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Audio formats

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Before going through the different audio formats to identify the best ones for you, it seems right to try to make you understand what digital audio is. In short, it is nothing more than a representation of real sounds through a chain of zeros and ones. The more there is in a file, the closer the digital sound will be to what it represents.

Better audio formats

It all started with Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM), created in 1937 and characterized by two properties: the sampling frequency to measure the amplitude of the waveform and the bit depth to measure possible digital values. It is basically the faithful conversion of analog audio into a digital file in which no compression is done. The result is a very large audio file, which takes up a lot of space.

To remedy this, therefore, more or less compressed audio formats have been created that, depending on their characteristics, are divided into two different types: Lossless formats, that is, when the information contained in the final file is identical to that contained in the source file and therefore there is no loss of quality, and lossy formats, for which the information contained in the final file is less than that contained in the source file with the consequent loss of quality but in benefit of the space of necessary storage. For more details, continue reading, below you will find the different audio formats belonging to the categories in question indicated and explained.

Lossless (WAV, AIFF, FLAC and ALAC)

As I told you a few lines above, Lossless audio formats are those that are not compressed or that, despite being subjected to this type of treatment, the final quality remains practically unchanged with respect to the original audio. The main formats that belong to this category are the following: WAV, AIFF, FLACC, ALAC and APE. Let’s see its characteristics in detail.

WAV – An acronym for WAVEform audio file format, is a standard that was developed by Microsoft and IBM in 1991. It is the most popular category of apparent audio file format. It is not compressed and is essentially what you get when you rip audio from a music CD with your computer. It takes up a lot of space (1,411 kilobits of information per second of stereo music at 44,100 Hz / 16 bits), but it reproduces sounds faithfully. In terms of quality and quantity of information, it is similar to the AIFF format, which you will find explained below.
AIFF – Short for Audio Interchange File Format, it belongs mainly to the Mac world, it was developed by Apple based on the Electronic Arts Interchange File Format and is particularly suitable for audiophiles and music recorders. It basically has the same characteristics as the WAV format mentioned above, so it is not compressed, so it takes up a lot of space (1,411 Kilobits of information per second of stereo music at 44,100 Hz / 16 bits) and is capable of reproducing sounds with a lot of fidelity.

FLAC: is the abbreviation for Free Lossless Audio Codec. It is an open source codec that is often used to store music CDs on the computer without loss of quality and is compatible with most programs and devices. Compared to the formats that I have already told you about, it has a minimal degree of compression, but most people cannot perceive significant differences compared to a WAV or AIFF file.
ALAC – Short for Apple Lossless Audio Codec, is essentially Apple’s worldwide counterpart to the earlier FLAC format. The quality is good on average but the format is not as efficient as the FLAC in terms of weight. Then keep in mind the fact that not all gamers support it, so unless you have uniquely and exclusively Apple devices, it may not be the best solution to opt for.

Other important but less common audio formats that always belong to the Lossless calorie are Monkey’s Audio (APE) and OptimFROG (OFR). Its characteristics are more or less similar to those of the FLAC and ALAC formats.

Lossy (MP3, AAC, WMA, and Ogg Vorbis)

Now let’s move on to the audio formats belonging to the Lossy category, that is, those always subjected to compression that take up very little space but “sacrifice” a certain degree of audio quality. The main formats in this category are: MP3, AAC, WMA, and Ogg Vorbis. For more information, keep reading, you will find more details about it below.

MP3: in Full Moving Picture Expert Group-1/2 Audio Layer 3, also known as MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III.

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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).

What are the digital audio formats?

PCM, Wav, Aiff. Compression. Mp3, Ogg, Wma.

Working with digital audio is almost a chore for puzzle specialists. Since audio is saved on the computer and all computer files have extensions, we have to interpret each acronym and abbreviation.

The extension is the end of the file after the name and period. It is used to know what type of file it is, whether it is a text, a video or an audio. There are many extensions and they are all sure to sound familiar to you: WAV, RM, MP3, WMA, OGG … Let’s play, then, to decipher puzzles and see what each of these acronyms means.

