Glossary

What is the difference between MP3 and WAV?

WAV is the full, uncompressed audio — big files, nothing thrown away. MP3 is compressed by discarding detail people are unlikely to hear — much smaller files, and what you actually publish. A higher bitrate (320k versus 128k) means less was discarded.

WAV keeps everything and is roughly fifteen times larger; it is what you hand on when more work is coming. MP3 discards detail you are unlikely to hear and is what you publish, because every platform re-encodes anyway. — Two formats, two jobs: hand on the WAV, publish the MP3.

Publish MP3: every podcast platform re-encodes anyway, and a 320k MP3 is transparent to almost everyone. Keep or hand over WAV when the audio has more work coming — mastering, video, an archive — because each round of MP3 compression loses a little more.