From Newsgroup: rec.music.classical

<div>An audio file format is a file format for storing digital audio data on a computer system. The bit layout of the audio data (excluding metadata) is called the audio coding format and can be uncompressed, or compressed to reduce the file size, often using lossy compression. The data can be a raw bitstream in an audio coding format, but it is usually embedded in a container format or an audio data format with defined storage layer.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>download music mp3 format</div><div></div><div>DOWNLOAD: https://t.co/l23cigiqM9 </div><div></div><div></div><div>It is important to distinguish between the audio coding format, the container containing the raw audio data, and an audio codec. A codec performs the encoding and decoding of the raw audio data while this encoded data is (usually) stored in a container file. Although most audio file formats support only one type of audio coding data (created with an audio coder), a multimedia container format (as Matroska or AVI) may support multiple types of audio and video data.</div><div></div><div></div><div>One major uncompressed audio format, LPCM, is the same variety of PCM as used in Compact Disc Digital Audio and is the format most commonly accepted by low level audio APIs and D/A converter hardware. Although LPCM can be stored on a computer as a raw audio format, it is usually stored in a .wav file on Windows or in a .aiff file on macOS. The Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) format is based on the Interchange File Format (IFF), and the WAV format is based on the similar Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF). WAV and AIFF are designed to store a wide variety of audio formats, lossless and lossy; they just add a small, metadata-containing header before the audio data to declare the format of the audio data, such as LPCM with a particular sample rate, bit depth, endianness and number of channels. Since WAV and AIFF are widely supported and can store LPCM, they are suitable file formats for storing and archiving an original recording.</div><div></div><div></div><div>BWF (Broadcast Wave Format) is a standard audio format created by the European Broadcasting Union as a successor to WAV. Among other enhancements, BWF allows more robust metadata to be stored in the file. See European Broadcasting Union: Specification of the Broadcast Wave Format (EBU Technical document 3285, July 1997). This is the primary recording format used in many professional audio workstations in the television and film industry. BWF files include a standardized timestamp reference which allows for easy synchronization with a separate picture element. Stand-alone, file based, multi-track recorders from AETA,[1] Sound Devices,[2] Zaxcom,[3] HHB Communications Ltd,[4] Fostex, Nagra, Aaton,[5] and TASCAM all use BWF as their preferred format.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Uncompressed audio formats encode both sound and silence with the same number of bits per unit of time. Encoding an uncompressed minute of absolute silence produces a file of the same size as encoding an uncompressed minute of music. In a lossless compressed format, however, the music would occupy a smaller file than an uncompressed format and the silence would take up almost no space at all.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Lossless compression formats include FLAC, WavPack, Monkey's Audio, ALAC (Apple Lossless). They provide a compression ratio of about 2:1 (i.e. their files take up half the space of PCM). Development in lossless compression formats aims to reduce processing time while maintaining a good compression ratio.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Lossy audio format enables even greater reductions in file size by removing some of the audio information and simplifying the data. This, of course, results in a reduction in audio quality, but a variety of techniques are used, mainly by exploiting psychoacoustics, to remove the parts of the sound that have the least effect on perceived quality, and to minimize the amount of audible noise added during the process. The popular MP3 format is probably the best-known example, but the AAC format found on the iTunes Music Store is also common. Most formats offer a range of degrees of compression, generally measured in bit rate. The lower the rate, the smaller the file and the more significant the quality loss.</div><div></div><div></div><div>The MP3 audio file is an MPEG audio layer 3 file format. The key feature of MP3 files is the compression that saves valuable space while maintaining near-flawless quality of the original source of sound. This compression makes the MP3 very popular for all mobile audio-playing devices, particularly the Apple iPod.</div><div></div><div></div><div>The AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is an audio file that delivers decently high-quality sound and is enhanced using advanced coding. It has never been one of the most popular audio formats, especially when it comes to music files, but the AAC does still serve some purpose for major systems. This includes popular mobile devices and video gaming units, where the AAC is a standard audio component.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Audio files come in all types and sizes. And while we may all be familiar with MP3, what about AAC, FLAC, OGG, or WMA? Why do so many audio file extensions exist? Is there a universal best audio file format? Which ones are important, and which ones can you ignore?</div><div></div><div></div><div>Once you realize that all audio formats fall into three major categories, it's quite simple. Once you know what the categories mean, you can pick a format within the category that best suits your needs. The following are common audio formats you should know.