Convert 3G2 to WMA — Free Online Tool
Convert 3G2 mobile video files to WMA audio by extracting and re-encoding the AAC audio track using Microsoft's WMAv2 codec. This is ideal for pulling audio from old CDMA mobile video clips into a Windows-compatible streaming format.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
Drop your 3G2 file here
or click to browse
Free — no uploads, no signups. Your files never leave your browser.
Settings
Note: Browser-based encoding uses approximate quality targets. For precise CRF compression, copy the FFmpeg command above and run it on your desktop.
Estimated output:
Conversion Complete!
DownloadHow It Works
A 3G2 file is a multimedia container designed for CDMA mobile networks that typically holds H.264 video and AAC audio. During this conversion, FFmpeg discards the video stream entirely and transcodes only the AAC audio track into WMAv2 (Windows Media Audio version 2), wrapping it in a WMA container. Because AAC and WMAv2 are both lossy codecs with different compression algorithms, this is a full audio re-encode — not a stream copy — which means the audio is decoded from AAC and then re-compressed using WMAv2's psychoacoustic model. At the default bitrate of 128k, the output quality is good for voice and music but involves a generation of lossy compression on top of the original mobile-quality encoding.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg tool, which is running here as FFmpeg.wasm compiled to WebAssembly and executing entirely inside your browser — no data leaves your device. |
-i input.3g2
|
Specifies the input file in 3G2 format, a mobile multimedia container holding H.264 video and AAC audio encoded for CDMA network transmission. FFmpeg reads both streams but only the audio will be used in this conversion. |
-c:a wmav2
|
Sets the audio encoder to WMAv2 (Windows Media Audio version 2), Microsoft's primary lossy audio codec. The AAC audio from the 3G2 file is fully decoded and then re-encoded with WMAv2's compression algorithm to produce WMA-compatible output. |
-b:a 128k
|
Sets the WMAv2 audio output bitrate to 128 kilobits per second, a standard quality level suitable for music and general audio. This is appropriate for most 3G2 source files, though if the original mobile audio was encoded below 128k, this won't recover lost detail. |
output.wma
|
Defines the output filename with the .wma extension, signaling FFmpeg to wrap the WMAv2-encoded audio in an ASF (Advanced Systems Format) container — the standard container used by all WMA files and natively supported by Windows Media Player and other Microsoft ecosystem software. |
Common Use Cases
- Recovering audio recordings or voice memos captured on an older CDMA mobile phone (Verizon, Sprint) that are stored as 3G2 files, converting them into WMA for playback in Windows Media Player
- Archiving audio from old 3G2 mobile video clips on a Windows PC where WMA is the preferred format for a media library organized via Windows Media Player
- Extracting the audio track from a 3G2 video to use as a ringtone source or sound clip in a Windows-based audio editor that handles WMA natively
- Converting legacy mobile video content into a format compatible with older Windows devices, Xbox 360, or Zune players that have strong native WMA support
- Preparing audio from 3G2 clips for distribution on platforms or services that accept WMA for streaming, taking advantage of WMA's built-in metadata tag support for artist and title fields
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, some quality loss is unavoidable. The audio in a 3G2 file is typically AAC-encoded at a low bitrate suited to mobile networks, and converting to WMA requires fully decoding that AAC audio and re-encoding it with the WMAv2 codec — a second generation of lossy compression. The perceptible impact depends on the original 3G2 audio bitrate; if it was already heavily compressed for CDMA transmission (64k or lower), the output may sound noticeably degraded. Setting the WMA output bitrate at or above the original 3G2 audio bitrate helps minimize additional quality loss.
No. WMA is a purely audio format and cannot contain video data. FFmpeg automatically drops the video stream from the 3G2 file and outputs only the audio as a WMA file. You do not need to add a -vn flag to suppress the video — FFmpeg handles this implicitly when the output container is WMA.
Replace the value after -b:a with your desired bitrate. For example, use -b:a 192k for higher quality or -b:a 64k to produce a smaller file suited to voice recordings. WMA supports bitrates from 64k up to 320k. Keep in mind that increasing the bitrate cannot recover quality lost in the original 3G2 encoding, so there is limited benefit in going far above the source file's original audio bitrate.
Yes, by changing -c:a wmav2 to -c:a wmav1 in the command. WMAv1 is an older codec with broader compatibility on very early Windows Media Player versions, but WMAv2 generally offers better audio quality at the same bitrate and is the recommended choice for any modern Windows environment. Unless you specifically need WMAv1 for a legacy device, stick with the default wmav2.
Possibly, but inconsistently. 3G2 files store metadata in MP4-style atoms, and WMA stores metadata in ASF object tags — these are structurally different formats. FFmpeg will attempt to map common metadata fields like title and artist, but mobile-specific metadata such as recording device info or CDMA network tags are unlikely to transfer. WMA's metadata system is well-suited for music library tags, so you may want to review and re-tag the output file after conversion.
Yes, on a desktop you can use a shell loop to process multiple files. On Linux or macOS, run: for f in *.3g2; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a wmav2 -b:a 128k "${f%.3g2}.wma"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.3g2) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:a wmav2 -b:a 128k "%~nf.wma". The browser-based tool processes one file at a time, so the FFmpeg command shown on this page is especially useful for batch workflows involving many 3G2 clips from an old mobile device.
Technical Notes
The 3G2 container format is structurally similar to MP4 and was standardized by 3GPP2 for CDMA networks (used by carriers like Verizon and Sprint). Its audio stream is almost always AAC, encoded at low bitrates (often 32k–128k) to conserve bandwidth on mobile networks. WMAv2, the output codec here, is Microsoft's proprietary psychoacoustic lossy codec introduced with Windows Media Player 7. At 128k, WMAv2 is generally comparable in quality to AAC at the same bitrate, though the codec architectures differ significantly. One important limitation: WMA does not support multiple audio tracks or chapter markers, but 3G2 files typically carry only a single audio track so this is rarely a concern in practice. WMA also does not support DRM encoding through this FFmpeg conversion path — the DRM support listed as a WMA feature requires Microsoft's proprietary toolchain, not FFmpeg. File sizes will vary: a typical 3G2 file with low-bitrate mobile audio re-encoded to WMA at 128k will often result in a larger audio-only WMA file than the original combined video+audio 3G2, simply because the source audio bitrate was below 128k.