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What audio format should I choose?

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What audio format should I choose?

Music File Formats

Everybody loves music. Some listen to it on the way to work, and others can’t go a minute without their favorite songs.

Audio File Formats

Listening to music comfortably depends not only on the mood, the time, the moon phase and good headphones, but also on the audio format in which it is stored on our devices.

In the 21st century, streaming services are becoming popular, but most people still store music offline and listen to it from their phones, players, audio systems, etc. But this post is not a discussion “Which headphones are better?”, “Why listen to music?” or “Why vinyl, not CD?” but a brief summary of today’s most popular digital audio formats, their pros and cons. I will not discuss all, or compare different encodings, the differences between “this AAC from this AAC”, but I will try to explain in an accessible way the differences of some popular audio formats from each other.

So what is the best way to store your music collection? Today there are many digital audio formats, and if you want, you can see a list of them on Wikipedia. But we will focus only on MP3, AAC, WMA and FLAC.

MP3

The most popular audio format and no one can argue with it. Why is it so popular? It’s simple, because Mp3 was the first audio format with the best ratio (at the time) of file size and quality when compressed. Therefore, most of the songs were translated into MP3, which served as the undisputed primacy of the audio format on the market.

The advantages are clear from the previous paragraph: small size, tolerable loss of compression, ubiquity, support for all devices, and in addition, due to the small size, you can store a large collection of songs on a medium with little memory capacity. which is also an advantage for some.

But Mp3 also has some disadvantages. Even though compression losses are not visible to ordinary people, informed people will immediately notice them. This is a low sound quality compared to other audio formats, as well as a “cut” of frequencies above 17 kHz, which is felt by ear with good headphones.

CAA

The young audio format AAC, mainly promoted by Apple, can be considered the successor to Mp3. AAC seems much more advantageous because Compared to MP3, AAC file compression is more efficient. At a bit rate of 128 kbps, an AAC composition is comparable in sound quality to the same MP3 composition at a 192 kbps bit rate.

Better compression quality is an important advantage of AAC. The disadvantage is not the same prevalence as in the same mp3. Some devices do not yet support this format. And also the compositions in AAC take up more space than in MP3. Not as much as FLAC, but still, for some it is a critical factor.

WMA

The WMA format was created by Microsoft as an alternative to Mp3 for Windows users. It was believed that with half the bit rate of Mp3, WMA produces a similar quality. But, in fact, a composition in WMA at a bit rate of 128 kbps is noticeably lower than Mp3. The advantages include full Windows support, but the disadvantage is extremely low quality at a low bit rate. By personal observation, I will say that I have not seen people storing their music in this audio format for a long time.

FLAC

One of the most common audio formats for music lovers in good quality. FLAC compresses the data, leaving it in the output identical to the original without losing any data, which is the main lossless compression algorithm. Also, decoding the FLAC format is not as demanding on processor resources, allowing you to listen to music on portable devices.

The advantages of music in FLAC are the excellent quality and fast decoding, but less, as a result, the large file size.

So what audio format should you keep your music collection in? If you are not so critical of losses after compression, you want to make a mistake with the support, so that your collection does not become a bunch of useless files in 5 years, you have a limited amount of memory for your music, then choose Mp3. If free space allows you to store larger files, switch to AAC. I personally do not recommend WMA. I think this audio format is dead, although most people will not agree with me. And if quality is important to you, you have a good audio system or headphones, and even minimal compression losses are unforgivable for you, then FLAC definitely is. But be prepared for the fact that you must have plenty of room for music.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Popular Audio Formats Part 3

Advantages and Disadvantages of Popular Audio Formats Part 3

Music File Formats

Ogg
An open container format that has proven its worth in transmitting music and speech, both at low and high bit rates.

