Audio format
The AMR format
AMR is narrow-band speech audio from phones and call recorders. AMR was adopted for mobile phone calls in 1999; old phones and call recorders saved voice memos in it.
When to use AMR
Convert AMR recordings to MP3 or M4A so they play and can be transcribed.
It is best for nothing today; convert old call recordings and voice memos, and it opens on some Android apps and VLC; almost no media players, browsers or editors.
How to open it: VLC plays AMR files.
| Full name | Adaptive Multi-Rate |
|---|---|
| Extensions | .amr, .awb |
| MIME type | audio/amr |
| Introduced | 1999 |
| Compression | Lossy |
| Typical quality | 4.75–12.2 kbps, 8 kHz |
| Support | Legacy format |
| Typical size | About 90 KB a minute |
Good at
- Tiny files for speech
Not so good at
- Phone-call sound quality
- Almost nothing plays it
The common mistake
AMR is sampled at 8 kHz, so converting it to a high-quality format won’t add any clarity; it will still sound like a phone call.
Questions
What is an AMR file?
AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate) is narrow-band speech audio from phones and call recorders. AMR was adopted for mobile phone calls in 1999; old phones and call recorders saved voice memos in it.
How do I open an AMR file?
VLC plays AMR files.
How do I convert AMR to another format?
Pick the target on this page, or open the Audio Converter, drop the AMR file and choose a format. It converts in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.