What Audio Quality Does YouTube Actually Use?

Most YouTube videos offer AAC near 128 kbps and Opus near 160 kbps. Both are lossy, so some of the original data is gone before any converter touches it.

Converting to MP3 adds a second lossy step. A higher MP3 bitrate reduces the extra damage, but it cannot restore the first loss. That is why a 320 kbps file from YouTube is not studio quality.

An audio wave with AAC 128 and Opus 160 labels

Want the least processing? Choose M4A or OPUS.

YTMP3 · YouTube to MP3 · YouTube to MP4 · FAQ