Audio File Formats:

An Introduction
 Audio file formats are formats for storing audio
data on a computer system.
 The data can then be stored uncompressed or
compressed. Compression reduces the file
size.
 Audio Formats can be broken down into three
main categories :
1. Uncompressed audio formats – they use no
compression. This means all the data is
available, at the risk of large file sizes.
Examples are : WAV ; AIFF ; AU.
2. Lossless compression – applies
compression to an uncompressed audio file,
but it doesn't lose information or degrade the
quality of the digital audio file. Examples are :
APE ; FLAC ; ATT.
3. Lossy compression – will result in some
loss of data as the compression algorithm
eliminates redundant or unnecessary
information (basically it tosses what it sees
as irrelevant information.) Lossy
compression has become popular online
because of its small file size, it is easier to
transmit over the Internet.
Examples are : MP3 ; AAC ; VORBIS.
 While sound can be stored in many formats,
the key differences between these file formats
include :
1. Their ability to compress sound - This
decides how much storage space you will
require.
2. Their ability to maintain the sound quality -
Lossy or lossless audio formats is a forever
debate. The more you compress your audio
files, the lower the audio quality.
3. Universal or software dependant -While
some formats can be played on almost any
music software using any music player; some
are designed to restrict copying and sharing of
the audio.
Waveform Audio File Format:
 File name extension are .wav /.wave
 Was developed by Microsoft and IBM as
an audio file formats for storing an audio
bitstream on PCs.
 It is the main format used on Windows
systems for raw and typically
uncompressed audio.
 Initially released in 1991.
 Data stored in ‘chunks’.
Waveform Audio File Format:
Advantages :
 They are lossless files, i.e., WAV file
doesn't lose any of its quality when it is
stored.
 WAV files can be edited or they can be
manipulated relatively easily and,
therefore, can be easily converted into
other audio file formats too.
 The quality of sound is very high as
compared to the other audio
formats.
Waveform Audio File Format:
Advantages :
 Compatible with Windows, Macintosh and
Linux operating systems.
 It is a very popular audio format and
continues to enjoy widespread use with a
variety of software applications.
Disadvantages :
 WAV files are significantly larger and
require more space in one’s
computer hard drive.
Waveform Audio File Format:
Disadvantages :
 WAV files are limited in size to 4
Gigabytes.
 Although WAV files allow multi-channel for
surround sound, the earlier WAV files were
only single channel. So if anyone has
older WAV files, they are stuck
with single audio channel.
 Because of the large size, is not
preferred for file sharing in Internet.
Audio Interchange File
Format :
 File name Extensions are .aiff / .aif
 The format was co-developed by Apple
Computer in 1988 based on Electronic Arts'
Interchange File Format (.iff) and is most
commonly used on Apple Macintosh
computer systems.
 Data is stored in ‘chunks’.
Audio Interchange File
Format :
Advantages :
 Standard AIFF is a leading format (along
with SDII and WAV) used by professional-
level audio and video applications.
 They are lossless files, which aids rapid
streaming of multiple audio files from disk
to the application (just as WAV).
 Compatible with Windows, Macint-
osh and Linux operating systems.
 Unlike WAV, there is no limit to the
size of an AIFF file.
Audio Interchange File
Format :
Disadvantages :
 AIFF files are significantly larger and
require more space in one’s computer hard
drive.
 Because of the large size, is not preferred
for file sharing over the Internet.
 Due to the bigger size, AIFF files tends to
drain more battery as reading the entire
file needs the hard drive to spin
longer.
Monkey’s Audio File Format :
 For audio, filename Extensions is .ape
 Was developed by Mr. Matthew T. Ashland.
 First Stable release was on 16th April ‘2011
with the version 4.10
 Monkey's Audio is a an algorithm and file
format for lossless audio data
compression.
 Since it is proprietary software, one to
agree and comply to all of the terms
of the license agreement to use it.
Monkey’s Audio File Format :
Advantages:
 Monkey's Audio does not discard data during
the process of encoding, unlike lossy
compression methods.
 Monkey's Audio is stated to have slightly
better compression rates compared to FLAC
and WavPack (other lossless audio formats)
as well as multithreading/ multicore
support.
Monkey’s Audio File Format :
Advantages:
 A digital recording (such as a CD) encoded
to the Monkey's Audio format can be
decompressed into an identical copy of the
original audio data.
 Files encoded to Monkey's Audio are
typically reduced to about half of the original
size, with data transfer rates and bandwidth
requirements being reduced
accordingly.
 High resolution audio support.
Monkey’s Audio File Format :
Disadvantages:
 Although the original source code is freely
available, the license is not considered to be
an open source one.
 It employs a symmetric algorithm, meaning
the decoding takes comparable resources to
encoding, which makes it unsuitable for most
of the portable players.
 APE format doesn’t support error
handling nor streaming.
Monkey’s Audio File Format :
Disadvantages:
 Windows is the only platform that supports
ape files.
 Not a popular file format.
 Ape format takes up several times as much
space as lossy compression formats like
AAC, MP3 and Vorbis.
 It is known to be a slower file
compared to FLAC and also takes
longer to encode and decode.
 No multichannel support.
Free Lossless Audio Codec:
 Filename Extension is .flac
 FLAC format was co-developed by Xiph.Org
Foundation and Josh Coalson.
 It was initially released on 20th July ‘2001 with its
first stable release on September ‘2007 with
version 1.2.1
 FLAC format fashions Lossless Compression.
