WTV to AMR Converter
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Supports: WTV
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Need help?How to Convert WTV to AMR Online
- Upload Your WTV File: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select recorded TV shows from your computer. Batch is supported, and files process in your browser session.
- Pick Quality Preset or Constant Bitrate: Default is Highest (12.2 kbps, the top AMR-NB rate). Open Advanced Options to lower the preset for smaller files, or set a specific Constant Bitrate from the eight standard AMR-NB rates: 4.75, 5.15, 5.90, 6.70, 7.40, 7.95, 10.2, or 12.2 kbps.
- Adjust Audio Channel, Sample Rate, or Trim (Optional): AMR is mono-only at 8000 Hz — the defaults (MONO, 8000 HZ) match the codec spec. Use Trim to crop dialogue from a long recording with start time and duration in HH:MM:SS.ms.
- Convert and Download: Click Convert. The audio track is extracted from the WTV container, resampled to 8 kHz, downmixed to mono, and re-encoded as AMR-NB. No sign-up, no watermark.
Why Convert WTV to AMR?
WTV (Windows Recorded TV Show) is the proprietary container Microsoft introduced with the Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 for Vista and shipped with Windows 7. Video is MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 and audio is MPEG-1 Layer II or Dolby AC-3 — formats that smartphones, voice memo apps, and GSM-era handsets won't touch. AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate Narrowband, standardized by 3GPP in 1999) is the speech codec mobile networks use for voice calls and Android voice recordings, optimized for the 200–3400 Hz speech band at 4.75–12.2 kbps.
- Voice-only excerpts from recorded TV — A 30-minute news segment in WTV is ~700 MB. Re-encoding the dialogue track at AMR 7.95 kbps drops it under 1.5 MB without losing intelligibility for the human voice band.
- Android device compatibility — Android's stock Sound Recorder and many SMS/MMS apps natively read .amr; AC-3 from a WTV needs extra codec installs that most stock players don't ship with.
- Voicemail-style ringtones and notification sounds — AMR is the original GSM voicemail format. Carriers' voicemail systems and older feature phones still expect AMR-NB at 8 kHz mono.
- Long-form archival of speech content — Talk-radio recaptures, sermons, lectures, court-TV recordings: AMR-NB at 5.15 kbps fits ~10 hours of speech in 25 MB, useful for low-storage devices or slow uploads.
- Windows Media Center is end-of-life — Microsoft discontinued WMC in Windows 10 (May 2015) and shut down the Electronic Program Guide in January 2020. Converting away from WTV is now the only path to keep recordings playable as Windows 10 itself reaches end of support in October 2025.
- Bandwidth-constrained transfer — Sending dialogue clips over 2G/3G fallback, satellite, or LoRa-adjacent links where every kilobyte counts.
WTV vs AMR — Format Comparison
| Property | WTV (Windows Recorded TV Show) | AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate Narrowband) |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Video container | Audio codec / file format |
| Introduced | 2008 (Windows Media Center TV Pack) | 1999 (3GPP TS 26.071) |
| Typical contents | MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 video + MP2 or AC-3 audio | Speech-encoded audio only |
| Sample rate | Up to 48 kHz audio | 8 kHz (fixed) |
| Channels | Mono or stereo, sometimes 5.1 | Mono only |
| Bitrate | 4–20 Mbps total | 4.75–12.2 kbps |
| Bandwidth | Full audio band | 200–3400 Hz (telephone band) |
| Typical size (30 min) | ~700 MB | ~1.4 MB at 7.4 kbps |
| Native playback | Windows Media Center / Player only | Android, feature phones, VLC, ffmpeg-based players |
| Patent status | Microsoft proprietary | Patented (Nokia, Ericsson, NTT, VoiceAge admin) |
AMR-NB Bitrate Quick Guide
Pick the lowest bitrate where the speaker still sounds natural — there is no penalty to going as low as the content allows, and AMR was designed for graceful degradation.
