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Explore 4 main audio formats

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Explore 4 main audio formats

Let’s take a look at the main audio formats and the differences between them.

The audio format is directly related to the quality and purpose of the audio track, i.e. where and on what device it will be played and what its purpose is.

However, before discovering the difference between them and choosing the best audio format for your music, you should know what categories they fall under. Let’s go ahead!

Uncompressed audio is like a picture, uncompressed audio is better quality, larger in file size and safer to copy, with nearly the same detail as the original sound.

WAV is the most widely used audio format of this type and reproduces music with precision similar to that of a recording.

compressed audio
When music is compressed, the file is smaller and can be easily stored on your device. Because of this advantage, compressed audio is often more of an option for users.

However, it should be remembered that some audio formats in this category may lose quality depending on the option selected, just like MP3 and AAC .

What is the best audio format?
As we said before, the first step in deciding on an audio format is to know the final objective of the track. Whether it’s for music lessons, performances, karaoke, auditions, or recording versions, you need to understand the pros and cons of each option.

WAV
WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) is an uncompressed format, therefore sufficient storage space is required. This is for those who already work with music, such as experts in the field or users who want to edit audio.

At high fidelity, WAV faithfully reproduces the elements and character of the original soundtrack. Furthermore, this format allows the selection of different bit and sample rates, and can be used on multiple platforms.

FLAC
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is one of the most widely used compression formats by music lovers today.

Digital audio encoding allows you to preserve its quality, but the resulting file will be smaller. Over the years, this format has become more widely used and is compatible with different devices and platforms.

FLAC is free and open source, ready to use and can be easily played on smartphones and other devices.

MP3
Before deciding on the best audio format, it is worth taking a look at the most famous format in the music world: MP3.

MP3 is one of the main audio compression formats, and has become synonymous with the convenience and efficiency of generating files quickly, with smaller files and a certain level of quality.

Many devices and programs can play this format. But MP3 is difficult to use in professional audio processing and advanced audio editing.

As is known, this format exists on almost all platforms and is ideal for sharing audio.

Another interesting factor is its bit rate, although it is a compressed format, it can vary depending on the user’s goals and improvements in quality.

AAC Like MP3, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a more efficient audio format than its predecessor.

To create smaller files with less storage space, AAC is a great option for users to reduce file size and keep high-quality audio tracks.

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[Music] File format types Part 3

[Music] File format types Part 3

Lossless compression format

This format compresses the original data while preserving it.

FLAC
A THE C
During playback, it can be decompressed and returned to the original uncompressed format, so the sound quality is the same as the original data.

Although the file size can be reduced compared to the uncompressed format, it is still about half, so the file size is larger than the lossy compressed format and it takes longer to encode and decode.

Also, at present, it is often not handled by major music distribution sites, and the number of devices that can play it is less than that of uncompressed formats. The most common of these formats is “FLAC”, and Apple uses a unique format called “ALAC”.

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)
A lossless audio codec developed as open source.

It is not subject to patent restrictions, is not owned by any company, and has no license fees for its use.

Also, the sampling frequency is 1Hz – 655.3kHz (655,350Hz), and the number of quantization bits is 4 to 32 bits, so the so-called high-resolution music (including the frequency elements beyond the range human audible) can also be encoded. . However, since it is lossless, the compression rate is low and the file size is only about half. First of all, iOS 11 now supports playback from the “File” app.

ALAC (Apple Lossless)
Apple Lossless is a lossless compression format developed by Apple for iPod.

It can maintain the same sound quality as a music CD, but the compression ratio is not as good as lossy compression formats like MP3. With lossy compression, the deterioration in sound quality is noticeable, so it may be better to use it for classical music only.

This format was released as open source on October 27, 2011. You can use it freely under the free Apache license.

Relationship between bit depth, sample rate, and bit rate
Music data has numbers like bit depth and sample rate that indicate the amount of music data per second.

And the product of the two is the “bit rate”.

Sampling rate
Also known as the sample rate. Shows how many tens of thousands of sounds are collected per second.

The higher the value, the greater the number of divisions, which results in a smoother sound and improved sound quality.