Audio Formats

Pros:

– the best audio format in terms of quality-size ratio;
– many additional features;
– small size;
– free license.
Disadvantages:

– low quality;
– Limited support for players and browsers.
Streaming services where you can listen to music in Lossy format
Advantages and disadvantages of popular audio formats
Spotify is the most popular service in the world, which has become a kind of social network, it is distinguished by its speed and the presence of a large number of high-quality music with high bit rates;
Apple Music – 30+ million songs, convenient playlists, author’s picks;
YouTube Premium – a universal service with a large music collection, curated playlists, and easy access;
VK Music (Boom) – a service based on the VKontakte social network with a large collection of music, the ability to download tracks and automatically select music based on user preferences;

SoundCloud: more than 125 million audio recordings with real capacity to connect with artists;
What devices are best for playing audio formats?
Everything is simple here. You can listen to all the richness of the sound of the best audio formats with a high bit rate, for example,

on CD players
on network players
in modern home theater systems
There are many options. The main thing is to make sure that the selected device provides network connections and supports the appropriate formats. Lossy compression formats can be played on almost any device, including mobile.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Popular Audio Formats Part 2

Advantages and Disadvantages of Popular Audio Formats Part 2

Audio file formats

Wav
The waveform audio format is one of the oldest formats that was created by Microsoft together with IBM. It is the best audio format for processing and storing uncompressed audio data in CD-like quality. One minute of sound “weighs” about 10 MB. That is why it is not recommended to store a music library in .wav or send these audio files over the Internet.

audio formats

Pros:

– impeccable quality;
– Instant unpacking – “on the fly” with economical use of the processor;
– wide distribution and support of a large number of programs and audio devices.
Disadvantages:

– a lot of weight.
A THE C
To store lossless compressed information on Apple devices. In terms of compression ratio, it is slightly lower than free FLAC.

Pros:

– there is no loss of quality when copying from a CD;
– the ability to easily convert to any other audio file format with good quality;
– restoration of a collection of CDs by recording new ones with the same quality instead of damaged ones.
Disadvantages:

– big size;
– limitations on compatibility with audio devices.
BOW
Monkey’s Audio is a fairly popular format that is released for Windows, but it has several unofficial codecs for other platforms. The format supports 8-, 16- and 24-bit audio files, which is why it is widely used in the professional field.

Pros:

– high compression ratio and data processing speed;
– the possibility of direct reproduction of compressed information;
– support for information labels and, as a result, the ability to create convenient sound files.
Disadvantages:

– limited support.
Where can I find lossless music?
Listening to lossless music is a real treat. Also, if ordinary desktop speakers are used for a cheap computer or headphones, the full potential of lossless formats cannot be revealed. This requires high-end audio equipment: turntables, speakers, amplifiers, premium headphones, and even high-quality cables. At the same time, a question remains: where to get music in these formats?

Today, together with AudioCD, you can have high-quality music always at hand. This is facilitated by online music streaming services, which are constantly growing in popularity.

Advantages and disadvantages of popular audio formats
Among them are the following:

Deezer is a great selection of lossless music with bit rates up to 1411 Kbps.
Tidal is a popular service with a large collection of high-quality music.
Today, many online radio services have switched to high-quality audio formats. Among them are: Radio Paradise, AI Radio, Absolute Radio, Intense Radio, Frequence 3, Sector.

Lossy – Lossy file formats
MP3
MPEG Layer-3 is one of the most common formats used in file-sharing networks today. The difference between MP3 and FLAC is fundamental. Poor sound quality is felt immediately. It is about the bit rate, which in flac can reach up to 1010 kbps, while in mp3 it only has an average of 128 kbps. This is the difference between flac and mp 3.

Pros:

– excellent compatibility with different programs and audio devices;
– small size.
Disadvantages:

– low quality;
– Very limited technical capabilities.

AAC
Patented format with less quality loss than MP3 and more encoding capabilities.

Pros:

– the presence of MDST technology, which provides good quality with a small bit rate;
– small size.
Disadvantages:

– limited distribution.

Advantages and disadvantages of popular audio formats

Advantages and disadvantages of popular audio formats

audio file formats

In the modern music world, there are a large number of audio file formats that are often confusing for the unprepared user.

Audio File Formats

To understand all this, to find out what they are and what they are used for, the presented review will help.

Advantages and disadvantages of popular audio formats

Types of audio formats

Today is the time that all music lovers, not to mention professional musicians and audio editors, need to understand concepts like audio file formats, bit rates, extensions, bit depth, sample rate and many others. for high-quality sound. Sound has gone digital, which means that it can be used for various purposes, for example, for listening to evidence, for presentations, video dubbing. In fact, digital sound, like an image, is a collection of individual pixels, and the more there are, the better the sound image itself. This “pixelated” sound can be edited and processed.