UNCOMPRESSED DIGITAL AUDIO FILES

.PCM

It is not a file type or format, but a technique of transforming analog to digital audio without any compression. (1) Therefore, we do not see audios with the pcm extension. We work with PCM when digitizing, but we always keep files with one of these extensions:

.WAV: (Wave, wave in English)

It is the most widely used uncompressed digital audio format. It belongs to Microsoft / IBM.

.AIFF: (Audio Interchange File Format)

It is similar to WAV but for Apple Macintosh or MAC computers.

.CDA

: These are the audio tracks recorded on Compact Disc that also use the PCM system.

All uncompressed files are large. Approximately 10 megabytes for every minute of audio. These are the formats used to store audio at a professional level since the quality is very good. But when we don’t need that much quality and we’re short on space, it’s time to use file compression.

AUDIO COMPRESSION

Compressing is reducing and whenever we reduce we lose something. The same is true for digital audio. The latest advances have allowed compression to be done with the least possible loss of quality, but there always are. Against that, much has been gained in reducing the size of the files.

While a 4-minute audio in WAV format takes approximately 40 megabytes, that same audio, compressed to MP3, can reduce its weight to 4 megabytes, 10 times less. And apparently, they sound the same. (2)

SAVE WITHOUT COMPRESSING

When working in production, it is always recorded in WAV, without compression. In that same way it is edited and mixed. If the final result of the edition is an audio to be uploaded on the Web or saved on the hard drive of a computer, we can compress it to mp3 but with a quality of no less than 160 kbps.

If, on the contrary, the production has as its final destination to be recorded on a CD, never compress, always leave the audio in WAV and burn it that way on the CD.

1. How does compression work?

It is not about wrinkling or crushing the audio. Most audio compression systems take advantage of a “defect” in our ears to reduce file size. It is called masking.

Masking is a property of the human ear that prevents it from distinguishing two frequencies close together within the same range, one masking the other. For example, if a sound with a frequency of 12 Khz and another of 12.2 Khz sounds at the same time in a song, we could remove one of the two without being noticed when listening to it.

In this way, the compressor “subtracts” the masked frequencies, which reduces the number of bytes. And fewer bytes in computing translates into smaller files, but not shorter. The song, when compressed, lasts as long as it is uncompressed.

2. Quality of compressed files

We saw in the previous question that digital audio has two parameters: the sampling frequency (the optimum is 44.1 Khz.) And the resolution or size of each sample (8 or 16 bits). By compressing, we add a third parameter to these two, the bitrate. It is the amount of kilobytes per second (kbps) and refers to the quality of the compression.

• A lower number of Kbps, more compression, smaller file size, but lower quality.

• A higher number of Kbps, less compression, larger file size and more quality.

A compressed audio at 128 Kbps has a higher compression level than a 256 Kbps one. That means that 128 is a smaller file and less quality than 256. Although you must have a cat’s ear to distinguish between both!

VARIABLE OR CONSTANT BIT

Some files have a constant bit rate per second (CBR Constant Bit Rate) and others have a variable one (VBR Variable Bit Rate). The constant is always the same for all audio, for example 128 kilobytes per second. In the variable method, what the compressor does is use more bits when there are parts of the audio where there are more frequencies and it cannot mask all of them.

COMPRESSED FILE FORMATS

Mp3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3)

It achieves high compressions without much loss, although it all depends on the quality of the compression we use. 128 Kbps and below is not recommended.

Although mp3 is the most widely used compression standard, especially for audio on Web pages, the great drawback is its patent. So any player or editing software that wants to use it has to pay for it.

.OGG (Vorbis)

As a result of this patent, the Xiph.org Foundation developed in 2002 a completely free codec (5) for audio compression. Similar in characteristics to mp3, it is beginning to be used a lot on the Web and in some players since manufacturers do not have to pay the costs of the patent. At this point, it is difficult to completely replace the mp3 but it is eating up a lot of ground.

.AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)

The compression level is higher than mp3 (MPEG-1) without major loss of quality. AAC is one of the codecs used in the new MPEG-4 compression standard. This audio format is used in players like the iPod and in some of the new digital radio systems. AAC is shaping up to be the successor to the mp3.

.RAM (also RM or RA)

They are the files of the Real Network company for audio. The problem is that its reproduction and edition is very limited to software from the same company and few others.

