What is the difference between MP3 and FLAC
Know what the different types of audio files offer
The recent launch of Pono’s music player and service aims to provide high-quality audio for music lovers who, more than looking for portability and practicality, are interested in enjoying compositions as the artist intended them to be heard. In order to deliver the highest level of digital audio, PonoPlayer will rely on FLAC type files.
But what is the problem with the popular MP3 or why is FLAC 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, so you can choose the one that suits you best.
What is bitrate?
The difference in file size is noticeable
The difference in file size is noticeable
You’ve probably heard this term before, but in case you don’t remember it or don’t know what it refers to, I’ll explain it. The bitrate is translated as the speed of transmission of bits, that is, the number of bits or data that are processed in a unit of time. When referring to audio, we usually use the measure 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 each second of the song.
The higher the bitrate of a file, the more space it takes up on your hard drive. A music CD usually uses a large amount of memory space, so back in the early 1990s, researcher Karlheinz Brandenburg developed the audio compression standard we now know as MP3. When an audio file is compressed, the space allocated for it is less, however, this means that it loses some of its sound quality. For that reason the different available audio formats are divided into 2 categories: lossy and lossless.
