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THE MOST COMMON FORMATS FOR MUSIC AND OTHER AUDIO FILES, AND HOW THEY ARE RELATED TO EACH OTHER

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THE MOST COMMON FORMATS FOR MUSIC AND OTHER AUDIO FILES, AND HOW THEY ARE RELATED TO EACH OTHER

And for the direct competitors of the universal MP3 format, they can count on a lot today.

Due to continuing inconsistencies in home storage of the WAV format, it was eventually discontinued. But for professional studios, he says, the basics of the job. Especially when recording live vocals or instruments. Just convert the recorded material from WAV to MP3 at the final stage.

music format

However, music can be represented in some other popular formats nowadays. For example, many times (especially the Internet) they use these data types like OGG, AIFF, AMR, etc. But the real competitor of MP3 has become the newest and best audio FLAC etc. Of course, for MP3 you can convert all parameters to the maximum, but the playback quality of FLAC represents much higher. Also, it is a single file and the separation occurs directly on the track due to the player or startup software. In other words, listeners see each track individually, but can switch between playback tracks. For the MP3 format, this also seems possible to merge multiple tracks through it, thus creating a single file. But here it is in this version fast switching between tracks will not be possible (normal fast forward should be used, that’s all).

However, not everything is bad. The fact that music or audiobooks are all popular formats today allows them to be easily converted, even keeping the original parameters of the audio material. Based on this, and for sound processing and conversion and audio editors, almost all programs call converters. Any program of this type (MP3 editor or converter) detects the original and final type of audio files, is unambiguous and can produce direct and reverse transformations. Let’s explain this specific example.

WAVE THEORY AUDIO EDITOR FOR MP3 FILES
Many types of software are used in audio processing today. First, look at the narrow application of so-called audio editors. The most prominent representatives of these can be called giants Sony Audio Forge, Sintrillium Cool Editing Pro, which was later acquired by Adobe and renamed Audition, Acoustica Mixcraft, ACID Pro and many others.

mp3 editor

The principle on which they operate is that, for convenience, all MP3 audio programs have a typical waveform, as originally used for WAV files. This method determines the appearance and opportunity enough to edit any type of conventional audio material in WAV format. Other than that, the fact that you can do basic copy, cut, paste, etc. E., it’s just a matter of getting the frequency characteristics and bitrate changes, not to mention using a lot of extra effects that plug into VSTs via DirectX or a generic host bridge studio thing.

In its simplest form, the conversion can be done using the standard file menu, which contains the line “Save As…” (Save As…) or the export function present in MP3 format. Thus, all the process is reduced to just the final selection of the format (MP3 here as an example) and activation of the recording mode. In this case the conversion will be done automatically saving the current configuration parameters and the frequency characteristics. I don’t like the original version? ?Nothing is easier than changing the format to MP3, pre-specified with higher settings. However, one thing needs to be considered here: if the raw material is of such poor quality that special remediation or even professional tools will not work for audio it is necessary to use Repairs here, the intervention of various filters, etc. D. For the layman, it will cause great difficulties.

As is clear, there is absolutely no difference between the audiobooks we are dealing with: MP3, music or just recorded voice or noise. By the way, audiobooks are supposed to have a much lower sound quality by default. This is understandable, since the file has to take up minimal space and, in general, the perceived sound characteristics of speech are not that important. Finally, is this a professional recording of a particular set of albums?

However, if you use some standard operations, even without specific knowledge, it’s fine to achieve good results, especially since there are such built-in templates, based on any application for specific operations. Of course, it will be very difficult for the first time to achieve a perfect sound, but if you study the plan and understand how it works, it will work like clockwork, and as a result, it will take a lot of time.

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The best popular audio formats

The best popular audio formats

I looked around the forest of audio formats for normal use and chose the 5 most important ones. It is true that, in part, a bit simplified, a bit rough in presentation. I refrain from differentiating the exact settings of the respective codecs, that would be too complex.

I also don’t want to get into the nasty topic of DRM. The most important one I dropped is probably Vorbis. . Of course, I assume that the correct settings are used when encoding and that a high quality level is selected.

1st place:
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3)

The most widespread digital format, with good encoding (for example, with LAME) in high bit rates, a format of the highest quality and transparency.

Quality (4.5 / 5 points)
Popularity (5/5 points)
Compression (4/5 points)
Total: 13.5

2nd place:
AAC (advanced audio coding)

It became famous especially for its use in the Apple iPod, a codec that has small advantages over MP3 at low bit rates due to technical developments.