 FLAC is an open format with royalty-free licensing
and a reference imple-
mentation which is free
software.
Free Lossless Audio Codec:
Advantages :
 Files encoded to FLAC format are reduced
to 50–60% of its original size, and can be
decompressed into an identical copy of the
original audio data.
 FLAC is supported by more hardware
devices than competing lossless
compressed formats like WavPack or ape
format.
 In comparison to other lossless
formats, FLAC is quicker to
stream and decode.
Free Lossless Audio Codec:
Advantages :
 It is best suited as an archive format for
owners of CDs as flac format produces the
exact duplicate of the original date.
 FLAC enjoys wider application and
popularity than its counter-parts.
 Supported in different platforms.
 Supports steaming and error handling.
 Multichannel support and high
resolution.
Free Lossless Audio Codec:
Disadvantages :
 Just like other lossless formats, it takes up
significantly larger amt. of space compared
to MP3.
 FLAC’s playback support in portable audio
devices and dedicated audio systems is
limited compared to lossy formats like
MP3.
 Compression Rate isn’t as efficient as
other modern encoders like Monkey’s
Audio, LPAC.
True Audio :
 Filename Extension is .tta
 It was developed by Aleksander Djourik.
 First stable release on 26 th July ‘2007 with
version 3.4.1
 TTA format fashions Lossless
Compression.
 All TTA source code and binaries are freely
available and distributed under GPL Open
Source licenses.
True Audio :
Advantages :
 Being lossless, it retains the quality of the
original file.
 Its is open source, i.e., its source codes
are freely available and can be modified.
 Supports multichannel support.
 TTA format has high resolution, meaning it
uses sampling rates higher than 48kHz
and/or bit depths higher than 16bit.
True Audio :
Advantages :
 It has higher encoding speed than other
lossless encoders like FLAC, APE , LPAC.
 True Audio compresses Compression
ratios up to 30% of the original, broadly
similar to FLAC and APE.
Disadvantages :
 Just like other lossless formats, it takes up
significantly larger amt. of space
compared to MP3.
True Audio :
Disadvantages :
 It doesn’t support streaming.
 The softwares that support TTA format are
very limited.
 TTA format isn’t as popular as FLAC,
another lossless Codec.
MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 :
 Filename Extension is .mp3
 MP3 is an audio-specific format that was
designed
by Motion Picture Experts Group(MPEG) as
part of its MPEG -1 standard and later
extended in MPEG -2 standard.
 Initial release was done in 1993.
 It is a common audio format for
consumer audio storage and is a
standard for transfer and playback
of music on digital audio players.
MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 :
Advantages :
 MP3 uses Lossy audio data compression,
therefore, greatly reduce the amt. of data
required to represent the audio recording.
 Widespread acceptance and support in
nearly all hardware audio players and
devices.
 Fast decoding, lower complexity
than other lossy encoders such as
AAC or Vorbis.
MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 :
Advantages :
 An MP3 file can be constructed at higher or
lower bit rates with the corresponding
resulting quality.
 Relaxed licensing schedule.
 Because of the small size, it is preferred for
file sharing in Internet.
Disadvantages :
 Lower performance/efficiency than
modern codecs.
MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 :
Disdvantages :
 An MP3 file can be constructed at higher or
lower bit rates with the corresponding
resulting quality.
 MP3 is not saddled with digital rights
management (DRM) technologies used to
prevent unlimited copying of music, therefore,
MP3 is very easy to pirate.
 Loss in the quality of the audio file
as some information is discarded.
 Unlike WMA, MP3 does not support
Advanced Audio Coding :
 Filename Extension is .aac
 AAC is the official successor of MP3 from the
MPEG committee.
 As with MP3, the AAC format is an
international standard, and is backed by
several big-name companies, including
Dolby, Sony and Nokia.
 AAC is a standardized, lossy
compression and encoding scheme
for digital audio.
Advanced Audio Coding :
Advantages :
 An international standard approved by the
ISO (International Organisation of
Standardization).
 ACC format is flexible: supports several
sampling, bit depths, and multichannel.
 Supported by many softwares, including free
and high quality ones (itunes, Nero).
 Being Open source, ACC format can
be used by anyone.
 Supported by many portable players
Advanced Audio Coding :
Advantages :
 Provide quite high quality at low bitrates.
Disadvantages :
 Heavily patented.
 Seemingly complex specification with several
flavours of AAC available. Many of these
flavors aren’t supported by different players.
Window Media Player :
Lossy
 Filename Extension is .wma
 WMA is a Microsoft file format for encoding
digital audio files similar to MP3 though can
compress files at a higher rate than MP3.
 WMA Standard is the second most
widespread lossy format after MP3.
 Windows Media Audio, was originally
created by Microsoft to use with its
Windows Media Player, which now
also supports MP3.
Window Media Player :
Advantages :
 WMA uses Lossy audio data compression,
therefore, greatly reduce the amt. of data
required to represent the audio recording.
 WMA supports DRM, Digital Rights
Management which is an anit-piracy
procedure. This has made piracy of WMA file
less common.
 WMA can compress files at a higher
rate as MP3.
Window Media Player :
Disadvantages :
 Support for WMA file format is not absolute
as Apple’s Ipod does not support it.
 WMA format lacks support from third party
devices such as MP3 players.
 A lot many MP3 players cannot play DRM
protected WMA files.