By the way, the CD is 44100Hz.

Bit depth
Also known as quantization bit count, bid reduction, sample bit count.

This shows how much capacity is given to the split data.

The louder the sound, the better the sound and the sound quality will be improved.

The CD is 16 bit.

Bit rate
It is displayed as bps and shows the amount of data per second.

It is the product of the “sample rate” and the “bit depth” mentioned above.

In the case of a stereo file, there are two sounds, so if you formulate it …

Sampling rate (Hz) x bit depth (bits) x 2 = bit rate (bps)

A high bit rate means that the “sample rate” and “bit depth” are large and the sound quality is good.

By the way, in the case of CD

44100 (Hz) x 16 (bits) x 2 = 1411200 (bps)

Will be.

Why is there so much format
Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and you can make better use of your data by using it correctly.

For example, if you want to save this album with the best sound quality because you don’t care about the amount of data, import it with “WAV” or “AIFF” and save it with the highest possible bit rate. If you have a compatible device, “FLAC” and “ALAC” are also storage saving options.

“Sound quality is secondary! I want to import a lot of songs to my smartphone!” For those who want to import with “MP3”, they can import at as low a bit rate as possible (although 128 kbps or less is not often used as a music file). It may be convenient to use music as data according to the style.

By the way, the Apple Music I use is 256kbps of “AAC”, so it can be said that it is a format that emphasizes the balance between sound quality and data savings.

[Music] File format types Part 2

[Music] File format types Part 2

Lossy compression format

This compression format is probably the one you use the most.

MP3
CAA
WMA
Vorbis
This is the file format.

“The human audible range is 20Hz ~ 20000Hz”
This file format has the advantage that the file size can be suppressed while maintaining a certain level of sound quality by compressing and truncating the high-frequency part that humans cannot hear.

However, the downside is that the sound quality is lower than the original data.

Among them, “MP3” is the most popular file format, and as a successor, “AAC” is often used, which was created to achieve higher sound quality. Furthermore, “WMA” and “Vorbis” are also in this format.

MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3)
It is one of the audio formats used in the “MPEG-1” video compression standard.

It is a popular format and many popular digital audio players support it. If you compress it into this format, you can play it on many players other than iPod.

It is generally said that if you specify a bit rate of 192 kbps or higher for MP3, it will be almost indistinguishable from the original music.

Recently, the capacity of the player has increased, so I think it is good to capture at 320 kbps, which is the highest sound quality of MP3.

There is also a method called VBR (variable bit rate), which efficiently obtains optimal data while changing the bit rate in a song, as opposed to CBR (constant bit rate).

However, when using VBR, the bit rate may be partially higher than necessary depending on the song, and some players may experience problems such as interrupted sound due to insufficient performance.

AAC (advanced audio coding)
It is one of the audio formats used in the “MPEG-2” and “MPEG-4” video compression standards.

ITunes has selected this AAC format as the standard compression format as a highly efficient and superior alternative to MP3.

However, there have been times when compatibility between products was poor in the past, and in rare cases, AAC files created by third-party software may not be playable on iPod. When using the AAC format, the bit rate should be 128 kbps or higher, especially 256 kbps or higher if you want high sound quality. The songs that are managed in the iTunes store are also in AAC format and have the extension “.m4a”.

WMA (Windows Media Audio)
A music compression format developed by Microsoft for the Windows operating system.

It is used in many Windows music distribution software and digital audio players. It is said that the file size can be reduced to half that of MP3 if the sound quality is the same. WMA format files are converted to AAC / MP3 format when imported into iTunes.

However, it is not possible to convert downloaded and purchased songs with copyright protection (DRM) to AAC format / MP3 format.

[Music] File format types

[Music] File format types

Does everyone like music?

I think many people enjoy music downloading or streaming instead of CD these days, but what kind of format is music stored as data?

I researched the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of each format.

Types of audio compression

For music file format

Uncompressed
Lossy compression
Lossless compression
There are three types:
File-based compression can reduce file size and reduce download time and storage capacity.
Uncompressed format
As the name implies, it is an uncompressed file. The point is the original data.

