From MP3 to FLAC: your guide to audio formats

Mar 14, 2010, 14:05 GMT

Berlin - In Germany internet users racked up 50 million downloads of songs or entire albums in 2009, according to BITKOM, an industry association -- and that's not counting illegal downloads, which would greatly increase the numbers.

But what exactly are all these people downloading?

MP3 is the standard term used for downloaded computer files. However, there is actually a whole range of formats for surfers to choose from, all recognizable by their distinct suffixes. Here is an overview.

MP3: 'MP3 is definitely the most widespread audio format,' says Christine Tantschinez of the German magazine Audio. 'That's because you can play it on all hardware and software players,' explains Matthias Rose of the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS) in Erlangen, Germany which was heavily involved in the creation of the format at the end of the 1980s.

The MP3 made it possible for the first time to compress audio files to a size smaller than the source file. Developers relied and continue to rely on the limited range of human hearing, since compression relies on trimming away the parts of the music that the human ear can't hear anyway.

WAV: Data is not compressed in this format, but stored in its original form. That makes WAV documents very large and not ideal for replay on portable devices, which are designed for playing smaller files. However, WAV documents are compatible with all programmes designed to play music. Anyone who wants to edit music is well served by storing it as a WAV file.

WMA: Windows Media Audio is, not surprisingly, linked to the Microsoft operating system, yet never really caught on. WMA files can be played with any music software, but there can be problems with the files, which are protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM), preventing multiple copies or playbacks. In this case Microsoft's Windows Media Player is the only programme that can play these documents.

AAC: This format is most closely linked with Apple's music and multimedia iTunes software and also has significant DRM problems. These files can be played on all Apple products (i.e. the iPod family), but also on other music players. AAC does actually have better sound quality than MP3, but still has not managed to dethrone the popular format.

OGG: This format - the full name is Ogg Vorbis - also has better sound quality than MP3. It is an open source format, one which music enthusiasts are continually tweaking. More hardware support is regularly coming online and many programmes have no problems replaying Ogg files.

MPC: This is focused on high quality audio compression with a sound comparable to CD quality. It's full name is Musepack. However, it is currently not supported by any hardware player, though there are plug-ins to allow MPC playback for some software players. The fact that it combines high quality with small data size makes MPC a good choice for archiving music.

FLAC: 'FLAC is optimal for people who don't just like to hunt down and collect music, but for people who want to work with it and make CDs,' says Tantschinez. It is a loss-free format that is smaller than WAV, making it better for archiving. FLAC files allow a perfect recreation of the original, which can then be manipulated.

Neither Tantschinez or Rose foresee any of these formats unseating MP3 from its throne in the near future. Nonetheless, new formats are regularly being developed, even by IIS. Indeed, IIS presented new formats - HD-AAC and MPEG Surround - at this year's prestigious Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.