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MIME Type
audio/wav
AudioMIME type for WAV audio files, often uncompressed.
MIME type reference, HTTP example, browser usage, common mistakes, and related content.
What is the audio/wav MIME type?
The MIME type audio/wav is used to tell browsers, APIs, and servers how a file or response body should be interpreted.
MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, and MIME types are now a standard part of HTTP responses and web content delivery.
When a browser or client receives a response with audio/wav, it uses that information to decide how the content should be processed, rendered, downloaded, or executed.
Example
Content-Type: audio/wav
HTTP example
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Type: audio/wav Content-Length: 1256
Common file extensions
.wav
Common use cases
- Raw audio files
- Editing workflows
- Audio previews
Common mistakes
- Using the wrong MIME type for the file being served
- Returning text/plain instead of audio/wav
- Forgetting required parameters like charset when relevant
- Using a deprecated MIME type in older server configurations
- Serving assets with a mismatched Content-Type header, causing browser parsing issues
How browsers use it
Browsers use the Content-Type response header to decide how a response should be handled. For example, HTML is rendered as a page, CSS is parsed as styles, JavaScript is executed as script, and images are displayed visually. If the MIME type is incorrect, the browser may refuse to load the file correctly or may treat it as plain text or a download instead.
Browser support
Broad browser support, though file size can make it less practical for production web use.
Developer note
WAV files can be large, so this format is less optimized for the web than MP3 or OGG.