Type: Audio
Acronym: WAVE Audio Format Sound
Standard digital audio file format used for storing waveform data; allows audio recordings to be saved with different sampling rates and bitrates; often saved in a 44.1 KHz, 16-bit, stereo format, which is the standard format used for CD audio.
WAV is short for "Waveform Audio File Format," and is pronounced "wave." WAV files are similar to .AIF files, but they are based on the Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF), rather than the Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF). WAV files are most often seen on Windows-based computers, while AIF files are more common on Macintosh systems.