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AMR to MP3 Converter

Convert AMR voice recordings and voicemails from older phones into MP3 files in your browser, with no upload. Add one .amr file or ten, see each one's length before you start, and download an MP3 that plays on any phone, computer or car stereo. Free, no sign-up.

Drop AMR files here or click to browse

.amr or .awb files; up to 10 at a time, each up to 100 MB and 30 minutes.

The files are converted in your browser and are not uploaded.

How to convert AMR to MP3

The converter reads each file's header first, so you see the kind of AMR, its length and the MP3 size before converting.

  1. 1

    Add your AMR files

    Drag .amr files onto the converter or click to browse; .awb (wideband AMR) works too. Up to 10 files go in the list, each up to 100 MB and 30 minutes.

  2. 2

    Pick MP3 or WAV

    MP3 at 64 kbps is the default and plenty for speech. Choose WAV if an editor or transcription service asks for uncompressed audio.

  3. 3

    Convert and download

    Convert runs through the list one file at a time. Each file gets a preview and its own Download button and keeps its name with a .mp3 or .wav ending.

Where AMR files come from

AMR was built for phone calls, so the files are almost always speech. You are most likely to meet them in these places.

  • Old Android voice recordings

    Android can record AMR into .amr and .3gp files, and older voice recorder apps and phones used it to keep files small. Copy them off an old phone and the computer often cannot open them.

  • Saved voicemails

    MDN names voicemail as a typical use of AMR. A voicemail exported from an older phone or carrier app can arrive as an .amr file.

  • Call recordings

    Android lists AMR among its built-in recording formats, so call-recording apps can save calls as AMR, where a minute takes under 100 KB. As MP3 they play, share and transcribe anywhere.

  • Short notes from older phones

    MDN describes AMR as a format for voicemail and other short recordings. If a voice note copied off an older phone will not play on a computer, check whether it ends in .amr.

What AMR is, and why your computer will not play it

AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate) is a speech codec standardised in 1999 by 3GPP for GSM and 3G mobile calls. It comes in two kinds: AMR-NB records at 8 kHz at 4.75 to 12.2 kbps, and AMR-WB (wideband, often .awb) at 16 kHz at 6.6 to 23.85 kbps. Both cut the sound into 20 ms frames, which is how the converter can show the length before decoding.

MDN's audio codec guide lists AMR as not supported in Chrome, Firefox and Opera, with Edge and Safari unknown; only ChromeOS supports it. That is why a recording that played on the old phone may not open on your computer, and why this page brings its own AMR decoder, which runs in your browser when you add a file.

Narrowband AMR keeps roughly 200 to 3,400 Hz, the part of speech you need to understand the words, so it sounds like a phone call. Converting to MP3 changes the file type, not the sound: the MP3 sounds like the AMR.

How big the files are

AMR is tiny because it keeps only phone-quality speech. The MP3 is bigger at any bitrate, and WAV is bigger again; the converter shows the size for each of your files before you convert.

FormatPer minute10 minutes
AMR-NB at 12.2 kbps94 KB938 KB
AMR-WB at 23.85 kbps179 KB1.7 MB
MP3 at 32 kbps234 KB2.3 MB
MP3 at 64 kbps469 KB4.6 MB
MP3 at 128 kbps938 KB9.2 MB
WAV at 8 kHz, mono938 KB9.2 MB
WAV at 16 kHz, mono1.8 MB18.3 MB
One MB here is 1,048,576 bytes; 1 kbps is 1,000 bits a second. The MP3 is written at 44.1 kHz, the rate every MP3 player reads.

What this converter does not do

It reads plain .amr and .awb files. A .3gp file can hold AMR audio too, but it is a video-style container this page does not open; you will see a clear message instead of a broken file. Multi-channel AMR files, which phones do not record, are refused the same way.

It cannot add quality. AMR keeps phone-quality speech, and a higher MP3 bitrate only makes the file bigger, which is why 64 kbps is the default. Keep the AMR as your original if you want the smallest copy.

Then get the words out of it

Most AMR files are someone talking: a voicemail, a call, a voice note. Once it is an MP3, a transcription tool can read it.

Upload the MP3 to the Audio to Text Converter for a transcript, or use Voicemail to Text for a saved voicemail.

Sources

For recordings you want as text: transcribe voice notes, how to transcribe a voice memo, sales call recording software.

Old recordings are a one-off clean-up

For the calls, meetings and voice notes you record from now on, ParrotNotes records on your phone and gives you the transcript and a summary straight away, free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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Related tools

AMR to MP3 FAQ