Advantages and disadvantages of popular audio formats
The figure shows an example of a sound wave recording, where the green curve denotes the original sound and the purple columns indicate its digital form. The number of segments per second is the sample rate. In this case, the digital representation of sound is as follows.

Advantages and disadvantages of popular audio formats
An important role in evaluating the quality of audio formats, and consequently sound quality, is a parameter such as bit rate, which shows how many bits or kilobits it takes to record one second of sound. Low bit rates mean low quality sound, large ones mean high quality sound.

Advantages and disadvantages of popular audio formats
But for the storage and further use of audio in one form or another, audio formats are used – digital recordings of audio data. We can say that the format is a kind of container where the sound is stored. Virtually all audio formats can be divided into two broad categories: lossless compressed and lossy compressed.

No loss, no loss
To avoid as much as possible a decrease in sound quality during the compression of an audio file, special methods have been developed to store audio information, avoiding losses, which in fact can be compared with the file, when the information is simply packed in a zip file, the size of which is noticeably smaller than the original data. Subsequently, this data can be clearly restored on each bit. Also, the bit rate itself is not important for these files. These audio files are collectively called Lossless, Music As Is. These algorithms allow you to compress files two to three times. As a result, the size turns out quite large, but at the same time with the preservation of the original sound.

The most popular lossless formats are as follows.

FLAC
The abbreviation is the name “Free Lossless Audio Codec”. Provides complete security of all data in the audio stream, capable of 1.4 to 4x compression with 350-1010 kbps bit rate, used to create audio collections, and used for listening on premium equipment .

Pros:

– high quality;
– a large number of additional features;
– free license.
Disadvantages:

– quite large size;
– on older operating systems, you must additionally download the appropriate players.

What is a lossless audio format?

What is a lossless audio format?

lossless audio

You might think that the word “lossless” is used for audio formats that use no compression at all.

lossless audio

However, even lossless audio formats use compression to keep file sizes at an acceptable level.

Lossless formats use compression algorithms that preserve the audio data, so the sound is exactly the same as the original source. This is in contrast to lossy audio formats such as AAC, MP3, and WMA, which compress audio using algorithms that discard data. Audio files are made up of sound and silence. Lossless formats are capable of compressing pause to almost zero while retaining all audio data, making it smaller than uncompressed files.

What lossless formats are commonly used for digital music?
Examples of popular lossless formats used to store music:

Commercial

FLAC
Wav
A THE C
Lossless WMA
Impact of Lossless Formats on Music Quality
If you download a lossless music track from an HD music service, you expect the sound to be really high quality. On the other hand, if you convert low-quality music tapes by digitizing them using lossless audio formats, the sound quality will not improve.

Is it possible to convert a lossy song to a lossless song?
It is never a good idea to go from one loss to another. This is because a song that has already been compressed in a lossy format will always be like this. If you convert it to a lossless format, all you get is wasted space on your hard drive or mobile device. You cannot improve the quality of a lossy song using this method.

Commercial

Benefits of Using a Lossless Audio Format for Your Music Library
Using a lossy format like MP3 is still the most common method of storing your music collection. However, there are clear advantages to creating a lossless music library.

Perfect Music CD Backup: Lossless copy of audio files gives you a slightly exact copy of the original music CD. This means that no matter what audio formats come in the future, you will know that you have a perfect copy of the original.
Recovery of loss or damage. Having music in lossless format allows you to recover a damaged original CD or any that has been lost to a blank CD.
Convert to any format. Since your music is in a lossless format, you can convert it to any format and get the highest quality it can support.

Lossless digital audio formats

Lossless digital audio formats

lossless audio

Uncompressed formats
The first digital audio formats encoded information, as they say, “as is”.

Lossless Audio

This format is, first of all, convenient for the computer itself: there is a simple correspondence between a sequence of digital signals and a sound waveform. Not surprisingly, despite the further development of compressed audio formats, uncompressed formats continue to be actively used in the field of professional (and amateur) sound work. What are these formats?

First, it is the audio CD format itself. For him everything is simple: this is the format in which most audio discs are recorded (unless, of course, several albums have been recorded on them at the same time – in this case, we are talking about a format obviously compressed). The Audio CD format uses Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) to convert “digital” to “analog.” This is the type of conversion that forms the basis of most other audio formats.

