What you should know
OGG to MP3 makes an audio file playable anywhere. OGG — usually Vorbis, sometimes Opus — is common in video games, messaging apps and open-source software, but many car stereos, speakers and older players do not recognise it.
Both formats are lossy: the conversion decodes the OGG and encodes it to MP3, at 192 kb/s by default. At that bitrate the difference is inaudible for the vast majority of listening.
Strengths
- MP3 plays on every device, including the oldest
- Reads OGG Vorbis and OGG Opus alike
- Bitrate adjustable to the use: 192, 128 or 96 kb/s
- Local conversion, with no upload
Limitations to know
- Going from one lossy format to another: slight cumulative loss
- MP3 is slightly less efficient than Vorbis at the same bitrate
- Raising the bitrate above the source improves nothing
- Not all metadata may be carried over
When to use it
Convert when a device refuses OGG: a USB stick for the car, an MP3 player, a speaker, older software. If the file is only played on a computer or a recent phone, keep the OGG: it already plays and is often more compact.
Quality, size and compatibility
The default setting (192 kb/s) preserves the sound of a typical OGG. The balanced level (128 kb/s) works very well for speech; the smallest size level (96 kb/s) is best kept for spoken recordings.
Frequently asked questions
- Why doesn't my car stereo play OGG files?
- Many devices only decode MP3, and sometimes AAC. OGG, open and efficient as it is, is not supported there: converting to MP3 works around that gap.
- Is quality lost going from OGG to MP3?
- A little, since two lossy compressions follow each other. At 192 kb/s that loss is not noticeable in ordinary listening.