What is Hi-Res Audio?
High-resolution audio (high-resolution audio) is high-resolution digital audio.
Unlike HD (high definition video), there is no single standard for high definition audio.
In 2014, Digital Entertainment Group, Consumer Electronics Association, and The Recording Academy, along with music labels, formally defined Hi-Res Audio as follows: “Lossless sound that is capable of reproducing the full range of recordings, and was prepared and transferred from a higher quality source, than CD. ”
Simply put, Hi-Res Audio refers to music files that have a higher sample rate and / or bit rate than CD, which is defined as 16-bit / 44.1 kHz. Sample rate (or sample rate) refers to the number of times a sample of a signal is received per second during the A / D conversion process. The more bits, the more accurate the signal can be measured in the first case. , so the transition from 16-bit to 24-bit can provide a noticeable jump in quality.
High-resolution audio files typically use 96 kHz or 192 kHz 24-bit sample rates. There can also be 88.2 kHz and 176.4 kHz files.
The high resolution has a downside: the size of the file. A track can be tens of megabytes in size, and multiple albums can quickly take up space on your mobile device. They can also take a long time to charge over Wi-Fi and mobile internet.
What is the advantage of Hi-Res Audio?
There are several main file formats that support high-resolution digital audio:
-WAV (WAVeform audio file format): the standard format for all CDs. Excellent sound quality without compression, which means large files (especially high resolution files). It has little support for metadata (album art, artist information, and song title).
-AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format): This is an alternative to Apple’s WAV format, but with better metadata support. The format is lossless and uncompressed (also large files), but it is not very popular.
-FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec): This lossless audio compression format supports high resolution sample rate, occupies about half the size of the format
-WAV and preserves the metadata. Free and widely supported (not just on Apple products). It is considered the preferred format for downloading and storing high-resolution music albums.
-ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec): Apple’s proprietary lossless compression format. It also reproduces high resolution sound, preserves metadata and half the size of WAV. Used in Apple devices.
-DSD (Direct Stream Digital): one-bit format used in Super Audio CD media. Its sampling frequency can be 2.8mHz, 5.6mHz and 11.2mHz, which is many times higher than that of a normal CD. The format is not used much.
-MQA (Master Quality Authenticated): this new format, introduced in 2014, is used mainly for streaming music in high resolution. MQA files can be packed into any lossless compression container such as FLAC, WAV, or ALAC. To decode MQA files, you need compatible hardware: a network audio player, a portable music player, or software like the Tidal PC application.
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What is the advantage of Hi-Res Audio?
The main advantage of Hi-Res audio files is undoubtedly the superior sound quality compared to standard and compressed audio formats. To illustrate why high resolution should sound better than MP3, let’s compare their bit rates. The highest quality MP3 file has a 320 kbps bit rate, while a 24-bit / 192 kHz high-resolution audio file has a 9216 kbps bit rate. Music CD – 1411 Kbps.
Using lossy compression means that data is lost during the encoding process and resolution is sacrificed for a smaller file size. This affects the sound quality: the MP3 format (and the like) does not fully reveal the potential of our favorite songs.
However, for most people, MP3 audio is good enough, especially when listening to music on the road, in the background, etc. Even the quality of a CD is not enough for audiophiles, which is why many music connoisseurs still prefer the pure analog sound of vinyl records.
Therefore, 24-bit / 96 kHz or 24-bit / 192 kHz high-resolution files are designed to reproduce sound more accurately.
