WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) is Microsoft's uncompressed PCM audio format. WAV files contain raw, unprocessed audio samples with no compression — every sample value is stored exactly as captured. A stereo CD-quality (44.1 kHz, 16-bit) WAV file occupies approximately 10MB per minute. At 24-bit/96kHz (professional studio quality), it's roughly 35MB per minute.
WAV is the professional standard for audio recording and production because: it has zero encoding/decoding latency (important for real-time monitoring), editing doesn't degrade quality with each save (unlike MP3), and it's universally supported by all audio software. Recording in WAV (or AIFF on Mac) provides the full dynamic range and frequency response of the capture hardware.
For distribution and sharing, WAV files are unnecessarily large. Convert to FLAC (lossless, ~50% smaller) for archiving or MP3/AAC for sharing. FileCurve's audio compressor can convert WAV files to compressed formats. Keep original WAVs for production — only share the compressed versions.