4 min read · updated
MP3 or the original audio: which should you take?
Take the original audio if your player supports it — it skips a second lossy encode and is usually a smaller file too. Take MP3 only when you need something that plays on absolutely anything, like an old car stereo.
What is actually in the file
When a platform stores a video, the audio inside it is already compressed — usually Opus or AAC, typically somewhere between 128 and 160 kbps. That compression has already thrown away data permanently.
Converting that to MP3 does not recover anything. It runs a second, different lossy compression over an already-lossy file. The result is always slightly worse than the source, never better.
Why 320 kbps MP3 is not an upgrade
A 320 kbps MP3 made from a 128 kbps source is roughly two and a half times the file size of the original, containing the same information plus new compression artefacts. It is bigger and marginally worse.
This is why we do not offer conversions that only inflate a file. If a source track is 64 kbps, a 320 kbps option would be pure waste, so it is left out of the list rather than dangled as a fake quality upgrade.
When MP3 is the right answer
- Older car stereos, cheap MP3 players and some smart TVs only reliably play MP3.
- Some editing software and DAWs handle MP3 more predictably than Opus.
- You need a file a non-technical person can open without any thought.
When to keep the original
- You are going to edit, remix or re-encode it — every generation of lossy encoding compounds.
- You are archiving it and want the closest thing to the source that exists.
- You are playing it on a phone or computer, which handle M4A and Opus without issue.
The short version
Original for quality and for anything you will edit. MP3 for compatibility with old hardware. There is no third case where 320 kbps MP3 beats the source file it was made from.