.WMA (Windows Media Audio)

It is Windows’ bet on compressed formats. It is like a WAV, but smaller and less quality. While mp3 and ogg files are played by almost all players and editors, the same is not the case with wma files, so it is rarely used.

. AA3 (ATRAC – Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding)

Format invented by Sony. It is the one used by minidisc recorder-players.

What is the difference between the different audio formats, and which one should I choose?

There are two types of sound quality: lossless and lossless. Lossless music preserves the sound quality of the original source – in most cases, CD – intact, on the other hand, lossy music compresses the file to save space (in exchange for decreasing quality). The following formats are included in lossless formats:

Formats WITHOUT loss of quality:

–WAV and AIFF: Both are uncompressed formats, which are exact copies of the original sound source. The two formats have essentially the same quality; They simply store the data differently. AIFF was created by Apple – you’ll see it often in its products – but WAV is much more universal. However, since they are not compressed, they take up too much unnecessary space. Unless you’re editing sound, we don’t need to use this format.

–FLAC: Free lossless sound codec – Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC). It is the most used lossless codec, it is a good option if we seek to store our music without losing quality. Unlike WAV and AIFF, it uses compression, taking up less space. However, it is still a lossless format, which means that the sound quality is the same as the original source, so it is better to listen to than WAV and AIFF. It is also free and free software, which is useful if you like to take a look at how it works.

–Apple lossless (Apple Lossless): Also known as ALAC, it is similar to FLAC. Use compression, although it is made by Apple. Its compression is not as efficient as that of FLAC, so the files will be a bit larger, but it is compatible with iTunes and iOS (FLAC not). Therefore, if you use iTunes or iOS as the main software for listening to music, you should choose this format.

–APE: It is a file of very high compression without losses, which means that you will save more space. The quality is the same as FLAC, ALAC and other lossless files, but it is not compatible with most players. On the other hand, it makes the processor work harder to decode when it is so compressed. Generally, I would not recommend using this format unless you are very concerned about space and have a compatible player.

Formats with losses: MP3, AAC, OGG and more

–MP3: MPEG Audio Layer III, or MP3 for short, is the most common lossy format. So much that it has become synonymous with music downloads on the internet. It is not the most efficient format of all, but it is undoubtedly the most compatible, making this the first option to choose between lost sounds.

–AAC: Advanced Audio Coding, also known as AAC, is similar to MP3, although a bit more efficient. Which means that the files take up less space and with the same sound quality as MP3. And, with Apple’s iTunes making it so popular, it’s as compatible as MP3.

–Ogg Vorbis: The Vorbis format, often known as Ogg Vorbis due to the use of the Ogg container, is the free software version to MP3 and AAC. Its main attraction is that it is not restricted by patents, but that does not affect you as a user – in fact, despite being open it is of similar quality, and much less popular than MP3 and AAC, so not all players support it . I do not recommend it unless you are interested in the fact of being open source.

–WMA: Windows Media Audio. The proprietary format of Microsoft, similar to MP3 or AAC. It really offers no advantage over the other formats, and is not very well supported.

So which audio format should you use?

Now that we have seen the differences between each format, which one should we use for our music? In general, we recommend using MP3 or AAC. They are compatible with most players, and the quality of both is very similar to that of the original source if it is encoded with a high bit rate. Unless you have specific needs, MP3 and AAc are the most recommended options.

However, there is something to say to store music in lossless formats such as FLAC. Although we probably don’t notice a higher quality, it is good to store music if you plan to convert it to other formats later – since converting from one format with losses to another Lossy (eg, from AAC to MP3) will produce lower quality files. In that case we recommend FLAC. In addition, we can choose the lossless format we want, since converting between formats without losses does not degrade the quality of the file.

As a final conclusion, we can say that one should not become obsessed with the subject. We just have to be sure to choose something widely compatible, not convert between two formats with losses, and enjoy music.

An advantage is that Mp4Gain works with all these fromatos (and more) and you can convert from one to another, without problems or loss of quality, on the contrary, with tools like the Equalizer, you can improve the sound to your liking.

Most popular audio formats

There is a huge amount of audio formats. The most common are formats such as MP3 (MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) and WAV. Usually, the type of format corresponds to the file extension (the letters of the file name after the period, for example .mp3, .wav, .ogg, .wma).

