Convert WAV to VOC — Free Online Tool
Convert WAV audio files to VOC format, the classic Sound Blaster audio container used in DOS-era games and multimedia. This tool re-encodes your WAV audio to unsigned 8-bit PCM (pcm_u8), the native codec of the VOC format, running entirely in your browser with no file uploads required.
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FFmpeg Command
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DownloadHow It Works
WAV files commonly store audio as signed 16-bit, 24-bit, or 32-bit PCM, but the VOC format natively supports only unsigned 8-bit PCM (pcm_u8) or signed 16-bit PCM (pcm_s16le). This conversion re-encodes your WAV audio stream to unsigned 8-bit PCM — a lossy downgrade in bit depth if your source WAV is higher than 8-bit. The sample rate and channel count from the source WAV are preserved where the VOC format allows. Because VOC is a simple, flat container designed for the Sound Blaster ISA card hardware, it strips all modern metadata, loop points (unless manually specified), and multi-block structures, producing a raw, minimal audio file compatible with DOS software, emulators, and retro sound hardware.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg tool, the open-source multimedia processing engine that powers this conversion. In the browser, this runs as a WebAssembly (FFmpeg.wasm) build with no server involvement. |
-i input.wav
|
Specifies the input file, a WAV container which may carry PCM audio in a variety of bit depths (8, 16, 24, or 32-bit) or other codecs such as ADPCM. FFmpeg reads the WAV header to determine the source codec automatically. |
-c:a pcm_u8
|
Sets the output audio codec to unsigned 8-bit PCM, the native and most compatible audio encoding for the VOC format. This re-encodes the WAV audio stream from whatever bit depth it originated in (commonly 16-bit signed) down to 8-bit unsigned values, which is the format the Sound Blaster hardware and DOS-era software expect. |
output.voc
|
Defines the output filename with the .voc extension, which tells FFmpeg to write a Creative Labs VOC container. FFmpeg uses the file extension to select the VOC muxer, wrapping the pcm_u8 audio stream in the VOC block structure. |
Common Use Cases
- Replacing or modding sound effects in classic DOS games like Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, or Quake that use VOC files for their audio assets
- Creating custom audio samples for Sound Blaster DOS demo scene productions or chiptune compositions that output VOC files
- Preparing audio assets for use in DOSBox or other DOS emulators that load VOC files for sound effects and music playback
- Converting recorded WAV voice lines or sound effects into VOC format for use with retro computing hardware, such as original Sound Blaster cards in vintage PCs
- Archiving or restoring legacy multimedia CD-ROM titles from the early 1990s that reference VOC audio assets by converting modern re-recordings back to the original container format
- Building educational or museum exhibits around DOS-era computing that require authentic VOC audio playback through period-correct software
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, almost certainly. The default VOC output uses unsigned 8-bit PCM (pcm_u8), which gives you only 256 possible amplitude levels compared to the 65,536 levels in a standard 16-bit WAV. This reduction in bit depth introduces quantization noise that is audible, particularly in quiet passages or complex audio. If your source WAV is already 8-bit, the conversion is effectively lossless in terms of bit depth, but you still lose any metadata. If you need the best possible fidelity within the VOC format, you can modify the FFmpeg command to use pcm_s16le instead.
The original Creative Labs VOC format specification supports stereo audio, but compatibility varies widely depending on the target application or hardware. Many DOS games and Sound Blaster drivers expect mono VOC files. If your WAV source is stereo, the conversion will attempt to preserve stereo channels in the VOC container, but you may need to add '-ac 1' to the FFmpeg command to downmix to mono if the target software or emulator requires it.
VOC files support a range of sample rates, but the format encodes the sample rate using a legacy formula derived from the original Sound Blaster hardware limitations, which generally caps usable rates at 44,100 Hz or below. Common rates for VOC files in DOS games are 8,000 Hz, 11,025 Hz, 22,050 Hz, and 44,100 Hz. If your source WAV uses an unusual or high sample rate (e.g., 96,000 Hz), FFmpeg will still write the VOC file but the rate may not play back correctly in older DOS software — adding '-ar 22050' or '-ar 11025' to the command is advisable for maximum compatibility.
Replace '-c:a pcm_u8' with '-c:a pcm_s16le' in the command to encode the VOC file using signed 16-bit PCM. The full command becomes: ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a pcm_s16le output.voc. This produces significantly better audio fidelity, but 16-bit VOC files have narrower compatibility — some older DOS programs and Sound Blaster drivers only understand the 8-bit variant, so test with your target application before committing.
Yes, on the command line you can loop over multiple files. On Linux or macOS, use: for f in *.wav; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a pcm_u8 "${f%.wav}.voc"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.wav) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:a pcm_u8 "%~nf.voc". The browser-based tool processes one file at a time, but the displayed FFmpeg command is designed so you can adapt it for desktop batch workflows, which is especially useful if you have many game asset files to convert simultaneously.
No. The VOC format has no metadata block structure for tags such as title, artist, album, or comment fields. Any ID3-style or RIFF INFO chunk metadata present in your source WAV file will be silently discarded during conversion. VOC files contain only a header identifying the format version and the raw audio data blocks. If metadata preservation matters, you should keep the original WAV alongside the converted VOC file.
Technical Notes
The VOC format was developed by Creative Labs in the early 1990s specifically for the Sound Blaster ISA sound card and was the dominant DOS game audio format before WAV gained ubiquity on Windows. A VOC file consists of a fixed 26-byte file header followed by a series of typed data blocks, the most common being the sound data block (type 0x01 for 8-bit or 0x09 for extended formats including 16-bit). FFmpeg writes a minimal single-block VOC file, which is the safest and most universally compatible structure. The default pcm_u8 codec encodes samples as unsigned values (0–255, silence at 128), which differs from the signed convention used in most modern audio. This is a format-level convention inherited from the Sound Blaster hardware and means a direct byte-for-byte comparison with a WAV pcm_u8 stream will show an offset of 128 on every sample. The VOC format does not support floating-point PCM, 24-bit, or 32-bit audio, so any high-resolution WAV source will be downsampled in bit depth. There is also no support for chapters, subtitles, embedded artwork, or multiple audio tracks. File sizes will typically shrink compared to 16-bit WAV sources because 8-bit PCM halves the raw data footprint, but this comes at a direct fidelity cost.