called Max http://sbooth.org/Max/. It includes a wav format selection in preferences which when you select it then includes a list of about 12 codecs, some of which are compression codecs.

You can probably do this with Audacity. (Assuming the Mac version retains the features of the PC one.) One of the output formats is described as GSM 06.10 (mobile) with a data rate of 132Kb/min as opposed to 10,336Kb/min for standard 16bit stereo, 44.1 KHz sample rate. The reduction is size is achieved simply by taking fewer samples in less detail as opposed to the more complicated compression schemes used in other formats. If that format doesn't work for the music-on-hold system use Other uncomressed files and find a match from this list that Audacity can export and the system can play.

tt2

You can convert it to Apple Lossless (or FLAC). It will be about half the size and can be "reconstituted" back to an identical WAV file.

Apple Lossless (and FLAC) work by lossless compression. There are other ways to compress files, but they are not lossless, and when you convert back to WAV you will have lost audio quality.

Sorry Sarah, I just reread the question and I see you are using it for hold music, so you are probably not worried about high fidelity. So, just use iTunes to make a new WAV with a lower sample rate (11,025 samples per second), a lower sample size (8 instead of 16) and make it mono instead of stereo. These are all settable in the "Custom" menu of iTunes when you choose WAV encoder. The result will still be WAV but will be much smaller.

sarahgloverp33 wrote:

I am converted an mp3 into a .wav file, because I need it to be in .wav format in order to use it as hold music for my business. When I attempted to download the file to the program we use, it said it's too big; therefore I need to compress it, but keep it in .wav form. Any suggestions on how to do this?

Thank you!

Use iTunes.

Preferences > General > Import Preferences. Set "Import Using" to "WAV Encoder," and "Setting" to "Custom." In the Custom dialog, pick lower values for the Sample Rate (e.g. 22.5 kHz) and Sample Size (e.g. 8 bit). OK out, and and convert your file.