How do I record a WAV file on Android?

A WAV file, or Waveform Audio File Format, is an uncompressed audio file format. WAV files provide CD-quality audio by capturing all of the data in the original analog audio signal. This makes them ideal for recording high-quality audio like music, podcasts, sound effects, and other audio projects where quality matters.

There are several key reasons why someone may want to record a WAV file on an Android device:

  • WAV files offer lossless audio quality since they are uncompressed. This preserves the full fidelity and dynamic range of the original recording.
  • They are compatible with most audio editing software and digital audio workstations, making them useful for producing professional audio results.
  • WAVs can be converted losslessly to other formats like MP3 and FLAC if needed while retaining excellent quality.
  • Recording directly to a device allows for mobility and convenience compared to being tethered to a computer.
  • Many Android devices have high quality microphones capable of capturing clean recordings.

Overall, the ability to record uncompressed WAV files directly on an Android device provides flexibility and quality for various audio applications.

Prerequisites

To record a WAV file on your Android device, it needs to be running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or newer. According to Supported media formats, Android has included native support for uncompressed PCM/WAV audio files since Android 5.0 Lollipop. On older Android versions, PCM/WAV format recording is not natively supported. So the first prerequisite is ensuring your device is updated to at least Android 5.0 before trying to record WAV files.

Enable External Storage Permissions

In order to record and save files, you need to enable permissions for the recording app to access external storage on your Android device. Here are the steps:

Go to Settings > Apps. Then select the recording app and tap Permissions.[1] Enable Microphone and Storage permissions for the app. On Android 6.0 and up, you will need to switch the permissions toggles to the “on” position to enable them.

Enabling storage permission allows the recording app to access the external storage to save files like WAV recordings. Microphone permission is required to access the phone’s mic and capture audio. With both permissions enabled, the app will be able to properly record and store WAV files.

[1] “Change app permissions on your Android phone.” Google Support. https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/9431959. Accessed [date accessed].

Download a Recording App

There are many high-quality recording apps available for Android that support recording audio in WAV format. Some top recommendations include:

Google Voice Recorder – Google’s official voice recording app that comes pre-installed on many Android devices. It provides a simple interface and allows recording in various formats including WAV. Source

Easy Voice Recorder – A popular free app with over 100 million downloads. It offers advanced audio editing tools and also lets you trim, split, and convert recordings. Easy Voice Recorder has options to customize the recording quality. Source

Hi-Q MP3 Voice Recorder – A highly-rated app for clear audio recording. It has automatic gain control for adjusting volume levels and can record in uncompressed WAV format at up to 192kbit/s. Hi-Q Recorder also allows you to add bookmarks within recordings.

Other top options include ASR Voice Recorder, Sony Audio Recorder, Voice Recorder, and RecForge II. Look for an app that has clear controls, audio editing tools, and the ability to export or share files in WAV format.

Set Recording Format

To record audio in WAV format on Android, you need to open your recording app’s settings and change the recording format. The default is often set to M4A or MP3 to save space, but WAV is an uncompressed audio format that provides higher quality.

In your recording app like RecForge II or Hi-Q MP3 Recorder, navigate to the settings and locate the option for recording format or encoding. Tap on this and select WAV from the list of formats. This will configure the app to save new recordings as WAV files rather than compressed formats like MP3.

As noted in the Macaulay Library guidelines, open your recording app’s settings, touch compression, select WAV for the file format, then under record settings, choose Raw for the audio source to avoid any compression or effects being applied. Now your recordings will save as true uncompressed WAV files.

Start Recording

Once you have configured your desired settings in the recording app, you are ready to start capturing audio. The process to begin recording is straightforward:

Open the app and press the record button to start. This is usually a large red button labeled “Record” or has a red dot icon. Tapping it will instantly trigger audio recording until you manually stop it.

Some apps may have additional options to insert a countdown before recording starts or schedule a timed recording. But the standard way is to simply tap the main record button when you are ready to capture audio.

As the app records, you will see a timer showing the elapsed time. There may also be a visual waveform to indicate live audio levels. Speak into the phone’s microphone to capture your desired audio.

Most recording apps allow you to pause and resume, in case you need to briefly stop recording and then continue in the same file. Just press pause and then resume when ready to keep adding to the same track.

To fully stop recording, simply press the same main record button again. This will end the recording session and finalize the WAV audio file.

Stop Recording

Once you have finished recording your audio, you need to stop the recording. This will finalize the .wav file and make it available for playback. To stop recording, simply press the red stop button or square icon in your recording app. This is usually labeled something like “Stop” or has a square icon. For example, in the Google Recorder app, tap the square stop icon in the bottom toolbar to end the recording [1].

When you tap stop, the app will stop the recording and encode the audio into the final .wav file format. This may take a few seconds depending on the length of the recording. Most apps show a progress bar during this process. Once complete, your .wav file is ready for playback, sharing or transferring off your device.

Save the WAV File

When you finish recording and tap the stop button, the recording app will automatically save the audio clip as a WAV file. WAV is a standard uncompressed audio format that is compatible with most media players and editing software.

By default, the WAV file will be saved in a folder named after the recording app within your device’s internal storage. For example, recordings from the Google Recorder app may be stored here: /storage/emulated/0/Recorder.

Some recording apps allow you to customize the save location. You may be able to save files to external SD card storage or cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox. This allows you to easily access the recordings from other devices.

The WAV file will be named based on the date and time of the recording. File names often follow a format like ‘YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.wav’ based on the year, month, day, hour, minutes, and seconds.

Locate the WAV File

Once you finish recording and saving the WAV file, you will need to find where it is located on your Android device. The WAV file will typically be saved in one of two folders:

  • Music – The Sound Recorder app may automatically save your recordings to the Music folder on your device’s internal storage. Check here first.
  • Recordings – Some recording apps create their own folder to store audio files. It may be labeled Recordings, Voice Recordings, Audio, etc. Check the app’s settings to see if it specifies a save location.

You can also use your device’s Files or File Manager app to search for WAV files. Navigate to internal storage and browse the folder names to locate the audio recordings.

According to a discussion on Stack Overflow, WAV files recorded on Android are typically stored in the Music folder by default: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5245497/how-to-record-wav-format-file-in-android

Once you’ve found the folder containing your WAV files, you can play back or transfer the recordings as needed.

Transfer the File

Once you have recorded your WAV file on your Android device, you will likely want to transfer it to your computer for editing or sharing. There are a couple easy ways to do this:

Transfer via USB cable: Connect your Android device to your computer using a USB cable. On your Android, you may get a notification asking how you want to transfer files. Select “Transfer files” or “Transfer media files”. Your Android’s storage should then show up in your computer’s file explorer like an external drive. Navigate to your WAV file, usually in a folder like Music or Recordings, and copy it to your computer.

Transfer via cloud storage: Upload the WAV file from your Android device to a cloud storage service like Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive. You can then access the file on your computer by visiting the cloud storage service in your web browser, or syncing the folder with your computer’s file system. This allows wireless transfer without needing a USB cable.1

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