Songs are part of our daily life and it is rare that we do not listen to any song in our time, whether it is on our breaks or in our free time. New music is always being born and we will probably want to download these songs several times.

Every day many of us listen to hundreds of songs from our favorite bands and perhaps we have never really analyzed the format of each song in detail. We have heard about the existing formats, but we do not really know the benefits of each one and its characteristics.

For this reason, Solvetic will present today the detailed analysis of two of the most common formats in music such as MP3 and ACC.

What is AAC?

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is the new audio format developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany in association with companies such as AT&T, Nokia, Sony and Dolby.

AAC, whose extension is m4a, is responsible for compressing a part of the audio files of an element called lossy compression, that is, certain data that affects its optimal quality when inaudible frequencies are removed from the audio element, etc.

This AAC format is based on the international standard ISO / IEC 13818-7 and is essentially an extension of MPEG-2. It is important to note that Apple has selected the AAC format as the default format for iPod and iTunes, indicating its advanced level of quality.

Among its main features are:

It uses a bit rate encoding variable called VBR that adapts the number of bits used in a period of one second to encrypt audio data.
Supports up to 48 channels for polyphonic sounds
Offers frequencies ranging from 8 Hz to 96.0 kHz
They are smaller than MP3
AAC is geared towards broadband uses
Provide high quality sound
As we are seeing little by little, AAC is becoming one of the best music formats of the time.

What is MP3

MP3 (Motion Picture Experts Group) is an audio format that provides quality by drastically reducing file size.

MP3 uses a lossy algorithm that reduces the size of an item without losing its quality. This format, like AAC, was developed at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. MP3 has the ability to be compressed using a lower or higher bit rate, which will affect the quality of the audio.

Its main characteristics are:

Supports frequencies between 16 and 48 kHz
Allows compression of an audio object with a ratio of 11: 1
With the MP3 format, music is divided into 44,100 times per second and each of these parts is 16-bit in size.
The MP3 may contain tags that contain information about the included file.
With these concepts in mind, we will look at the behavior of AAC and MP3 in certain situations.

Audio file size

Both formats perform the function of reducing the size of the original file while preserving the quality of the audio. At this point, AAC reduces the size of a file more than the MP3 format. For example, a 20MB file in MP3 format weighs 16MB in AAC format.

Compatibility

As we mentioned, Apple already uses ACC for its devices. Therefore, the most compatible format is undoubtedly the MP3 format, since it has been with us since the 90s in many devices such as mobiles, audio systems, televisions and computers. calculation, etc.

Sound quality

In this aspect, AAC surpasses MP3 for technical reasons such as higher audio frequency, higher level of audio compression to eliminate elements that affect its quality, better encoding, among others.

The death of the MP3 has been mentioned in some places, but in reality it is not. What is no longer active are the licenses for this format. Therefore, the MP3 will continue to be active in many of the songs we listen to and there is no doubt. ACC will gradually become more powerful until it overtakes MP3 in the medium term, but for now, Apple users can appreciate and appreciate AAC.

Let’s keep listening to our favorite songs and remember that these files are intended to provide quality sound in a small storage space.