VOC vs WV
A detailed comparison of Creative Voice and WavPack Audio — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.
Creative Voice
Audio FilesVOC (Creative Voice) is an audio file format created by Creative Labs for Sound Blaster sound cards. It was a dominant PC audio format in the DOS gaming era, supporting multiple data blocks with different sample rates within a single file.
About VOC filesWavPack Audio
Audio FilesWavPack is an open-source audio codec that offers lossless, lossy, and hybrid compression modes. Its unique hybrid mode creates a lossy file plus a correction file that together reconstruct the original, enabling flexible storage strategies.
About WV filesStrengths Comparison
VOC Strengths
- Retro-gaming archive format.
- Supported by DOSBox and SoX.
- Block-based structure allows streaming.
WV Strengths
- Hybrid lossy/lossless mode.
- Supports DSD, 32-bit float, multichannel.
- Competitive compression vs FLAC.
- Active maintenance since 1998.
Limitations
VOC Limitations
- Legacy — no new content since mid-1990s.
- Limited sample rates (up to 44.1 kHz).
- No metadata.
WV Limitations
- Small ecosystem.
- Hybrid mode complexity.
- Hardware support limited vs FLAC.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | VOC | WV |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | audio/x-voc | audio/x-wavpack |
| Extension | .voc | .wv (main), .wvc (correction) |
| Codecs | PCM 8/16-bit, ADPCM | — |
| Hardware origin | Sound Blaster Pro (1991) | — |
| Modes | — | Lossless, Hybrid lossy+correction, 32-bit float |
| License | — | BSD-style |
Typical File Sizes
VOC
- DOS game sound effect 5-50 KB
- Short speech sample 30-300 KB
WV
- 3-min song (CD lossless) 18-24 MB
- 3-min hi-res 24/96 60-90 MB
Ready to convert?
Convert between VOC and WV online, free, and without installing anything. Encrypted upload, automatic deletion after 2 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
VOC (Creative Voice) is an audio file format used to store sound recordings — music, voice, podcasts, sound effects. The format defines how the audio samples are compressed (or stored raw), what bitrates are supported, and how metadata such as title, artist, album, and cover art is embedded. It is part of the audio files family.
WV (WavPack Audio) is an audio file format used to store sound recordings — music, voice, podcasts, sound effects. The format defines how the audio samples are compressed (or stored raw), what bitrates are supported, and how metadata such as title, artist, album, and cover art is embedded. It is part of the audio files family.
VLC, foobar2000, and the default media players on Windows and macOS handle VOC natively. On mobile, iOS Music and Android media apps vary in their support — popular formats work everywhere; niche ones may need a dedicated app. If playback fails on a device, converting to MP3 or AAC usually solves it.
VLC, foobar2000, and the default media players on Windows and macOS handle WV natively. On mobile, iOS Music and Android media apps vary in their support — popular formats work everywhere; niche ones may need a dedicated app. If playback fails on a device, converting to MP3 or AAC usually solves it.
Upload the VOC to KaijuConverter and pick MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, OGG, or any other target. Our FFmpeg pipeline decodes the audio and re-encodes to the target format at sensible default bitrates (VBR ~190 kbps for music, 96 kbps for speech). Metadata and cover art travel with the audio where both formats support them.
VOC can be lossy or lossless depending on the specific variant. Lossy variants (smaller files) discard some audio detail during compression in ways tuned to be inaudible; lossless variants preserve every sample exactly but produce larger files. For distribution, lossy at high bitrate is standard; for archival, lossless wins.