Various audio file formats along with their advantages and disadvantages

You who like to listen to music must have heard the music formats WAV, AAC, MP3, WMA, FLAC, and PCM. Let's discuss one by one the advantages and disadvantages:

1. WAV (WAVE-form)

WAV stands for the term in English "waveform". WAV is an audio file format standard developed by Microsoft and IBM. WAV is the main format for storing raw audio data in Windows and uses the same method as Apple AIFF to store data.

WAV is generally used to store audio without compression, CD quality sound files. This file is large, around 10MB per minute. The .wav file can also contain encoded data with a variety of codecs to reduce file size. But for the purpose of collecting music, transferring via the internet and playing  on portable players, this format is less popular than MP3, Ogg Vorbis and WMA due to the very large file size.

Extension: .wav or .wv

Advantages:

WAV usually uses PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) coding. In this way, details are not lost when analog audio is digitized and stored. This makes WAV format (using PCM) an option for high-fidelity audio editing.

Software that can create WAV from Analog Sound, for example, is Windows Sound Recorder

WAV is uncompressed data, so all audio samples are stored on the hard drive.

Deficiency:

The maximum size of the WAV file is 2GB.

WAV is rarely used on the internet because of its relatively large size.

2. AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)

AAC is an audio format file based on MPEG2 and MPEG4. AAC is lossy compression (compression data cannot be returned to the original data, because after compression there are missing data). The AAC file was developed by the Motion Picture Expert Group (Fraunhofer Institute, Dolby, Sony, Nokia, and AT & T). AAC files are compressed in a way that is more efficient at 128 kbps with stereo sound than the version that first appeared, namely, MP3. AAC is an audio codec that enhances MP3 in terms of medium and high bit rates.

Extensions: .m4a, .m4b, .m4p, .m4v, .m4r, .3gp, .mp4, .aac

Ways of working:

The irrelevant parts of the signal will be discarded, then eliminate the redundant parts of the signal. After that, the MDCT (Modified Discrete Cosine Transform) process was carried out based on the level of signal complexity. Addition of Internal Error Correction. Then, the signal is stored or transmitted.

Advantages:

The sound is better for low bit quality (below 16 Hz).

Has 48 channels.

The sample is between 8 Hz - 96 kHz

Deficiency:

Files that have been compressed cannot be returned to the initial form, because there are some data that is missing.

AAC license is not free.

3. MPEG Layer 3 (MP3)

Mp3 is an audio compression format developed by Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). This file format uses Layer 3 audio compression which is commonly used to store music files and audiobooks on the hard drive. The mp3 file format is able to provide sound quality that approaches the quality of a stereo CD with 16-bit. MP3 experienced its heyday in 1995, where more MP3 files were available on the internet and its popularity was increasingly boosted due to its relatively small quality and capacity.

The sound quality of an MP3 file depends on most of the bit rates used for compression. The frequently used bit rates usually range from 128, 160, 192, 256 and 320 kbps. The bigger the bit rate, the better the quality, but it has an effect on the growing space requirements in the disk. To find the quality that is close to CD quality, a bit-rate of 320 kbps is required.

As a file compression, MP3 uses a lossy compression technique so that there is a possibility that the quality of the file decreases when converted into MP3. In practice, the reduction in file quality does not appear to be real, but the result of the reduction.

In 2001, the next generation of MP3 Pro was introduced and offered improved sound and compression quality, but because there was no free MP3Pro decoder, the actual format is extraordinary, it cannot replace the MP3 standard. Extension: .mp3

Advantages :

Approaching the quality of a stereo CD with 16-bit

Deficiency :

Limited bit rate, maximum 320 kbps

Compressed, the file quality has been reduced

4. Ogg and Ogg Vorbis

Ogg is a free multimedia format designed for efficient streaming and storage. This format was developed by the Xiph.org Foundation. Similarly, Vorbis is a free audio codec. Vorbis is usually installed with Ogg, so the name Oa gg Vorbis appears. The launch of the format and codec was actually a response to the plans of the MP3 owner in 1998 who wanted to charge a license fee for the MP3 format. Ogg Vorbis is very popular among open source, because of its quality and free nature. But until now even though it's free, there are still a few players that support this format, one of the well-known is Winamp which also supports the Ogg Vorbis format.

Advantages :

is a free audio codec

save memory storage, because of low capacity.

Deficiency :

there are still a few players that support this format.

OGG audio has also been through the compression process by removing sound files that are not needed, so the sound produced is not too good

5. WMA (Window Media Audio)

WMA is a codec for lossy compression which was first developed by Microsoft to compete with MP3. Meanwhile, Microsoft has positioned WMA to compete with AAC used in Apple products such as the iPod and iTunes Music Store. WMA also uses Digital Rights Management systems such as AAC for copy protection and limits playback on certain PCs or devices. WMA audio streams are almost always with ASF files. If you only carry audio data, the file usually has a.WMA extension. There is also a lossless version for multichannel surround sound and for voice encoding (WMA Voice).

Advantages :

WMA files can be run on other media players too even if they are on another operating system.

It is a very popular online music vendor because of their support for Digital Rights Management (DRM). DRM (Digital Rights Management) is a feature that supports the prevention of music piracy.

Having music quality is better than MP3 and AAC

The WMA format is quite popular and is supported by hardware and software

Deficiency :

Wma files have a large enough size because the compression technique is not done to the maximum. The WMA audio format is usually not used on the internet because of the large file size.

6. FLAC

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is the most widely used Lossless audio format, making it the best choice for users who want to save audio by slightly reducing the sound quality (lossless). Unlike WAV and AIFF, where audio files are not compressed, however, lossless audio format files have been compressed. For professional audio audiophiles, WAV and AIFF formats are the best choices, but this file will take up a lot of storage on the hard disk.