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All about all audio file formats

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Dematerialized music has evolved considerably for almost 15 years and has played an important role in the daily life of every individual. We’ve all heard more or less about FLAC, MP3, WAV, etc.! Few people really know the difference between each size, its pros and cons …

This article is intended to enlighten you to make the best possible choice for extracting and compressing your audio files.

There are different types of layouts that can be grouped into several large families:

– uncompressed files

-lossless compressed files

– Lossy compressed files

audio formats

-Uncompressed files

WAV: WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) is an audio file format created by Microsoft for Windows. This format is usually an uncompressed container. Therefore, an audio CD with a duration of about 80 minutes in WAV weighs plus or minus 800 MB

Advantages: the file remains in its original form, no loss of information (no loss)

Disadvantages: The WAV file is an uncompressed format that gives it a large size and therefore takes up more space in the storage space.

AIFF – Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) is the Mac OS equivalent of the WAV format. Therefore, it has the same characteristics as this. The pros and cons of this format are the same as for WAV.

– Lossless compressed files

FLAC: The FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) format is without doubt the most beneficial file for the user. Firstly, in terms of WAV and AIFF, this format is a lossless format, ie the digitization of the file does not imply any loss of information from the audio spectrum. The file is scanned and returned as is. The second advantage of this format is the size it occupies in the storage space. Nondestructive compression is applied to this type of format as a ZIP file, making the scanned file about 2 times less space than a WAV file. Therefore, for 80 minutes of music on CD, the occupied space will be approximately 400 MB. Finally, this format is universal, compatible with most multimedia players, it is compatible with all operating systems except iOS,

Advantages: file size, identical reproduction of the original file during scanning, free and compatible with almost all media players and operating systems

– Disadvantages: none

ALAC: The ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) format is simply the Apple equivalent of the FLAC file.

– Lossy compressed files

MP3: The MP3 format (Mpeg Layer 3) is a well-known format. It is a format with destructive compression, that is, a recording from which musical information has been removed thanks to the so-called psychoacoustic compression algorithm (taking into account the peculiarities of the human ear), so that less scanning is needed to create a lighter file to obtain . This format is most commonly used for dematerialized music, as it allows a significant space saving in the storage space with a size of about 150 MB for an 80 minute CD. Compression can be more or less destructive depending on the speed used, which can range from 4: 1 (320 Kbits / sec) to 12: 1 (128 Kbits / sec).

-Advantages: it takes up little space on the hard disk and does not affect the quality of the songs with a dynamic range and a limited variety of timbres

– Disadvantages: paid MP3 license, destructive compression for “richer” songs.

AAC: The AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) format is a format close to the MP3 format, but provides additional definition with an identical compression rate. Apple uses this specific format in the iTunes Store, but also on YouTube. the extension can be written in various forms, such as .AAC, .M4A or MP4

-Advantages: better compression quality than MP3

-Cons: compressed file format at a loss

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What is the best audio format?

Many are known, but there is always the question of what is the best audio format. The main and most recognized for listening to music are MP3, Wav, FLAC and Ogg.

But, to choose the best audio format, you must first know that they have several conformations, and you can always choose the best. Music always goes everywhere, at home in front of the computer, in a living room with a hi-fi system, with headphones on public transport or when playing a sport. Music that gives a special meaning at all times and that encourages listening.

There are many ways to take advantage of it, but this is usually done in digital format. In audio files, there is a wide variety and normally many still use MP3 for convenience. But there are less popular alternatives that seek to provide a different, better experience. For those who do not know it, there are a number of main sound systems.

The best audio format

Beyond the fact that the MP3 format is the most popular of all the audio formats available, it is not the only one. Some others like “FLAC”, “WMA”, “OGG” have certain characteristics which, depending on what you want, can be very useful on certain occasions.

In technology, audio formats can generally be classified into 2 categories. There are those which preserve all the quality and those which involve losses of quality of the sound or information.

