Convert VOB to WAV — Free Online Tool
Extract audio from DVD VOB files and save it as uncompressed PCM WAV, converting the AC3 (Dolby Digital) or other DVD audio streams to 16-bit signed PCM suitable for audio editing, archiving, or broadcast use. Because VOB is a video container and WAV is audio-only, this tool discards the MPEG-2 video stream entirely and decodes only the audio.
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FFmpeg Command
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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
VOB files store multiplexed streams including MPEG-2 video, AC3 (Dolby Digital) surround audio, optional DTS audio, and subtitle data. During this conversion, FFmpeg demuxes the VOB container to isolate the primary audio stream — typically AC3 at 192–448 kbps — and fully decodes it from its lossy compressed form. The decoded PCM audio data is then written into a WAV container using the pcm_s16le codec (16-bit signed little-endian PCM). This is a full decode-and-re-encode step for the audio: the AC3 compression is stripped away and replaced with raw uncompressed samples. The video stream is automatically dropped because WAV supports no video. The result is a lossless representation of what the AC3 encoded, but not lossless relative to the original studio recording — any quality loss introduced when the DVD was authored remains.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg tool, which handles demuxing the VOB container, decoding the AC3 audio stream, and encoding the output as PCM WAV. |
-i input.vob
|
Specifies the input VOB file. FFmpeg will automatically detect the multiplexed MPEG-2 video, AC3 audio, and any subtitle streams within the DVD Video Object container. |
-c:a pcm_s16le
|
Sets the audio codec to 16-bit signed little-endian PCM, which is the standard uncompressed encoding used in WAV files. This tells FFmpeg to fully decode the source AC3 audio and write raw uncompressed PCM samples, producing a WAV compatible with virtually every audio application. |
output.wav
|
Defines the output filename and triggers WAV container muxing. Because WAV is an audio-only format, FFmpeg automatically drops the MPEG-2 video stream from the VOB — no explicit flag is needed to discard the video. |
Common Use Cases
- Ripping the audio commentary track or dialogue from a DVD to import into a video editing project like DaVinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere as a clean WAV source
- Archiving the original AC3 Dolby Digital audio from a DVD disc as uncompressed WAV before the disc degrades, preserving the decoded audio at full fidelity
- Extracting a film's soundtrack or score from a VOB file to use as raw material for audio restoration or remastering in a DAW like Pro Tools or Audacity
- Converting a DVD language dub stored in a VOB file to WAV so it can be synchronized and mixed with a different video master in post-production
- Extracting spoken-word content such as lectures, audiobooks, or interviews distributed on DVD-Video to WAV for transcription or podcast repurposing
- Producing a broadcast-ready WAV file from a DVD source for submission to a broadcaster or streaming platform that requires uncompressed linear PCM audio
Frequently Asked Questions
The WAV output is an uncompressed PCM representation of whatever the AC3 stream contained, so no further quality loss occurs during this specific conversion step. However, AC3 itself is a lossy codec — the quality loss was already introduced when the DVD was authored. The WAV you get is a perfect, bit-accurate decode of the lossy AC3 data, not a lossless capture of the original studio audio.
By default, FFmpeg will decode the AC3 track and preserve its channel layout — if the source is 5.1 surround, the WAV will contain 6 channels of PCM audio. Standard WAV with pcm_s16le supports multi-channel audio, though some consumer software may only display the first two channels. If you need a stereo downmix, you can add the flag -ac 2 to the FFmpeg command before the output filename.
FFmpeg selects the first audio stream in the VOB by default, which is usually the primary language track. To extract a specific audio track, add -map 0:a:1 (for the second audio stream, zero-indexed) to the command before the output filename. You can identify which streams are present by running ffmpeg -i input.vob without an output and reading the stream list it prints.
Significantly larger for the audio portion, because PCM is uncompressed. AC3 at 192 kbps for a 1-hour DVD audio track would be roughly 86 MB compressed; the same audio as 16-bit 48 kHz stereo PCM WAV would be approximately 691 MB. For 5.1 surround audio, multiply accordingly. VOB files are large because they also contain the MPEG-2 video — the WAV will contain only audio, so it will be much smaller than the full VOB but larger than the AC3 stream alone.
The default output uses 16-bit PCM (pcm_s16le) at whatever sample rate the source AC3 uses (typically 48 kHz for DVD audio). To change the sample rate, add -ar 44100 for CD-standard 44.1 kHz. To increase bit depth to 24-bit, change -c:a pcm_s16le to -c:a pcm_s24le. For example: ffmpeg -i input.vob -c:a pcm_s24le -ar 44100 output.wav.
Yes. On Linux or macOS, you can loop over all VOB files in a directory with: for f in *.vob; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a pcm_s16le "${f%.vob}.wav"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.vob) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:a pcm_s16le "%~nf.wav". Note that DVD discs often split content across multiple VOB files (VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB, etc.) — you may want to concatenate them first using FFmpeg's concat demuxer to get a single continuous audio file.
Technical Notes
VOB files on DVD-Video discs use 48 kHz sample rate for all audio, as mandated by the DVD specification, so the WAV output will inherit this sample rate unless you explicitly resample. The primary audio codec on most DVDs is AC3 (Dolby Digital), but some discs include DTS, LPCM, or MP2 tracks — FFmpeg handles all of these correctly and will decode whichever stream it selects as the primary audio. If the source track is already LPCM (linear PCM, sometimes used on DVD for music discs), the conversion to WAV is essentially a container rewrap with minimal processing. VOB files often carry DVD subtitle streams (bitmap-based VOB subtitles or VOBSUB), but WAV has no subtitle support, so all subtitle data is silently discarded. DVD chapter markers and navigation data present in the VOB are also not preserved in WAV, which is purely an audio format. The pcm_s16le codec in the output represents 16-bit signed little-endian PCM — the same encoding used in standard CD audio — which provides a 96 dB dynamic range and is universally compatible with audio editors, DAWs, and media players.