The most used formats are:

Wav
AIFF
The advantage is the accuracy of the data. However, it also has the disadvantage of a large file size and uses approximately 10MB for a 1 minute audio file.

It is common to use “WAV” for Windows and “AIFF” for Macintosh.

WAV (WAVE)
A standard Windows audio file format established by Microsoft and IBM, also known as the WAVE format.

It is generally uncompressed and has good sound quality, but it is a very large file.

WAV format files are converted to AAC / MP3 format when imported into iTunes. You can specify compression for WAV, but there seem to be not many usage examples.

AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format)
This is a standard Macintosh audio file format established by Apple Inc. Like WAV, it is not compressed and has good sound quality, but it is a very large file. There is also AIFC, an extended format with lossy compression.

What is the best audio format for me?

What is the best audio format for me?

Best Audio File Formats

After all, it’s not always clear which format is best for music. Some services, like Amazon, sell digital music in MP3 format. Although Apple offers song downloads from its iTunes Store in AAC format.

Audio File Formats

So the question arises what formats can your device play. If it is relatively new, it can play lossless formats like FLAC, as well as older lossy formats like MP3 and AAC.

And to add even more confusion, there is the listening factor. How important is sound quality to you?

To help you decide, here are some things you can do.

Check the format compatibility of your portable device

Before deciding on an audio format, the first thing to do is check its compatibility. This can usually be found on the manufacturer’s website or in the specifications section of the user manual (if there is one, of course).

If you are not going to use high quality audiophile equipment in the future, then lossy audio may be sufficient if you are only going to use your laptop. For greater compatibility, the MP3 file format is the safest bet. This is an old algorithm, but it works well. In fact, it is still the most compatible audio format for everyone.

However, if you are ripping tracks from a music CD, for example, it would be wise to keep a lossless copy on your computer / external hard drive and lose it for your laptop as well. This will keep your music safe in the future, even if new formats and hardware show up later.

Consider the bit rate

Bitrate is an important factor to know, especially if you are looking for the best quality music playback. However, the actual bit rate setting depends on the audio format you are using.

For example, the MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) format has a bit rate range of 32 to 320 kbps. There are also two encoding methods you can choose from: CBR and VBR. In this case, instead of encoding using the default CBR (constant bit rate) encoding, it is much better to use VBR (variable bit rate) encoding. This is because VBR will provide you with the best file size ratio.

The encoding you use is also an important factor.

All about Audio formats (2020)

The algorithm used to compress and decompress files is called CODEC (acronym for compression / decompression). “Codec” is software that tells the computer which mathematical operations it must manipulate to compress them and which ones to perform to show them compressed.
Instead, the “format” is a kind of file that contains the codec and integrates it with the system.

Sounds are digitally recorded using a technique called “sampling”: the sound wave is divided into many pieces called samplers.

The quality of a digital audio track depends on:

– sampling frequency, measured Hertz (Hz, number of samples per second). A frequency at 11.025 Hz is suitable for recording voice, one at 22.050 Hz (medium quality) is suitable for recording a tape and one at 44,100 Hz for recording in CD quality. Reducing the sample rate leads to loss of quality.

– from termination, ie. the number of bits used (8.16, 24 to 32) for each ciampione (with 8 bits = 1 byte for 256 options, 16 bits = 2 bytes for 256 * 256 = 65,536 values in the levels, and so on). Converting 16-bit to 8-bit samples cuts the original file in half, but also reduces the quality of the music.
– the number of channels: mono (1) or stereo (2).

bit rate: the product of these three elements: frequency, resolution, and number of channels are defined as bit rate, ie bits per second or bps. From this it can be deduced that every second there are 44,100 recorded values which are then multiplied by the 2 stereo sound channels which are multiplied by 16 as the recording takes place in 16 bits (corresponding to 2 bytes). Then we get:

The bit rate for songs on audio CDs = 44,100 * 16 bit * 2 = 1,411.2 kbps (~ 10.6 MByte per minute 44,100 * 2 byte * 2 * 60)
The bit rate of an audio recording = 22,050 * 8 * 1 = 176.4 Kbps (~ 1.3 MByte per minute = 22,050 * 1 byte * 1 * 60)

Accordingly, compressing by reducing the total length of the file will reduce the average length of the subsequent ones, ie. it will reduce the average bit rate. Therefore, in these cases, the average bit rate becomes the index of the compression scope. For example, if the source file had a bit rate of 1,411 Kbit / if the compressed file had an average bit rate of 320 Kbit / s, we would have reduced by a factor of approx. 4.5.
Loss compression compromises the loss of information and the size of the final file, while a lossless compression must balance the size of the final file with the execution times of the algorithm.