A codec is an algorithm for encoding and compressing data in an audio format. Some file types are assigned a specific codec. For example, the MP3 format always uses the MPEG Layer-3 codec, while the MP4 format can use a range of different codecs.

Many times, the notions of codec and format are used as interchangeable. Especially when a format always uses a single codec. However, it is necessary to understand the difference between a format and a codec. In simple terms, a format can be compared to a container in which a sound or a video signal that uses a particular codec can be stored.

Some formats, such as MP4 or FLV, can store both audio and video sequences.

If you don’t know what program you should use to open one format or another audio, we recommend that you use our audio converter. It is compatible with almost all existing formats.

Depending on the type of compression, two types of codecs can be distinguished:

Lossless Codecs

This group of formats records and compresses a sound in such a way that it allows the preservation of its exact original quality when decoded.

The most common lossless coding formats are:

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec – Audio codec, lossless and free),
APE (Monkey’s Audio – Mono Audio),
ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec – Audio codec, lossless Apple).

Loss Codecs

When compressed with loss, a sound undergoes some modification. For example, compression cuts the sound frequencies that are inaudible to the human ear. When decoded, the file will be different from the original in terms of the information stored in it, but it sounds almost the same.

Some of the most common lossy formats are:

MP3
Wma
OGG
AAC

WAV is one of the first audio formats. It is mainly used to store uncompressed audio tracks (PCM) that are identical to audio CDs in terms of quality. On average, a minute of WAV format sound requires about 10 megabytes of memory. CDs are usually digitized in WAV format and then can be converted to MP3 with an audio converter.

MP3 (MPEG Layer-3) is the most widespread sound format in the world. MP3, like many of the other lossy formats, compresses the file size by reducing sounds inaudible to the human ear. Currently, MP3 is not the best format in terms of file size for sound quality, but since it is the most widespread and compatible with most devices, many people prefer to save their files in this format.

WMA (Windows Media Audio) is a format owned by Microsoft Corporation. It was initially introduced as the substitute for the MP3 format, with the highest compression characteristics. However, this fact has been compromised by some independent tests. In addition, the WMA format is compatible with data protection through DRM.

OGG is an open format that supports audio coding by several codecs. The Vorbis codec is the most commonly used in OGG. The quality of compression can be compared to the MP3 format, but it is less widespread in terms of compatibility with various audio players and devices.

AAC is a patented audio format system that has higher capabilities (number of channels, frequency of discretion) compared to the MP3 format. Usually, it achieves better sound quality with the same file size. AAC is currently one of the loss-coding algorithms that offers the highest quality. A file encoded with this format can have the following extensions: .aac, .mp4, .m4a, .m4b, .m4p, .m4r.

FLAC is a common lossless format. It does not modify the audio sequence and the sound encoded with this format is identical to the original. It is frequently used to reproduce sound in high-end audio systems. Its playback compatibility on devices and players is limited, therefore, if desired, it often becomes other formats before listening to it on a player.

Most used audio formats

In this article we will talk about the most popular Audio Formats and used for both Music production and Entertainment.

Lossless Audio Formats (lossless)

Also known as Loosless, they are audio formats without loss of sound, its main feature is that it resembles original audio with excellent quality.

Its main disadvantage is the size of the file since when capturing it and converting it into digital audio format, files from 50 to 100 megabytes become depending on the number of minutes and resolution.

Normally it is usually captured with a resolution of 16 bits at 44,100 hertz which is the audio quality handled by a compact disc.

Although today it is usually captured at 48,000, 92,000 and up to 192,000 herts that can vary to 16, 24, 32 and up to 64 bits.

WAV (audio file format)

Undoubtedly this is the best known and most standard format, it was created by Microsoft and is called audio formats without signal loss.

Its main feature is that it closely approximates the capture audio signal, which gives us great sound quality. Therefore it is an audio format widely used for audio editing with Music Production Softwares.

Its main disadvantage is its weight is that 5 minutes of audio is approximately 50 megabytes, which becomes a format that takes up a lot of storage space.

AIFF (audio interchange file format)

This format was created by Apple, it is also an audio format without signal loss.

It closely resembles the original sound at the time of capture but also occupies almost the same space as the Wav.

