Export formats after cleaning: WAV, MP3, and more
Cleaning your dialogue is half the victory, you still owe the world a deliverable that plays nice with hosts, video editors, and that one client who still says “email me an MP3.” Choosing an export format is always a trade: quality, file size, compatibility. Rule of thumb: keep a lossless master somewhere safe, then spin compressed versions for the wild.
WAV: your honest archive
Uncompressed PCM in a WAV container is the classic master move, big files, zero surprises. What you cleaned is what you keep. Hang onto WAV (or AIFF) if you might re-edit later, send stems, or hand off to a mix engineer. Podcast hosts rarely need WAV for the RSS upload, but your project folder should still have one if disk space isn’t staging an intervention.
MP3: the workhorse that refuses to retire
MP3 remains everywhere in podcast land. It throws away data you can’t get back, so run cleanup before lossy encoding, not after (please don’t hurt me like that). Bitrate choices depend on speech vs music density; talk-heavy shows often tolerate lower rates than music-heavy shows, but ears should judge. Always encode from your cleaned lossless source when you can. Future you will want a remaster someday.
FLAC and M4A: picky, in a good way
FLAC is lossless compression, smaller than WAV without throwing away bits, handy for archives when you want to save space without guilt. M4A (AAC) plays nicely with Apple ecosystems and plenty of video pipelines; quality per megabyte often beats MP3 at similar settings. Match the container to where the file goes next: Final Cut, Descript, your cousin who “knows audio,” etc.
AudioClean Pro on Mac supports common export paths so you can move from cleanup to the right format without a scavenger hunt. Download on the Mac App Store.
Double lossy encoding is a horror sequel
Each time you re-encode MP3 or AAC, artifacts can stack like bad decisions. If you must edit again, return to the lossless master, or at least the highest-quality intermediate you kept, rather than reopening a 128 kbps MP3 like it owes you fidelity. Your future self thanks you when a sponsor asks for a louder stem or a clip blows up and needs a clean rebuild.
Names, tags, and tiny victories
Consistent filenames, episode number, guest, date, save you from archaeological digs six months later. Some hosts strip metadata; others keep it. If chapters or artwork matter, verify after upload because tools disagree. None of that replaces sound quality, but it completes a package that says “professional” instead of “final_final_v7_REAL.”
When someone asks for “just a WAV”
Clients and collaborators sometimes request specific containers for reasons you’ll never fully understand, and that’s fine. Having a clean WAV or FLAC master means you can transcode without painting yourself into a corner. If they want MP3 at a weird bitrate, generate it from the lossless source and send a note with the settings. Future remixes, stingers, and “can we get that line again but louder?” moments all get easier when your archive isn’t a stack of mystery MP3s.