The most popular lossless audio formats are:

-WAV sampling, Wave file (Waveform Extension), where wave means wave: standard format for audio files in the Windows audio sampling environment; It has large dimensions as it manages sampling frequencies of up to 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz and now also 96 and even 192 kHz, resolution of up to 32 linear bits and allows to store stereo or surround signals with a number
Unlimited in a single speaker file (equivalent to so many channels). The wave format is nothing more than digital recording of real sounds, sounds that have had
originates from a source external to the PC. In a WAV piece of music drums, piano, guitar, bass or
voice is heard in the same way, regardless of the PC to which the file is heard (to
obviously with the same acoustic quality of the hardware components).
-Aif (Apple Audio Interchange File Format or AIFF) similar to WAV format, is a format that generates good sound quality, is compatible with many browsers and does not require plugins. to Apple’s AIFF format. The Au format also manages more efficient quantization methods that allow a reduction in the amount of data by even 4 times the original value at the cost of a modest loss of quality.
-APE (Monkey Audio; .ape): Lost raw format that allows you to reduce the space occupied
our music about 50% (in some cases even more) without loss of quality. This way an album there
wav format has approx. 600 MB, has an average of 300 MB (much more than about 100 MB a
high bit rate and 60 mpc of an mp3, but the quality is identical to the original); I say, on average, because there is
certain types of music where the level of compression is even higher. To listen to songs in this format,
you can use plugins for WinAmp or, better yet, a player that integrates the native as
Foobar 2000. Right now it’s probably the best lossless codec considering a balance between
speed and compression (click here for lossless comparison table).

Audio file formats

It all starts with Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), the basis for digital audio, which was founded in 1937 and is characterized by two properties: sampling rate for measuring the waveform amplitude and bit depth for measuring possible digital values.

Examples of digital formats for audio sampling are:

– WAV (waveform audio file format)

– MP3, AAC, WMA, Vorbis

– FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) and APE

WAV:

The same format is used to record audio CDs. Different qualities are available (8-16 bit, 11 to 44 kHz). The higher the quality, the greater the memory usage.

MP3, AAC:

The files. MP3 and AAC are the most common formats when you need to store music on a computer or phone, and exchange or download music on the network and on the Internet. MP3 is a “lossy” format that loses some audio quality to achieve a significant increase in file size. An MP3 has a size of approximately 1 MB per minute.
The difference to lossless formats is that if you convert the file to a less compressed format like WAV, the quality sacrificed during compression will not be restored. For lossy formats such as MP3, the audio quality is measured using the bit rate value, which is generally specified in “192 kbit / s” or “192 kbit / s”.
The higher the bit rate, the more detailed the sound becomes.

FLAC, ALAC, APE:

These formats compress audio using algorithms.
The difference between compressed files and FLAC is that FLAC is specifically designed for audio and therefore has better compression rates without data loss.
As a rule, a .FLAC takes up half of the storage space of a WAV in megabytes and maintains the “CD quality”.
A FLAC can be converted to WAV without loss of quality and is the preferred format for those who want to listen to music with the best quality and great speakers.

Is the audio quality subjective?

In theory no, but in practice it’s very subjective.
To hear real differences between the quality of an audio CD and an MP3 file, you need to use high-end headphones or speakers.
In addition, it also depends on what you are listening to and what type of music, in different formats, can have significant or almost no differences in listening.
If you are looking for the best compromise between file size and quality, you should experiment with the different formats and test whether you have a better experience with MP3 with higher bit rates or even with the playback of FLAC files.