CDA (audio cd track)

Perhaps you have seen this format before, however it is not exactly an audio format rather it is a shortcut which is part of the audio data of a compact disc. This format is created when you burn a CD with some software such as Nero or Alcohol 120%.

When exploring an original compact disc on your computer you will find these files with that extension.

However, when copying these files to your computer you will not be able to reproduce them since they are only small shortcuts that do not contain the music information, they are only used by stereos, homemade modulars or cars.

In order to have these files you will have to convert this format to one that is readable by your computer, which can be Wav or Aiff or other audio formats with some CDA conversion software to other formats.

FLAC (free losseless audio codec)

This audio format is the most popular since it has no signal loss but with compression, which greatly decreases the file size apart from the fact that it is possible to reverse the compression to have the original version again.

It works very similar to the ZIP file but optimized for audio with the advantage that you don’t have to unzip it in order to listen to it.

Its main disadvantage is the incompatibility to reproduce it in any audio software or mobile devices, therefore you must have installed an application capable of playing it with the appropriate codec.

Audio Formats with Loss (loosy)

Also known as Loosy, they are audio formats with sound losses but with compression as the main feature since these files are reduced considerably such as a Wave or Aiff file could be compressed from 50 to 5 megabytes.

Being compressed by means of some audio compression codec eliminates all irrelevant and imperceptible information for the human ear.

You should practically have a fairly sensitive ear to be able to differentiate losses.

These formats are mainly used for portability in Usb memories, Compact Discs or audio devices such as Ipod, MP3, Cell phones, Tablets, Lap Tops and even Desktop Computers and some car stereos or CD, DVD, Blue Ray players, among others.

MP3 Audio Format

It is the most popular and commercial format used since the 1990s, precisely in 1993 created by the Fraunhofer IIS Institute by Karlheinz Brandenburg.

Its main feature is its low data weight and its compatibility with most audio playback software such as Itunes, Windows Media Player, the extinct Winamp among others.

However, it should be mentioned that this format when compressed eliminates audio information that may be almost inaudible by the human ear.

BITRATE (BIT RATE)

It is practically the one that determines the quality of the MP3 that can be from 8 to a maximum of 320 kbps (kilobytes per second).

It is usually compressed at 128 kbps which is a standard for internet radio, streaming platforms such as Soundcloud or Spotify that usually convert to this quality by default.

At the lowest amount of kbps, streaming is guaranteed to be fluid for most internet connections, but it also loses sound quality.

Although considering this happens to second term since many of the users usually reproduce it with headphones in the street, school, public transport, motorcycles or computer speakers in offices at low volume.

If you are a professional DJ I do not recommend mixing with this format since you will not get the best results in amplified sounds, preferably acquire the versions without loss of signal to strengthen your live presentations.

CBR AND VBR METHODS

The CBR (constant bitrate) method practically converts the audio with the constant dynamic range, while the VBR (bitware variable) method varies its dynamic range.

The advantage of the CBR method is that it converts with greater speed and a lighter audio file is obtained although its disadvantage is that its quality is diminished.

The advantage of the VBR method is that when the audio file is converted, a higher sound quality is obtained since it retains the dynamic range, that is, if your theme has sounds with lower and higher intensity, they will continue to obtain a more dynamic sound.

Another significant advantage is that you can include metadata such as ID3, which you can store information such as the title of the song, the name of the band or artist, year, album and a small image which can be the cover that when reproduced in Itunes or Windows Media Player will be displayed.

AAC format

It is a compression audio format with loss of signal which produces a sound very similar to the original.

The ACC format is an extension of MPEG-2 created by MPEG (moving picture experts group), it is often used for Internet radio broadcasting and by Apple for Ipods with Itunes software, also used by Ahead Nero, Winamp and Nintendo DSi.

Another use is for encoding MP4 videos and recently for the new STEMS audio format created by Native Instruments which is a multitrack format used by DJs.

WMA Audio Format

We cannot ignore the WMA (windows media audio) format that was basically the alternative to MP3.

On this format I will not deepen as it is very little used and incompatible in most mobile devices.

It is only compatible with devices such as Windows Phone, Xbox and Microsoft operating systems. However, if you download a multimedia application for example on your Android phone that supports WMA, then you can listen to it.

