3GP to SOU Converter

Rip SOU sound from 3GP videos in your browser

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Audio Controls

Set bitrate, sample rate, and channel configuration before conversion. Shape the audio output to match your exact playback or production needs.

Clean Sound Output

The audio from 3GP is extracted and encoded as SOU with care. Proper settings ensure the resulting sound is clear and faithful to the original.

No Installation

The converter runs entirely in your web browser. No plugins, no apps, no downloads — just open convertio.tools and start converting immediately.

How to convert 3GP to SOU

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose sou or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your sou file right afterwards

About formats

3GP is a multimedia container format defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project as the standard media format for 3G mobile services. Based on the ISO base media file format (MPEG-4 Part 12), it was designed to reduce storage and bandwidth requirements so that mobile phones with limited capabilities could efficiently capture, store, and play video content. The format typically uses H.263 or H.264 video codecs paired with AMR-NB, AMR-WB, or AAC audio. 3GP was instrumental in bringing multimedia to mobile devices during the early smartphone era, when network speeds and device hardware imposed tight constraints on file sizes. The streamlined container strips away overhead found in full MP4 files, resulting in significantly smaller files that stream reliably over slow 3G connections. 3GP supports both GSM and UMTS network protocols and includes provisions for timed text and still images within the container. Broad adoption by major handset manufacturers ensured that practically every 3G-capable phone could handle 3GP media natively. Although modern mobile devices now favor MP4 and other advanced formats, 3GP files are still encountered in archives of older mobile recordings and in regions where bandwidth-efficient video delivery remains important.
Initial release: 2003
SOU is a raw audio format designation that functions as an alias for unsigned 8-bit PCM data (u8) in the SoX audio processing framework. Files with the .sou extension contain headerless, uncompressed audio samples stored as unsigned 8-bit integers — each byte represents a single amplitude value from 0 to 255, with 128 as the silence midpoint. Because there is no header, playback parameters such as sample rate and channel count must be specified externally. The default assumption is typically mono at 8000 Hz, though the data can represent any rate the recording hardware supported. The u8 encoding that SOU aliases is one of the simplest possible digital audio representations, predating structured audio containers like WAV and AIFF. Raw unsigned PCM was commonly produced by early sound cards and digitizers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when storage constraints and limited processing power made headerless formats a practical choice. One advantage is absolute simplicity: SOU files can be read by any program capable of basic file I/O, with no parsing of container structures or metadata decoding required — useful for embedded systems, hardware diagnostics, and educational contexts where audio fundamentals are being explored. The format's minimal overhead also means that conversion to any modern container is lossless and instantaneous, since the raw PCM samples can be wrapped in a WAV or AIFF header without any transcoding.
Developer: SoX Contributors
Initial release: 1991

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert 3GP to SOU?

SOU serves a specific niche in audio workflows. Converting 3GP to SOU lets you use the content in specialized tools and platforms requiring this format.

What software plays SOU?

SOU opens in SoX and raw PCM audio processors.

Can I convert 3GP to SOU on my phone?

Yes — convertio.tools works in any mobile browser. Upload your 3GP, select SOU, and download the result directly to your phone or tablet.

Does converting 3GP to SOU lose quality?

Some quality loss is normal with lossy compression, but at adequate settings the difference from the original 3GP audio is barely noticeable.

How long does 3GP to SOU conversion take?

Conversion speed varies by file length and bitrate. Short 3GP clips become SOU files in seconds, while longer recordings may take a few minutes.

Is the conversion private and secure?

Your 3GP uploads are processed securely and removed right after conversion. Output files are purged within 24 hours to protect your privacy.