From .MP3, .M4A, .AAC and more, there are many audio file formats you may encounter as a developer handling audio/video content in your application. These include FLAC, WAV or AIFF. These file types are considered “restricted” because they match or exceed CD quality. The disadvantage is that these files become very large.
What is the best audio file format for use on the web?
In terms of browser compatibility, .MP3 and .MP4 are the best audio file formats for web use. All modern browsers support this format. They are compatible with most browsers including OGG, WebM, AAC and WAV.
What is the most popular audio format?
MP3 files are the most popular audio format. Its ubiquity has inspired an entire category of devices (MP3 players) for the past few decades, and its popularity continues to this day. MP3s can be created in a variety of bit rates used to balance quality and file size. Its efficient size has made it the standard format for exchanging audio on the web.
Convert an audio format in different audio format?
To convert files manually, use an online converter like MiConv to convert between file formats
To convert files programmatically, MiConv provides an Audio Transcoding API that simplifies converting audio files. Learn more about converting audio with MiConv.
Audio file formats
.MP3
.MP3 files are the most common audio files.MP3s have lossy compression, which means their quality degrades during subsequent processing. MP3s are still relatively large compared to other audio file formats on this list.
MP3 files can be encoded with constant or variable bit rate. A constant bitrate ensures the same quality throughout the audio file, but results in a larger file size. A variable bitrate degrades the quality during moments of silence or near-silence in a file, resulting in a smaller overall file size.
.M4A
.M4A is an Apple-based format that corresponds to .MPEG4 video files. M4A files feature lossless compression that allows multiple edits without quality loss. Compared to the other audio file formats on this list, .M4A files are of similar quality but smaller in file size. You will see that .M4A files play audio on Apple products like iPhones and iPods.
.AAC
Like MP3s, AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) files are lossy audio files. However, .AAC files are much higher quality in their raw state than any of the other audio file formats on the list. AAC files are generally similar in size to MP3s, although of slightly higher quality
AAC files are also open source, which means you don’t have to pay royalties to create and distribute them (unlike .MP3 files).
