What audio format for a professional podcast?
Discover the ideal audio format for your podcast: MP3, AAC or WAV? Bitrate, frequency and settings recommended by platforms.
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Podcasting has become a major medium, and with it, audio quality expectations have increased. A poorly encoded podcast can drive listeners away in the first seconds, regardless of content quality.
Choosing the audio format for a podcast is a balance between sound quality, file size and compatibility. Too much compression degrades voice, too little creates heavy files that are difficult to download.
This article guides you through podcast industry standards and helps you choose optimal settings for your show, based on your content and distribution platforms.
Table of contents
Podcast industry standards
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and other major platforms have converged on common standards, facilitating multi-platform distribution. FORMAT: MP3 is the universal podcast standard. It's supported by 100% of players and platforms. AAC (M4A) is also accepted and offers better quality at equal bitrate, but with slightly lower compatibility.
MP3 vs AAC vs WAV: the right choice
MP3: The default and safest choice. Compatible with all devices and platforms. Sufficient quality for voice at 128 kbps. Disadvantage: slight quality loss in high frequencies. AAC (M4A): Technically superior to MP3 – better quality at equal bitrate. Perfect for Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Disadvantage: some older players don't support it.
What bitrate for spoken voice?
Spoken voice has very different characteristics from music. It uses a narrower frequency range (about 100 Hz to 8 kHz versus 20 Hz to 20 kHz for music) and can therefore be compressed more aggressively. 64 kbps MONO: The acceptable minimum. Telephone quality, usable for news podcasts or very long content where size matters.
Mono or stereo for a podcast?
This question divides podcasters, but the answer really depends on your content and workflow. MONO: A single audio track, identical in both earphones. Advantages: 50% smaller file, perfectly centered voice, no phase problems. Ideal for: solo voice, simple interviews, educational content. STEREO: Two distinct tracks (left/right).
Recommended settings by podcast type
SOLO/INTERVIEW PODCAST: MP3 96-128 kbps, mono or stereo, 44.1 kHz. 1h file ≈ 45-70 MB. NARRATIVE/FICTION PODCAST: MP3 128-192 kbps, stereo, 44.1 kHz. Sound effects and music benefit from higher bitrate. MUSICAL PODCAST: MP3 192 kbps or AAC 128 kbps, stereo, 44.1 kHz. Music needs more bitrate to sound good.
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Try the toolHow to do it in 3 steps
Import your edited episode to Convertly Audio and check loudness levels.
Convert to MP3 128 kbps (or 96 kbps mono if voice only) at 44.1 kHz.
Download the optimized file and upload it to your podcast host (Buzzsprout, Anchor, etc.).
Pro tips
- Create an export template in your DAW with your podcast settings to ensure consistency.
- Listen to your final export on basic earbuds (like EarPods) – that's how most listeners listen.
- Compare your podcast's loudness to others in your category to make sure you're within norms.
Common mistakes to avoid
- ✗Exporting as WAV for distribution (files too heavy). Solution: always convert to MP3 for distribution.
- ✗Using 320 kbps for voice (waste of bandwidth). Solution: 128 kbps is more than enough for voice.
- ✗Exporting a mono podcast as stereo (doubles size unnecessarily). Solution: check actual channel count.
- ✗Inconsistent loudness levels between episodes. Solution: normalize all episodes to -16 LUFS.
- ✗Forgetting metadata (no visible episode title). Solution: fill in ID3 tags before export.
- ✗Audio peaks exceeding 0 dB creating distortion. Solution: use a limiter at -1 dB True Peak.
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