Quality (4/5 points)
Popularity (4.5 / 5 points)
Compression (4.5 / 5 points)
Total: 13

3rd place:
WMA (Windows Media Audio)

Windows proprietary format. Of course, Microsoft has the reins here, so variable format doesn’t run on all playback devices. Otherwise, no major strengths and weaknesses and, for example, the standard format with Napster.

Quality (4/5 points)
Popularity (4/5 points)
Compression (4/5 points)

Total: 12

4th place:
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) !!

As the only lossless codec on this list. FLAC works in something like a ZIP program: the original can be restored from the compressed file by approximately 50% without restrictions. In times of low hard disk space, a real alternative, especially since many playback devices can play this format. My winner of hearts, the popularity will certainly increase in the future.

Quality (5/5 points)
Popularity (3.5 / 5 points)
Compression (3/5 points)

Total: 11.5

5th place:
Wav

The original format of the normal audio CD data. Impeccable quality and still widespread thanks to the well-known compact disc. It actually started out of the competition because it’s completely unzipped.

Quality (5/5 points)
Popularity (5/5 points)
Compression (0/5 points)
Total: 10

Better audio formats

You have decided to digitize the music tracks in your audio CD collection by transferring everything to your computer, and in doing so you have begun to evaluate the possibility of converting them to a more pleasant format for you. However, having little experience in this regard, you would like to receive some advice on the subject so that you can make the best decision. How to say Things are exactly this way and would you like to know if I can help you by indicating what are the best audio formats? Of course yes, that was exactly what he intended to do.

If you allow me a few minutes of your free time, I can actually tell you, by thread and by sign, what are the most popular audio formats in circulation, their strengths and weaknesses and for what uses they may be more or less convenient to contact . condition to opt for those that you think may actually be right for you. To complete the information and to give you an even more complete description of the matter, at the end of the article it will also be my concern to indicate what tools you can use to perform various conversion operations. You will see that after reading this guide, you will no longer have any doubts about what to do.

So? How about putting the talk aside and finally getting to the heart of the matter? You? Brilliant! Therefore, I suggest not wasting any more time and immediately start focusing on the topic. Get comfortable in front of your trusted computer and read everything below. I am sure you can say that you are happy and satisfied with what you have learned. I wish you, as always, happy reading.

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.

Understanding digital audio formats

When it comes to digitally distributing our music it is important that we understand what they are
the different formats, which are the most used and which are the best in terms of the
Relationship between size and quality.

PCM digital audio

WAVE

The name comes from the acronym waveform audio file format and is a used file
usually on computers with the Windows operating system.
WAV or WAVE files contain audio in LPCM format (Linear Pulse Code
Modulation) This is a way to encode an analog audio signal to the domain
digital by using equidistant samples over time of amplitude values
of the analog signal.
The quantity of samples is given by the sampling rate or sampling rate,
while the amount of possible amplitude values is determined by the
Bit depth or bit rate.
The sampling frequency of the CDAUDIO for example is 44.1 kHz and 16 bits. exist
higher sampling rates such as 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz up to 192 kHz at
this system.
On the other hand, WAV files are uncompressed audio and are generally used in
stages of recording, editing, mixing and mastering for being of high quality.
The higher the sample rate and the greater the number of bits, the file size will be
our hard drive
In general for professional uses at least a frequency of
44.1 kHz sampling and a depth of 24 bits preferably.
The standard extension for this type of file is: .wav

AIFF

The name comes from Audio Interchange File Format or audio file format
interchangeable, this format was developed by Apple computers and is used to save
and manipulate audio on computers.
It is like WAV a file type without compression or lossles therefore allows
Processing for professional applications such as recording, editing, mixing and
mastering as well as for professional video uses.
Another similarity with WAV files is that it is PCM audio (press code
modulation) that for practical purposes it is the same as the LPCM.
The standard extension for this type of files is .aiff

MP3

Also known as MPEG1 or MPEG2 audio layer, it is a form of coding
of digital audio in which psychoacoustic models discard information from
Audio that is presumed is not audible to most users.
As an example a file created with a resolution of 128 kbits / s is equivalent to 1/11
the size of a file on an audio CD.
The main purpose of using this type of coding is to reduce the size of the
files and be able to send / download faster, especially through
from Internet.
Being a file type reduced in quality IS NOT RECOMMENDED for
recordings, editing, mixing or mastering of professional audio.
For this reason we recommend NOT to use it to send us your clues to
mix / master

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
You may be interested: «It’s proven: classical music modifies your genes and makes you smarter»
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.

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.