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WavPack lossless compressed audio
File type: Audio and sound file
Files with wv extension are audio files in open source WavPack lossless audio compression format. This format is supported by a range of audio players such as VLC, Windows Media Player, Winamp, etc.
File type category:
Audio and sound file
Date updated: July 13, 2025
File extension wv is nowadays best known for its use in WavPack, a free, open source lossless audio compression format, developed by David Bryant.
WavPack compression (wv files) can compress (and restore) 8, 16, 24 & 32-bit float audio files in the.
wav. It also supports surround sound streams and high frequency sampling rates. Like other lossless compression schemes the data reduction varies with the source, but it is generally between 30% and 70% for typical popular music and somewhat better than that for classical music and other sources with greater dynamic range.
WavPack also incorporates a unique "hybrid" mode that provides all the advantages of lossless compression with an additional bonus: Instead of creating a single file, this mode creates both a relatively small, high-quality lossy file (wv) that can be used all by itself, and a "correction" file (wvc) that (when combined with the lossy file) provides full lossless restoration. For some users, this means never having to choose between lossless and lossy compression.
wv file extension was also used for a very old lossless audio format in a program called Sonarc, that was around the year 1994. It might be that these files are still playable in some media players, however both VW formats are unrelated to each other and completely different.
The WV format (WavPack audio) is supported many popular media players, such as KMPlayer, Microsoft Windows Media Player or Winamp.
You can convert wv (WavPack audio) with Total Audio Converter or dBpoweramp Music Converter into various other formats.
Awave Studio also supports many audio or song file formats and conversion between them.
Software applications that can open wv files:
Microsoft Windows
Apple macOS / Mac OS X
Apps designed for playing wv files:
Microsoft Windows
Apple macOS / Mac OS X
Linux/Unix
Google Android
Software apps that create wv files:
Microsoft Windows
Software apps that convert wv files:
Microsoft Windows
Software apps that import wv files:
Apple macOS / Mac OS X
Software apps that export wv files:
Microsoft Windows
Apple macOS / Mac OS X
Software apps that burn wv files to disc:
Microsoft Windows
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