Those that preserve the quality of the audio are those that come from pure sources such as CDs. This is how those who lose quality and sacrifice this information must save space.

Audio quality formats

“FLAC” is a lossless audio codec or “FLAC”. It is one of the formats that best preserves audio quality and its compression algorithm is excellent. It is open source, does not generate quality losses and the file size because it is compressed, is much smaller.

Apple Lossless is known as “ALAC” and is very similar to “FLAC”. The difference is that it is not as efficient, so these files are larger, although they still have unconditional support for iOS, which “FLAC” does not.

“APE” is another and although the problem with this format is that it is not compatible with the vast majority of players, it is considered to be similar to the “FLAC” or “ALAC” format in terms of audio quality. . As it is highly compressed, it accelerates the functioning of the computer’s processor and it is therefore not recommended to use it in low-consumption computer equipment.

“WAV” and “AIFF” are not compression formats, but rather exact copies of the original content and differ in the way they record the data. “AIFF” was created by Apple and “WAV” is more universal, but both have too much disk space.

Formats with loss of audio quality

MP3, MPEG Audio Layer III or MP3, as many people already know, is the most common format that can be found. “ACC” is very popular on iTunes and is considered more efficient than MP3 because files in this format are smaller.

OGG Vorbis is one of the free and open source alternatives to MP3 and ACC. It is not limited by patents, but it is also not supported by many players. WMA is Microsoft’s proprietary format and is very similar to MP3, but without much advantage over the others.

Which audio format to choose?

The most recommended is “MP3” or “AAC” because many players support it. In addition, if they are encoded with a high bit rate, they can hardly be distinguished from the original source. However, if you want to burn music, formats like “FLAC” are recommended, because you can then convert everything to other formats without losing audio quality.

Once the audio formats are known, when choosing, the differences between each must be taken into account. In general, what the experts recommend is to use “MP3” or “AAC” as they are compatible with most players and the quality of both is very similar to that of the original source, especially if it is encoded with a high bit rate. Unless you have a specific need, “MP3” and “AAC” are the most recommended options.

However, one thing to know is that to store music in lossless formats, there is no “FLAC”. You probably won’t notice any higher quality, but it’s good for storing music if you plan to convert it to other formats later. In these cases, “FLAC” is always recommended, and it is also possible to choose the format without loss or degradation of quality

What is the best audio format?

Many are known, but there is always the question of which is the best audio format. The main and most recognized for listening to music are MP3, Wav, FLAC and Ogg.

But, to choose the best audio format, you must first know that they have multiple conformations, and you can always choose the best one. Music always goes everywhere, at home in front of the computer, in a living room with a hi-fi system, with headphones on public transport or when playing sports. Music that gives a special meaning to each moment and that encourages when heard.

There are many ways to enjoy it, but it is usually always done in digital format. Within the audio files, there is a great variety and normally many still use MP3 for convenience. But there are alternatives that are less popular and that seek to offer a different and higher quality experience. For those who do not know it, there are a number of main sound systems.

The best audio format

Beyond that the MP3 format is the most popular of all available audio formats, it is not the only one. Some others like “FLAC”, “WMA”, “OGG” have certain characteristics that, depending on what you want, can be very useful on certain occasions.

In technology, audio formats can generally be classified into 2 categories. There are those that retain all the quality and those that lead to quality losses in sound or information.

Those that preserve the quality of the audio are those that come from pure sources such as CDs. This is how those who lose quality and sacrifice this information are to save space.

Formats that preserve audio quality

“FLAC” is Free Lossless Audio Codec or “FLAC”. It is one of the formats that best preserves the audio quality and its compression algorithm is excellent. It is open source, does not generate quality losses and the size of the file because it is compressed, is much smaller.

Apple Lossless is known as “ALAC” and is very similar to “FLAC”. The difference is that it is not as efficient, so these files are larger, although they still have the unconditional support of iOS, something that “FLAC” does not have.