| Bitrate | Mode | Best for | Size per minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.75 kbps | MR475 | Background dictation, archival of low-fidelity speech | ~36 KB |
| 5.15 kbps | MR515 | Long lectures, sermons, audiobook-style recaps | ~39 KB |
| 5.90 kbps | MR59 | Phone-call quality voicemail | ~44 KB |
| 6.70 kbps | MR67 (PDC-EFR) | Standard mobile voice | ~50 KB |
| 7.40 kbps | MR74 (TDMA-EFR) | Toll-quality speech threshold | ~56 KB |
| 7.95 kbps | MR795 | Clear interview, podcast-style mono dialogue | ~60 KB |
| 10.2 kbps | MR102 | News broadcast voice with light music bed | ~77 KB |
| 12.2 kbps | MR122 (GSM-EFR) | Highest AMR-NB quality; default for new files | ~92 KB |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does AMR sound muffled compared to the original WTV audio?
AMR-NB is a narrowband speech codec — it only encodes 200–3400 Hz, the same band a 1990s landline phone passed. Everything above 3.4 kHz (sibilants, cymbals, music harmonics) is filtered out before encoding, by design. That is what makes AMR efficient for voice but unsuitable for music. If your WTV has a music track or laugh-bed you want to preserve, convert to WTV to MP3 or WTV to WAV instead.
Should I pick AMR-NB or AMR-WB for my recording?
This page outputs AMR-NB (the .amr file extension, 8 kHz, 4.75–12.2 kbps). AMR-WB (Wideband, .awb, 16 kHz, 6.6–23.85 kbps) extends the band to 50–7000 Hz and sounds noticeably clearer, but support is narrower — many older Android voice recorders and SMS gateways only accept AMR-NB. Use AMR-NB when compatibility is the goal; pick a different codec entirely if you want music-grade quality.
What's in a WTV file's audio track?
Microsoft's spec allows MPEG-1 Layer II (MP2) or Dolby Digital AC-3. Over-the-air ATSC broadcasts captured by Windows Media Center are usually AC-3 at 192–384 kbps stereo (or 5.1 for major networks). Cable QAM and analog captures vary. AMR encoding downmixes any of these to mono and resamples to 8 kHz before re-encoding.
Why is my file capped at mono and 8000 Hz?
Those are the AMR-NB specification — not xconvert limits. The codec encodes a single channel at exactly 8 kHz sample rate; the Audio Channel and Audio Sample Rate dropdowns are left visible for consistency with the rest of the converter UI, but selecting stereo or 44.1 kHz with AMR output would just be re-downmixed before encoding.
Is AMR royalty-free?
No. AMR codecs incorporate patents from Nokia, Ericsson, NTT, and others, with VoiceAge as the license administrator. For personal use or playback you don't need a license; commercial encoders/decoders generally do. If you're shipping AMR in a product, check VoiceAge's terms — for converting your own recordings to play on your own devices, you're fine.
Can I still record new WTV files in 2026?
Not officially. Microsoft discontinued Windows Media Center starting with Windows 10 in 2015 and shut down the Electronic Program Guide service in January 2020. Windows 7 reached end of life the same month. Existing WTV recordings still play in third-party tools (VLC, ffmpeg, MPC-HC), but new recordings would require running an unsupported Windows 7 / 8 install with a TV tuner card.
What's the smallest possible AMR file from a 1-hour WTV?
A one-hour speech track at AMR 4.75 kbps is ~2.1 MB. At 7.95 kbps (the lowest rate Wikipedia calls "toll quality") it's ~3.6 MB. At the maximum 12.2 kbps it's ~5.5 MB. Compare to the source WTV which would be in the gigabyte range.
Will my converted AMR play on iPhone?
iOS does not natively play .amr files in the Files app or Music app. VLC for iOS opens them, and you can email/AirDrop the file and open it with a third-party player. If iPhone compatibility is the priority, WTV to M4A or WTV to MP3 is a better target. AMR is the right choice for Android and feature-phone targets.
Can I trim a recording before converting?
Yes — open Advanced Options, enable Trim, and set a start time and duration in HH:MM:SS.ms format. Useful for clipping a single news segment, the opening monologue of a talk show, or a witness statement from a long courtroom recording. Trimming runs as part of the same pass, no second upload.