FLAC is still not supported by all devices, but has been gaining traction in the last couple of years.Ĭompression formats are also called “lossy” formats because these formats save on file sizes by compressing the file which, in turn, lowers the overall quality to a degree. FLAC is free, open-source lossess audio format which does use compression, which means that the file sizes are much smaller than that of a WAV file, but maintains the same sound quality as the source audio.
You will typically see AIFF mentioned when dealing with Apple products.įLAC – FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, and is the most popular lossless audio format today. The differences are that it was developed by Apple, and has a slightly different way file is created. Most audio players and devices can play WAV files, but the resulting file sizes are so large, it’s usually not practical to convert your audio to this format unless you plan to do restoration or editing work.ĪIFF – AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format, and is an uncompressed audio format very similar to WAV. This means that the resulting digital file is an exact copy of the source audio.
WAV – The WAV or Waveform Audio File Format is a true uncompressed lossess audio format developed by Microsoft. Lossless formats are becoming more and more popular as technology advances while the price of memory and hard drives continues to drop. Lossless formats are typically much larger in file size, which although beautiful sounding, can deter some people if they have limited storage space. This ensures that the digitial file will be nearly identical to the source audio.
Lossless format means that little to no audio quality during the encoding process. When comparing audio formats, they are typically broken down into two categories: lossless formats and “lossy” compression formats. However, there are other formats besides MP3 such as WAV, FLAC, AAC, AIFF, OGG and WMA that you can also use to encode your music. Of all the audio formats, the MP3 audio format is easily the most common audio format available today, arguably now more popular than CDs are and many people even convert their family memories recorded on reel to reel and audio cassette to MP3.
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