Everything is clear with CDs, but what about sound presentation formats on computers? Here, as you can imagine, the biggest computer and software manufacturers were the first to rush in, developing formats like AIFF (Apple) and WAV (Microsoft and IBM), known to computer and operating system users of these developers to this day. from today. Furthermore, Apple, being the undisputed leader in the field of computer multimedia at the time, introduced its format in 1988, ahead of the developers of the WAV format by three years. If you let the computer read the data on the audio CD and translate it into any of these formats, you will get an exact copy, which will take up the same amount of space on your computer’s hard drive as the original on the CD. The only difference will be in the format in which this data will be packed.

It is important to note that the capabilities of these formats exceed those of an audio disc. They allow much greater audio depth (up to 32 bits) and sample rates (AIFF up to 196 kHz, and in WAV, any). But even these parameters were not satisfied with the developers of ultra-high fidelity audio formats. These formats were first used on Super Audio CD (SACD) developed in 1999 by Sony and Philips, and were eventually installed on personal computers for lovers of high-quality sound.

The digital audio format used in SACD is called DSD (Direct Stream Digital). It uses a fundamentally different way of analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion – the waveform is encoded with just one bit at a time. In other words, the “depth” of the sound is only one bit, but this information is updated much more frequently than in most other formats, that is, the sample rate is increased several times. This allows the algorithm to recreate the shape of the sound wave by estimating the density of these pulses in a given time interval.

This way of representing the signal made it possible to avoid non-linear quantization noise. It is true that the higher the frequency of the sound, the lower the number of pulses that encodes it, the precision of the encoding decreases, which means that the constant noise level in relation to the signal, that is, the hiss, increases . But at a high sampling frequency, the level of this hiss becomes critical already in the ultrasound region, which is imperceptible to the ear. At the same time, a much more important task has been accomplished: there is no quantization noise, a kind of “curse” of digital sound. They all “left” with the same inaudible noise. It is not surprising that this format fell in love with critics of “digital”, it seemed to bring it closer to “analog”, eliminating traces of discretion in its sound.

However, it turned out that DSD files are completely unsuitable for editing: they are edited only by converting to PCM (and vice versa when saved), and each such conversion multiplies the amount of noise that soon becomes critical for hearing. . It’s one thing when you record ready-to-use analog material in DSD, which has passed analog mastering. But what should you do when recording and editing new audio material? So, there were formats that went back to pulse code modulation with additional adjustments against quantization noise. Notable among these is DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition), which has found application not only for mastering source data for SACD, but also for listening to high-quality audio on a computer.

MAXIMUM SOUND QUALITY. LOSSLESS FORMAT

MAXIMUM SOUND QUALITY. LOSSLESS FORMAT: WHAT IS IT? HIGH QUALITY MUSIC IN LOSSLESS FORMAT

Lossless Audio

Today there are about three dozen common digital audio formats. Why you need to create so many types of sound files to store one type of content and how to manage all this, you will learn from this material.

Lossless Audio

Surely many users prefer to use their home computer not only as a workhorse, but also as a multimedia center, where they can watch movies or family photos, as well as listen to their favorite music. Although compact digital players or mobile phones are certainly more suitable for listening to musical compositions, but unlike them, a computer can not only play music.

No matter how big the built-in memory of your music player is, it will most likely be difficult to store your entire music library on it. Additionally, using a PC, you can create, edit, organize, and search for music. Also, don’t forget that there are around three dozen common digital audio formats today, and most players are far from omnivorous and can only play a few of them.

So why do you need to create so many music formats to store one type of content? The point is that in the vast majority of cases the sound is stored in a “compressed” form, since one minute of uncompressed composition occupies about 10 MB on the hard disk. On the one hand, this seems not to be much, but on the other, if you are a music lover and your collection consists of several hundred or even thousands of songs, then it is clear that the sound must be compressed to reduce the space it takes up electronic media.

Various special algorithms are used to compress music files, which subsequently determine the structure and presentation of the audio data, or so-called digital audio file formats. All audio formats can be divided into three groups: uncompressed audio formats, lossless compression, and lossy compression.

NO COMPRESSION

One of the most widespread formats related to this type is the well-known WAV. The sound of files with this extension is stored without compression or changes. It is true that much more space is required to store uncompressed files and therefore WAV is more widely used only in professional audio and video applications, where the sound should not have a loss of quality before processing. Storing ordinary musical compositions in this form is an unwarranted waste.

