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M4A – AAC format and characteristics

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Presentation of the AAC format

AAC (Audio Advanced Coding) is an audio data compression format developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in collaboration with AT&T, Nokia, Sony and Dolby.

As with the MP3 format, it is a destruction of audio data compression, called “lossy compression” (that is, lossy compression), ie the removal of certain auditory information (for example, inaudible frequencies) to the best possible compression rate, keeping a result as close as possible to the original data.

AAC

The AAC format corresponds to the international standard “ISO / IEC 13818-7” as an extension of MPEG-2, standard of the Moving Image Expert Group (MPEG).

The AAC format was chosen by the Apple company as the primary file format on iPods or in the iTunes software.

Frequently Asked Questions: M4A – AAC Format and Features

Technical properties

AAC uses a variable bit rate encoding (Variable bit rate in English, sometimes abbreviated as VBR), that is, an encoding that allows you to adjust the number of bits used per second to encode audio data according to the complexity of current at a given moment. The algorithm used is more efficient than that of MP3, enabling smaller, higher quality files to be obtained, while requiring less resources to encode or decode.

Compared to the maximum of two channels (in stereo) supported by the MP3 format, the AAC format allows polyphonic recording of up to 48 channels. The AAC format also provides sound reproduction in the 8Hz-96.0kHz frequency band, compared to 16-48kHz for the MP3 format.

Files in AAC format, with extension .mp4 (for MPEG-4), .m4a (for MPEG-4 audio) or .m4p (for protected MPEG-4), are generally smaller than files in MP3 format.

AAC Compatibility

The AAC format is not compatible with the MP3 format, this means that you must use a player that is compatible with the format or install a specific codec so that existing players can read files in AAC format.

MP3 y AAC

However, more and more software players allow you to read files in this format, and the latest hardware MP3 players support this format.

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What is the AAC format and what are the advantages compared to the mp3?

A designated heir to MP3, this is the most widely used form of encoding today. It is supported, among others, by YouTube, iPhone and Android.

Over twenty years of honest career, which has allowed music to become truly “pop” and spread around the world, regardless of the playback device used. This is the rather heavy legacy of MP3, a form of multimedia created in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Italian engineer Leonardo Chiariglione. Instead, we now find the AAC, the standard for encrypting audio files developed by Bell Labs, Fraunhofer Institute, Dolby Labs, Sony and Nokia near the end of the last century.

Lossy codec, the AAC is considered a model by both ISO (an acronym for the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (an acronym for the International Electrotechnical Commission) and is an integral part of the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 specifications. After a few years “in the shadows” of MP3 encoding, today AAC encoding is by far the most common and adopted: it is the standard or default audio format for YouTube, iPhone, iPod, iPad, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo 3DS, iTunes, DivX Plus Web Player, PlayStation 3 and is compatible with PlayStation Vita, Wii, Sony Walkman MP3, Android and BlackBerry.

AAC – Differences with MP3 files

The reason for this success is explained by the many improvements that this model presents compared to the one developed by Chiariglione. First of all, AAC manages to guarantee better audio playback quality for the same file size (and therefore bit rates). This is because AAC encoding has a greater variety of samples (8 to 96 kilohertz compared to 16 to 48 kilohertz samples allowed by the MP3 format) and supports a larger number of audio playback channels (up to 48 channels).

AAC – Portable music player

Added to this is the increased flexibility and flexibility of AAC coding, which allows engineers to design and implement coding and decoding algorithms according to their needs. This flexibility feeds real competition, leading to more efficient and effective algorithms. Simply put, a sound file converted to an AAC encoder at the same bit rate will guarantee, as already mentioned, better playback quality than many other competing loss formats.

How to convert MP3 to AAC

The discussion about converting between MP3 and AAC files is not entirely accurate. While the second is a real audio format used in many areas, the second is an encryption algorithm that can be used by different file formats. The most well-known, in this sense, are “.m4a”, “.mp4”, “.3gp”, “.m4b” and “.m4p”. To convert MP3 to AAC, therefore, you must select one of the forms listed above.

However, converting your MP3 music collection does not require any specific action. You need to select one of the many existing audio conversion programs (or even a special web portal for file conversion) and select the tracks or albums for editing.