Lossy compressed audio formats
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MP3
In accordance with the MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 standard, it appeared in 1993 and instantly won universal love precisely because of its economy in memory consumption.
A CD can store the complete discography of your favorite band.
Throw some records in the glove compartment and you can enjoy music from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.
During this time, you can listen to all the books by all the writers worth listening to.
The MP3 format is such a solid eunuch, from which they cut the most reluctant, but began to show the ability to store and save. So MP3 is a very inexpensive format.
The main advantage is that he leans on everything that he just plays and sings.
ACC
An advanced form of audio encoding. The younger but advanced brother of MP3. It has slightly improved sound characteristics and a higher compression ratio.
Applies to Android, iOS, iTunes, YouTube, Nintendo, and the latest versions of PlayStation.
Also a folk format, but for people a little more advanced. Which is reflected in the title.
OGG
In general, this is not a format, but a container, and in fact the name OGG says nothing about the sound it contains.
However, it usually contains the Vorbis codec.
Significantly improved sound quality relative to other lossy compression formats.
Smaller files can be recorded with the same sound quality.
Even cheaper than MP3.
The problem is that the OGG format is free, so nobody invests in its promotion. Therefore, it may not be compatible everywhere and incompatibilities may arise.
Then you have to convert to MP3.
WMA
Microsoft’s proprietary format, therefore, although it is an improved version of MP3 and OGG, has not received widespread use and is not compatible with most devices and platforms.
Advice. If it is possible to use WMA instead of MP3, use the former. Cheaper and more pleasant to the ear.
Lossless compressed audio formats
For owners of advanced and expensive devices, branded desktops and mobiles, with high-quality headphones and speakers.
The downside to these formats is that file sizes of the same recording length will be roughly two to three times larger.
However, although lossless compression is stated, it should not be confused with high-fidelity audio recordings. There are minimal losses, although notable only for musicians.
FLAC
Free lossless audio codec. Its advantage is its great popularity, almost like MP3.
The compression ratio is up to 60% of the original file.
Compatible with most software platforms and devices.
It can be a profitable alternative when burning CDs. Almost indistinguishable in sound, but the advantage of saving almost half the disk space.
A THE C
Format for owners of Apple branded devices, as others may not be supported.
Slightly less good than FLAC in terms of compression ratio.
But Apple owners simply have no choice: the free FLAC format does not work in principle on iOS and iTunes.
Lossless WMA
An improved version of the aforementioned WMA. Slightly lower than FLAC and ALAC. It has a significant advantage over ALAC, as WMA is compatible with Windows and Mac.
However, it is not very widespread, so if you have many different devices in use, there is likely an incompatibility.
Verdict
Well, we have considered all the most famous, widespread and having the best audio formats and briefly talked about the characteristics of their use.
So now you can confidently decide in which case and in which format it is best to convert your sound recordings, music and audiobooks.
