Comparison of audio formats

An audio file format is a file format for storing digital audio data on a computer system. This data can be stored uncompressed, or compressed to reduce the file size. It can be a raw bitstream, but it is usually a container format or an audio data format with defined storage layer.

There are three major groups of audio file formats:

Uncompressed audio formats: WAV, AIFF, AU or raw header-less PCM;
Formats with lossless compression: Windows Media Audio Lossless (WMA Lossless), FLAC, APE, WV, TTA, ATRAC Advanced Lossless, m4a and Shorten.
Formats with lossy compression: Windows Media Audio Lossy (WMA lossy), MP3, AAC, Vorbis OGG, Musepack and ATRAC.

The following is a comparison of audio formats that our software supports. Click on a audio format to see the format introduction and related software downloads.

Audio Formats:

MP3, OGG, WAV, WMA, AAC

Format Filename extension Creator Music reproduction Lossless audio compression Patented DRM
MP3 .mp3 ISO/IEC MPEG Audio Committee Yes   Yes Yes
OGG .ogg Xiph.Org Foundation Yes      
WMA .wma Microsoft Yes Yes Yes Yes
AAC .aac ISO/IEC MPEG Audio Committee Yes   Yes Yes
WAV .wav, .wave Microsoft Yes      

Related Downloads:

Free Audio Converter is a free software to convert audio formats MP3, OGG, WAV, WMA from one to another, such as converting MP3 to WAV and WMA, WAV to MP3 and WMA.


Screenshot:

Weeny Free Audio Screenshot