Convert TS to MP3 - extract audio
MPEG transport streams carry broadcast and HLS video with AAC or AC-3 audio. Wave discards the video, decodes the audio, and re-encodes to a portable 192 kbps MP3 that plays anywhere.
What actually changes
MPEG Transport Stream (.ts) is the container broadcasters use for over-the-air TV and the same container HLS uses to chunk video for adaptive streaming. Audio inside is almost always AAC or AC-3, both of which Wave's wasm engine decodes locally. Because the video track is discarded entirely, extract runs several times faster than a full TS-to-MP4 conversion.
Wave uses LAME (libmp3lame) at VBR around 190 kbps average - transparent for music and voice on any consumer playback setup. The audio timing preserved by the transport stream carries through, so the MP3 duration matches the source video exactly.
Three steps.
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Step 1
Drop the TS file onto the card.
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Step 2
Pick MP3 as the output format.
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Step 3
Convert and save the MP3.
Answers, specifically.
HLS chunks - one big TS or a bunch of small ones?
Wave converts one file at a time. If you have a folder of .ts segments from an HLS stream, concatenate them first (any file-join tool, or ffmpeg concat) into a single .ts, then drop that onto Wave.
AC-3 5.1 audio - is it downmixed?
Yes. Wave downmixes multi-channel AC-3 to stereo before encoding to MP3. MP3 doesn't carry surround, so a downmix is the only path.
Broadcast recordings have several audio tracks (original, dubbed, commentary). Which comes across?
The default-flagged track. Multi-track extraction is on the roadmap.
My TS file is audio-only from a radio broadcast - will it work?
No. Wave requires a video track and rejects audio-only sources up front. For an audio-only .ts, a dedicated audio-conversion tool is the right fit.
How long does an hour-long TS take?
Under a minute on a modern laptop, since there's no video decoding involved.