The quick answer is, it depends. Listeners who only use their computer’s built-in speakers or the headphones that come standard with iOS devices won’t notice a difference in WAV vs. MP3 sound quality. Some professional musicians and musical artists may have highly trained ears that can detect the missing data from MP3 files. Still, for general listeners, the difference is negligible.
WAV isn’t the only uncompressed file format available. FLAC files are also lossless and present many of the same benefits and downsides as WAV. If you’re considering FLAC vs MP3 for your musical library, you don’t have to choose if you pick the right music player. Elmedia Player lets you listen to WAV, FLAC, AIFF, and MP3––all in a single playlist.