To play WAV files, you do not need any special software, as all media players understand this format, including the standard Windows Media audio player built into the Windows system.

Another format used to store uncompressed audio that is worth mentioning is Apple’s development called AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format). As you may have guessed, it is most commonly used on Macintosh computers running Mac OS X.

LOSSLESS COMPRESSION (NO LOSS)

Lossless compression algorithms for audio files work on the principle of conventional file cabinets. They do not provide the highest level of compression (40 to 60%), while they have virtually no effect on sound quality. It is also worth noting that in this case, the encrypted data can be fully restored to its original form. Therefore, the use of lossless compression is most often used in cases where it is important to preserve the identity of the compressed data with respect to the original.

The most popular audio formats in this group are FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), APE (Monkey’s Audio), WMA (Windows Media Lossless), and ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec). Each has its own pros and cons. For example, the APE codec offers slightly better compression gains, while FLAC is more common. In general, all true music lovers store their music collections in lossless formats, since they do not remove any data from the audio stream, and files created with these codecs can be listened to even on high-quality stereos.

Lossless formats: flac, ape, wv, dts, and other digital audio formats

Lossless formats: flac, ape, wv, dts, and other digital audio formats

Free Lossless Audio Codec

Recently, in the open spaces of the Russian Internet, music in Lossless formats has been found more and more often, which can not fail to delight connoisseurs of free real quality. But sadly, files with the flac, ape, wv, dts permission cause a “RAM” stupor for a common user and he walks in search of his usual mp3. Well what can I say, Epic Fail, comrades?

lossless audio

This guide provides a detailed description of lossless formats and describes in detail how to read and write such files …

Theory: lossless formats

Lossless data compression is an information compression method, whereby encoded information can be retrieved with bit precision. This fully recovers the original data from the compressed state. This type of compression is diametrically different from lossy data compression. As a general rule, each type of digital information has its own lossless compression algorithms.

FLAC and APE codecs are the main Lossless formats today

FLAC (English Free Lossless Audio Codec) is a popular free codec for audio compression. Unlike the lossy Ogg Vorbis, MP3 and AAC codecs, it does not remove any information from the audio stream and is suitable for both daily listening and archiving an audio collection. Today, the FLAC format is compatible with many audio applications.

Monkey’s Audio (APE) is a popular lossless digital audio encoding format. It is distributed free of charge along with open source code and a suite of encoding and playback software, as well as plugins for popular players. Monkey’s audio files use the following extensions: .ape to store audio and .apl to store metadata. Despite being open source, Monkey’s Audio is not free, as its license imposes significant restrictions on its use.

After downloading music on Lossless, you can burn it to CD in the future and listen to it with Hi-Fi (or other) class acoustics, while normal CD quality will be.

For comparison, bitrate:

-mp3 ~ 320 kb / s

-FLAC and APE ~ 1000 kb / s

Theory:

SACD, DVD-Audio, DTS-CD and others multi-channel music formats.

SACD stands for Super Audio Compact Disc, an optical disc format for storing music. It looks like a normal CD, some discs can be seen with the naked eye: their working side is yellow. The sound in SACD is recorded in a completely different format: DSD (Direct Stream Digital) and they are reproduced only in special players.

features:

– Multichannel: 6 channels of audio can be recorded

– A completely different type of recording (DSD), which provides better sound quality compared to a CD.

– Conditional compatibility with older players: there can be two layers to a disc: normal CD (stereo) and one or two SACD variants (stereo / multichannel).

That is, if the disk:

Single Layer (“Single Layer”) – Read-only on SACD players.

Double Layer or “Hybrid” (“Double Layer” or “Hybrid”): Read on both conventional CD players and SACD players.

All SACDs have CD text – text information about album, artist, and track.

Lossless sound quality

Lossless sound quality

Lossless Audio

This group of formats records, encodes the sound in such a way that by decoding it it can be restored exactly.

Lossless Audio Compressor

The most popular lossless encoding formats are:

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)

APE (mono audio)

ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec)

Loss of sound quality (lossy)
Lossy compression modifies the sound. For example, frequencies inaudible to the human ear are eliminated. The decoded file will differ from the original in terms of the information recorded on it, but it will sound almost the same.

