Types Of Audio File Formats

Audio File Formats 

Why they are and how they differ in sound quality??

We will explore the details related to the audio file formats :

• What is exactly an audio file format?

• What is an audio codec?

• What is the audio bitrate?

• What are the types of audio file formats?

• Common questionary

i) What is exactly an audio file format?

-  An audio file format is a file format that stores the digital audio data on any device like PC, Laptop, Mobile, etc... Digital audio data stored in bit forms.

Audio File Formats

The image shows us to an audio file format is having a different file format. We will discuss this somehow from the picture.

ii) What is an audio codec?

-   Simply a word codec means "Coder-decoder". On that full form, you can identify what the codec actually does! An audio codec is like a device or software which encodes data, such as audio. The encoded data must be decoded when played back. An audio codec data is used for the compression and decompression of digital audio data from live streams, like radio.

iii) What is the audio bitrate?

 -    Audio bitrate is defined in terms of bits used per second to represent a continuous medium such as audio. Audio bitrate refers to store the data of sound files for listening to songs. Each audio file has a "bitrate" associated with it. We all know the audio file data will be stored in bits so, they are calculated in numbers of kilobytes of data per second. If u store the more kilobytes per second of an audio file then you will get the higher quality of the sound.

Let's look at some respective audio bitrates :

• CDs have a bitrate of 1,114 kbps at 16 bit then you will get a higher quality of your sound.

• WAV file is the same as CDs but that isn't the end of it.

• MP3 file has a bitrate of 320 kbps at 16 bit then you will get a higher quality of your sound.

• OGG file has a bitrate of  500 kbps then you will get a higher quality of your sound.

• WMA file has a bitrate of 576 kbps then you will get a higher quality of your sound.

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iv) What are the types of audio file formats?

 -    All audio file formats fall into three major factors which are listed below.
1) Uncompressed audio format
2) Lossless compressed audio format
3) Lossy compressed audio format

1) Uncompressed audio format

 -  You can easily identify by its word uncompressed it means original file without any modification. It gives the best quality sounds but Otherside it's size is too large compare to others. The most common uncompressed audio formats are WAV, AIFF, AU, PCM, BWF, etc.. Let's take a look at their

WAV
It stands for a waveform audio file format. It is developed by Microsoft and IBM in 1991. It works as a window container for the audio file format. Most WAV file contains uncompressed audio in PCM format. It is widely recognized as a professional audio format. It offers the highest signal quality & it requires higher bandwidth for Internet/BlueTooth transfer. Any streaming service like Spotify, Gaana, iTunes will support and sometimes even demand a WAV file. It is compatible with both MAC or WINDOWS.
Extension: .wav

AIFF
It stands for an audio interchange file format. It is developed by Apple for the MAC systems in 1998. This file contains uncompressed audio in PCM format. In this, We don't delete or compress the audio because of PCM format. It supports metadata tags to store additional data like album titles. The reason behind the AIFF didn't make the top of the list is known as the windows counterpart. This file developed by Apple but also run on Windows OS.
Extension: .aiff, .aif, .aifc

PCM
It stands for Pulse Code Modulation. It represents analog audio signals in digital form. PCM audio format commonly used in CDs & DVDs. This format has a "sampling rate" of audio and "bit depth" of audio which defines bits used to represent each sample.
Extension: .pcm

PCM

2) Lossless compressed audio format

 -  The lossless compressed audio format reduces the file size without any loss of sound quality. It's like a zip file when you compressed your document then it's stored in zipping when you unzip it you will get the original document. It reduces the file size not quality. The most common lossless compressed audio formats are ALAC, FLAC, WMA, etc... Let's take a look at their

ALAC
It stands for Apple's lossless audio codec. By name, we can identify it's developed by Apple. It was launched in 2004 and became free after 2011. It compressed 60% of the size of the original file. when played back, then they uncompressed and sound identical to their original source. the file extension is not the same by its name. It's supported by a limited mobile player.
Extension: .m4a

Apple Music

FLAC
It stands for Free lossless audio codec. It is a sophisticated file type & it is open source. It compressed 50% of the size of the original file. FLAC also offers extra metadata to be a store like an album. It is lesser use among audio because the user must be download it's a file otherwise he/she will not operate this on his/her device. FLAC is not supported by iTunes it's supported by QuickTime. Extension: .flac

3) Lossy compressed audio format

-  A Lossy compressed audio format loses the data during the transmission. This format compressed the original file so there are chances to lose the digital audio. The ratio of compression of file compare to the original file is 1/10. There are no chances to retrieve the data if it's lost. The most common lossy compressed audio formats are MP3, AAC, OGG Vorbis, etc... Let's take a look at their

MP3

It stands for MPEG-1 layer 3. It was released in 1993 & it became popular. The main aim of this is to remove all those sounds that are not hearable. hence making file size small. it's a universal format, operates on any device. With this flexibility, there is a downside - MP3 has lossy format when its compare to other than its a not good enough. Low bandwidth required for Internet/BlueTooth transfer. You write whatever on MP3 that is less. 

Extension: .mp3, .bit

AAC

It stands for advanced audio coding. It is developed in 1997 after MP3. The compression is much more advanced and complex compare to MP3. It is a standard audio compression method used by You-tube, android, ios, PlayStation. This format is mostly using for mobiles & gaming purposes. This format contains higher quality compare to the other lossy formats. AAC is a format choice used by Spotify, android devices, ios devices, you-tube, etc... It is compatible with hardware & software devices. It improves lossy encoding & its different from the others.

Extension: .aac

v) Common questionary
 -  What is the good bitrate for audio?
To determine the best audio bitrate you need to also access your needs. If storage space is concern high bitrate files will rapidly eat into your available space. For eg., the mp3 file at 128kbps will take up approximately 1mb of space per minute audio. A 320kbps MP3 file will take up about 2.4mb of space per minute. meanwhile uncompressed CD audio will take about 10.6mb per minute.

 -  What is the excellent audio format for sound quality?

• If you are professional and want to edit your audio then I will suggest you must use an uncompressed audio format. Like WAV, AIFF, PCM, etc...

• If you are an audiophile and want to listen to the best quality music then I will suggest you to must use a lossless compressed audio format. Like FLAC, WMA, ALAC, etc..

• If you are not concerned with perfect audio quality and want to share music with your friends with any platform then I will suggest you to must use a lossy compressed file format. Live streaming platforms(Spotify, Gaana, etc..) have also used these formats, Like MP3, OGG Vorbis, etc...

 -  When the audio file does not support your device then what we can do?

If your file format does not support your device then I will suggest you, change your audio file format and check it. You can check on the internet there is some software available to change audio file formats.

 -  Which audio file formats are used in blu-rays?

In blu-rays, sound quality must important. That's why the surround sound format is used. They give the best experience ever. That file formats are like Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, LPCM, Dolby Digital, DTS Digital Surround, etc...

Audio file format 

From this image, you can easily understand what file format you should use.