The WMA audio format has 3 versions:

WMA Pro: Supports multiple tracks like AC-3
WMA Lossless: Compress with loss of signal
WMA Voice: Aimed at human voices which is used
on Skype and WhatsApp.

AC3 Audio Format

The AC3 audio format also called Dolby Digital which is an alternative to MP3 since it allows the inclusion of multiple audio tracks generally 5.1 for Surround surround audio

What is the difference between MP3 and FLAC

What is the problem with the popular MP3 or why FLAC is of better quality? Actually, in addition to these 2 formats, there are others with different specifications that differentiate them from each other.

In this article we will talk about the most important formats and their characteristics, in this way you can choose the one that suits you.

What is bitrate?

The difference in the size of the files is noticeable

You’ve probably heard this term before, but if you don’t remember it or don’t know what it means, I’ll explain it. Bitrate is translated as the bit rate, that is, the amount of bits or data that are processed in a unit of time. When referring to audio, we usually use the measurement of kilobits per second (Kbps). For example, the music available on iTunes is usually 256 Kbps, which means that there are 256 kilobits of information stored in every second of the song.

The higher the bitrate of a file, the more space it occupies on your hard drive. Usually, a music CD uses a large amount of memory space, so since the early 1990s, researcher Karlheinz Brandenburg developed the audio compression standard we now know as MP3. When an audio file is compressed, the space destined for it is smaller, however, this means that it loses part of its sound quality. For that reason, the different audio formats available are divided into 2 categories: with losses and without losses.

Lossless Formats

Lossless or lossless formats, as they are known in English, retain the sound quality of the original source intact. This means if you compress a CD in any of these formats, your digital music files will have the highest quality.

FLAC. Free Lossless Audio Codec is the most used sound codec, making it one of the best options for storing music without losing quality. Unlike other formats such as WAV and AIFF, the compression it uses decreases the space it occupies. In addition, it is free and free software, so anyone can use it and is compatible with a considerable number of players.
WAV and AIFF. These 2 formats do not use compression, so it could be said that they are exact copies of the original sound source. Although both are of the same quality, what differentiates them is the way they store the data. AIFF was created by Apple, while WAV is used universally. The problem with these formats is that since they do not have any compression, they take up too much memory space. They are normally used in audio editing.
A THE C. Apple’s lossless format is very similar to FLAC because it uses compression, the detail is that it was created by the company founded by Steve Jobs. Although its compression method is not as efficient as that of FLAC (it occupies more space), the advantage is that it is compatible with iTunes and iOS devices.
Formats with losses

Lossy, or lossy, formats are the most common, most systems and players recognize them and compress a lot, which allows large amounts of music to be stored in a small space. One advantage is that if your bitrate is high enough, it will be difficult to distinguish the difference you keep with the original source.

MP3 Its name without abbreviation is MPEG Audio Layer III, and it is the most popular lossy format, so much that it has become the benchmark in the category of digital or downloadable music on the Internet. Although it is not the most efficient format of all, it is the one with the highest compatibility, so it is the first option to choose between lossy formats.
AAC Advance Audio Coding is similar to MP3, although a bit more efficient in compression, which means that your files take up less space while matching the quality of the MP3. Although not as popular, it has the advantage that Apple players support it.
WMA As the name implies, Windows Media Audio is the proprietary format of Microsoft. It is very similar to the 2 previous formats and does not really offer any advantage over them. The disadvantage is that it is not so popular, so it is not compatible with many systems.

Which one should you use?

After having reviewed the main formats of both categories and their characteristics, we conclude that the type of file to use will depend on the habits and tastes of the user. In general, MP3 and AAC are widely recommended, because they are compatible with most players and the quality of both becomes quite good if it is encoded with a high enough bitrate (192 Kbps onwards). If your demands in audio quality are not the highest, any of these 2 formats is ideal thanks to the little space they occupy.

Storing your music collection in FLAC will require many GB of storage

However, storing music for posterity in MP3 or AAC may not be the best idea, since converting from one format with losses to another with losses will produce files with much lower quality. On the other hand, FLAC is the best for preserving music for the future, because it will keep the quality intact and allow converting to other formats in the future, in addition to occupying less space than WAV or AIFF.