Popular lossy formats: MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC. [2]

Bit rate is the amount of information transmitted over a certain period of time. The essence of its principle is how much information we can dedicate to each second of the reproduction of our audio file. It is generally accepted to use Kbps (kilobits per second) or Mbps as units.

1. Constant Bit Rate Coding (CBR, Constant Bit Rate): An encoding mode in which the bit rate remains unchanged regardless of the nature of the music. The main task of the encoder in this case will be the need to obtain the highest possible file quality with a constant stream.
2. Average Bit Rate Coding (ABR, Average Bit Rate): intermediate coding mode between CBR and VBR. When encoding, the desired average bit rate is indicated. If necessary, the encoder can slightly increase or decrease the bit rate to achieve a higher quality / size ratio. The downside of ABR mode is the lower quality than VBR mode. The advantage is a more or less uniform flow and, as a result, an easily predictable file size.
3. Variable Bit Rate (VBR) Encoding – A mode of encoding in which the desired quality level is set at the encoder. When encoding, the codec chooses the bit rate required to compress each fragment of the recording, while the range of bit rates used can be very large. This mode allows you to achieve the highest quality / size ratio, but the size of the resulting file is often difficult to predict (for example, when compressing with musepack -normal, the average file bitrate can be 140 or 210). The disadvantage of VBR is the impossibility of using it for Internet broadcasts with a small channel width. [3]
SBR (Spectral Band Replication) is a technology that allows you to restore high frequencies using information contained in other regions of the spectrum and a small stream of additional data.

DRM (digital rights management) is a set of tools designed to protect a recording from illegal copies.

The digital audio format is a format for representing audio data used in digital audio recording, as well as for additional storage of recorded material on a computer and other electronic media, so-called audio media. [4]

An audio file (a file that contains a sound recording) is a computer file consisting of information about the amplitude and frequency of sound, saved for later playback on a computer or player.

The file format determines the structure and presentation characteristics of the audio data when stored on a PC storage device. To eliminate the redundancy of the audio data, audio codecs are used, with the help of which the audio data is compressed. There are three groups of audio file formats:

1.Uncompressed audio formats like WAV, AIFF
2.Lossless compressed audio formats (APE, FLAC)
3.audio formats using lossy compression (mp3, ogg)
Sound quality is a very subjective parameter and can vary greatly from person to person. If we are talking about the so-called music file encoding, when the audible differences between the original file and the file obtained by decoding a compressed audio file are not desirable, then it is assumed that the music will be played on Hi-Fi equipment (or even Hi-End) of high quality, and not at all. on computer speakers that cost $ 15-20. Modern codecs allow you to achieve the sound of an encoded file, which is indistinguishable to the ear from a CD, even with good equipment, with a compression ratio of about 1: 5. To listen to music every day on a computer, generally choose a higher audio compression ratio (up to 1:10 or even 1:20), as a result it is possible to create smaller files at the expense of lower quality. Subjectively, it may not change: in particular, ordinary computer speakers often introduce noticeably more distortion.

What does a lossless audio format do?

What does a lossless audio format do?

lossless audio

You may think that the word “lossless” is used for audio formats that don’t use compression at all. However, even lossless audio formats use compression to keep file sizes at an acceptable level.

LOSSLESS AUDIO

Lossless formats use compression algorithms that preserve the audio data, so the sound is exactly the same as the original source. This is in contrast to lossy audio formats like AAC, MP3, and WMA, which compress audio using algorithms that discard data. Audio files are made up of sound and silence. Lossless formats are capable of compressing pause to almost zero while retaining all audio data, making it smaller than uncompressed files.

What lossless formats are commonly used for digital music?
Examples of popular lossless formats used to store music:

Perfect Music CD Backup: Lossless copy of audio files gives you a slightly exact copy of the original music CD. This means that no matter what audio formats come in the future, you will know that you have a perfect copy of the original.
Recover from loss or damage. Having music in lossless format allows you to restore a damaged original CD or any lost CD to a blank CD.
Convert to any format. Since your music is in a lossless format, you can convert it to any format and get the best quality it can support.

Disadvantages of storing your music in lossless format
Not as compatible: Compared to formats like MP3, lossless formats are not as compatible with hardware devices like smartphones and tablets.
It requires more storage space. Lossless audio files generally require more storage space than lossy encoded files.