“APE” is another and although the problem with this format is that it is not compatible with the vast majority of players, it is considered similar to the “FLAC” or “ALAC” format in terms of audio quality. As it is highly compressed, it makes the computer’s processor work faster and therefore it is not recommended to use it in low-power computing equipment.

“WAV” and “AIFF” are not compression formats, but rather exact copies of the original content and differ in the way they save data. “AIFF” was created by Apple and “WAV” is more universal, but both have too much disk space.

Formats with loss of audio quality

MP3, MPEG Audio Layer III or MP3, as many already know them, is the most common format that can be found. “ACC” is very popular on iTunes and is considered more efficient than MP3 since files in this format are smaller.

OGG Vorbis is one of the free and open source alternatives to MP3 and ACC. It is not restricted by patents, but it is also not supported by many players. WMA is Microsoft’s proprietary format and is very similar to MP3, but without great advantages over the others.

Which audio format to choose?

The one that is most recommended to choose is the “MP3” or “AAC”, since many players support them. Furthermore, if they are encoded with a high bitrate, they can hardly be distinguished from the original source. However, if what you want is to burn the music, formats such as “FLAC” are recommended, because then you can convert everything to other formats, without losing the audio quality.

Once the audio formats are known, when choosing, the differences between each one must be taken into account. In general, what experts recommend is to use “MP3” or “AAC” since they are compatible with most players and the quality of both is very similar to that of the original source, especially if it is encoded with a high bit rate. Unless you have a specific need, “MP3” and “AAC” are the most advisable options.

However, one thing to know is that to store music in lossless formats, there is no such thing as “FLAC”. You probably won’t notice a higher quality, but it’s good for storing music if you plan to convert it to other formats later. In these cases, “FLAC” is always recommended, and it is also possible to choose the format without loss or degradation of file quality.

As a final conclusion, it can be said that you should not be obsessed with the subject, but you just have to be sure of what you want and choose.

What is the best audio format for listening to music?

Although the MP3 format is the most popular of all available audio formats, it is not the only one, some such as FLAC, WMA, OGG and others, have features that, depending on what you want, can be very useful in certain occasions

Here I show you a summary of what to expect when you are looking for the best audio format to listen to music.

As a general rule, we can classify audio formats into two categories: those that retain all quality and those that lead to loss of quality in sound or information.

Those who retain all audio quality come from pure sources such as CDs, while those who lose quality sacrifice this information to save space.

Formats that preserve audio quality:

FLAC: Free Lossless Audio Codec or FLAC, for its acronym in English, is one of the formats that best preserves audio quality. Its compression algorithm is excellent and does not generate quality losses, it is open source and the file size when compressed is much smaller
Apple Lossless: known as ALAC is very similar to FLAC, but not as efficient as this, so these files are larger, although they have the unconditional support of iOS, which FLAC does not have

APE: The problem with this format is that it is not very compatible with the vast majority of players, but it is similar to the FLAC or ALAC format in terms of audio quality. Being very compressed makes the computer’s processor work faster so it is not recommended in low power computing equipment
WAV and AIFF: they are not compression formats, but exact copies of the original content, differing in the way they save the data. While AIFF was created by Apple, WAV is more universal, but both take too much disk space.

Formats with loss of audio quality:

MP3: MPEG Audio Layer III or MP3, as we all know them, is the most common format you can find
ACC: is more efficient than MP3, files in this format are smaller and is very popular on iTunes
OGG Vorbis: it is a free and open source alternative to MP3 and ACC, it is not restricted by patents but not supported by many players
WMA: this is the proprietary format of Microsoft very similar to MP3, without great advantages over the others
Which audio format to choose
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It is more recommended to choose MP3 or AAC, since many players support them, in addition, if they are encoded with a high bitrate they are almost indistinguishable from the original source. However, if what you want is to burn your music, I recommend formats like FLAC, then you can convert everything to other formats without losing audio quality.