</div><div></div><div></div><div>This digital audio format has a "sampling rate" (how often a sample is made) and a "bit depth" (how many bits are used to represent each sample). There is no compression involved. Digital recording is a close-to-exact representation of analog sound.</div><div></div><div></div><div>PCM is the most common audio format used in CDs and DVDs. There is a subtype of PCM called Linear Pulse-Code Modulation, where samples are taken at linear intervals. LPCM is the most common form of PCM, which is why the two terms are almost interchangeable at this point.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Many assume that all WAV files are uncompressed audio files, but that's not true. WAV is a Windows container for different music formats. This means a WAV file could potentially contain compressed audio, but it's rarely used for that.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Most WAV files contain uncompressed audio in PCM format. The WAV file is just a wrapper for the PCM encoding, making it more suitable for Windows systems. However, Mac systems can usually open WAV files without any issues.</div><div></div><div></div><div>AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format. Similar to how Microsoft and IBM developed WAV for Windows, AIFF is an audio file format developed by Apple for Mac systems back in 1988.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Another audio format similar to WAV files, AIFF files can contain multiple audio formats. For example, there is a compressed version called AIFF-C and another version called Apple Loops used by GarageBand and Logic Pro. They both use the same AIFF extension.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Most AIFF files contain uncompressed audio in PCM format. The AIFF file is just a wrapper for the PCM encoding, making it more suitable for use on Mac systems. However, Windows systems can usually open AIFF files without any issues.</div><div></div><div></div><div>MP3 stands for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. It was released back in 1993 and exploded in popularity, eventually becoming the most popular audio format in the world for music files. There's a reason we had "MP3 players" but not "OGG players!"</div><div></div><div></div><div>Nearly every digital device in the world with audio playback can read and play MP3 files, whether we're talking PCs, Macs, Androids, iPhones, Smart TVs, or whatever else. When you need universal, MP3 will never let you down, which is why it's one of the world's most popular audio file formats.</div><div></div><div></div><div>AAC stands for Advanced Audio Coding. It was developed in 1997 as the successor to MP3; while it caught on as a popular digital audio format, it never overtook MP3 as the most popular.</div><div></div><div></div><div>The compression algorithm used by AAC is much more advanced and technical than the MP3 music file type, so when you compare the same recording in MP3 and AAC formats at the same bitrate, the AAC one will generally have better sound quality.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Even though MP3 is more of a household format, AAC is still widely used today. It's the standard audio compression method used by YouTube, Android, iOS, iTunes, later Nintendo portables, and later PlayStations.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Vorbis was first released in 2000 and grew in popularity for two reasons: It adheres to the principles of open-source software and performs significantly better than most other lossy compression formats (meaning it produces a smaller file size for equivalent audio quality).</div><div></div><div></div><div>WMA stands for Windows Media Audio. It was first released in 1999 and has undergone several evolutions since then, all while keeping the same WMA name and extension. It's a proprietary format created by Microsoft.</div><div></div><div></div><div>What's nice is that FLAC can compress an original source file by up to 60 percent without losing a single bit of data. What's even nicer is that FLAC is an open-source and royalty-free audio file format, so it doesn't impose any intellectual property constraints.</div><div></div><div></div><div>FLAC is supported by most major programs and devices and is the main alternative to MP3 for music. With it, you get the full quality of raw uncompressed audio at half the file size. That's why many see FLAC as the best audio format.</div><div></div><div></div><div>ALAC stands for Apple Lossless Audio Codec. It was developed and launched in 2004 as a proprietary format but eventually became open-source and royalty-free in 2011. ALAC is sometimes referred to as Apple Lossless.</div><div></div><div></div><div>When choosing an audio format, uncompressed files are best when working with raw audio, while lossless compression, like FLAC, provides excellent quality for music listening but requires more storage. For casual listening, lossy formats like MP3 can save space without much discernible quality reduction.</div><div></div><div></div><div>However, high-quality audio files won't matter if your playback device can't faithfully recreate those sounds. Choose formats based on your audio quality needs and storage constraints, knowing lossless is best for purists while lossy works for casual listeners wanting smaller files.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Advanced Audio Coding, or AAC files (also known as MPEG-4 AAC), take up very little space and are good for streaming, especially over mobile devices. Requiring less than 1 MB per minute of music and sounding better than MP3 at the same bitrate, the AAC format is used by iTunes/Apple Music, YouTube, and Android.</div><div></div><div> ffe2fad269</div>
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