If your interest is to enter the world of audiophilia, without a doubt lossless formats are the option. Thus, it is necessary to consider that to notice the difference between a high quality MP3 file and a FLAC, you must have high fidelity headphones or speakers and have a trained ear. Of course, the storage issue is also important, the amount of gigabytes or terabytes you will need to store all your music will depend on the size of your collection.

In conclusion, the format you intend to use will depend on your musical demands, both in quantity of music and in its quality. You just have to remember that the important factors are compatibility and avoid converting between 2 formats with loss and, above all, enjoy music in the way you like best.

WHAT IS THE BEST FORMAT TO LISTEN TO MUSIC?

There are many, but after trying almost all of them, here we tell you which is our preference for quality and file size.

As part of our new discovery, we want to share what our experience has been in the vast market of formats offered in digitalized music. The not so common OGG used by Spotify; the AAC incorporated by Apple Music and even the MP3 used by the Google Play Music and Amazon Music service. They all offer different qualities so you will undoubtedly notice a difference when listening to your favorite songs.

We could even include uncompressed formats such as FLAC, AIFF, or even DSD and WAV. Apparently superior qualities, since, if you are like us who do not have a specialized audio equipment for this purpose, it does not make much sense to bring a file of more than 50 MB on your sixth generation iPod with a capacity of 64Gb.

Removing that from the medium, this article we want to dedicate it exclusively to compressed formats in order to show the benefits and benefits of knowing how to choose the best of all. It is important because, taking it into account, it can also help you solve the dilemma of which streaming music service would suit you best.

3. MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III)

Mp3 Starting with the most common of all, the MP3, a format that although we can give it the merit of being the first to emerge to digitize the music, it is not so in terms of quality. It is also true that its size makes it the best for allowing a song of five minutes occupying about 10 Mb on average of your internal memory of the cell phone and / or music player. However, its coding and the way in which it cuts digital information to be able to offer a small weight file is one of its clearest disadvantages.

In practice, this is reflected when you put a song like Angel de Massive Attack, where the bass is deep and in detail – that is, you have the “boom” caused by the lower frequencies, in addition to the pick of the strings of the low- you don’t enjoy generating artifacts that distort the signal.

For that reason, the MP3, German format founded with the idea of offering music in the first digital era of computers, is not the best there is in the market … By the way, not long ago it was announced that its creators declared it dead.

2. OGG Vorbis

Ogg was like the direct competition in its time, of MP3. Created by a programmer and vocational musician from the United States named Chris Montgomery, it is clear evidence that when your passion is combined with your work, the results are extraordinary.

Recalling a little the history of OGG to contextualize, it emerges in the nineties as a need to find a better way to encode and compress digitized information. And maybe that is one of the reasons why Spotify chooses this format to play and stream the music: friendly, versatile and small in size, it is definitely better than MP3.

The quality of the same role we mentioned earlier is far exceeded. Not only the bass frequencies sound better defined, but the media and the treble ones are balanced a little – so to speak – to offer better sharpness and detail of the instrumentation in general.

However, it is not the best there is in the market, since besides it is difficult to achieve, there is something that is lacking to be our first choice: we would say that, it is something like the “tone” of the sound.

1. AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)

aac is our first choice. With a sound coding that allows you to eliminate less information from an analog signal, the result is quite noticeable when you compare a song with this extension, with that of the other two formats. The bass sounds completely deep and defined without distorting anything, in addition to the medium and treble being highlighted allowing a wider dynamic range than the MP3 and OGG.

It is the holy grail of compressed music formats. We would even dare to say that the AAC offered by the iTunes Store and Apple Music is as good in quality as a FLAC or WAV. If you put one followed by the other, the only notable difference you can find is the amount of the volume. While an uncompressed format offers you more sound, that other format invented by the Fraunhofer Institute in conjunction with Sony, Dolby and AT&T, has slightly less volume, but with the same quality.

So, the AAC is the best format you can get: it has a fairly small file size; it has a “tone” of music that enhances all the details of the instrumentation and voice in the songs; and having even specializations by sound engineers at Apple to include in their record materials their “Masterized for iTunes” versions, there is no way to make a mistake when choosing it as our favorite.