One of the most widely used lossy/compressed file formats is MP3. MP3 has the benefit of small file sizes, sound quality that is good, and interoperability with digital media players. At the same bitrate, AAC can have a higher quality of audio than MP3. When compared to ALAC, FLAC files may stream and decode more quickly. Large file sizes are associated with the uncompressed audio formats WAV and AIFF. Lossless compressed audio formats include FLAC and ALAC. At the same bitrate, WMA sounds better than MP3 despite being a lossy compressed music format. The lossy compressed audio format with the least file size is OGG.
MP3 vs WAV
Now let’s explore whether MP3 is lighter than WAV.
A substantially smaller total file size is achieved using the compression process used in MP3 files, which are a lossy form of audio files. Data is lost because of the irreversible nature of the compression that occurs. It is called "lossy" for this reason. The reason MP3 files are so popular is that its compression technique typically retains music quality while drastically reducing file size. WAV files generally have a substantially larger size since they include much more info. They are regarded as a professional audio format for this reason. WAV and MP3 are fairly widely compatible. For example, Android and Apple smartphones can play WAV files. MP3s are even more widely compatible. It will be difficult to discover audio systems that don’t recognize them because they have been the industry standard for more than 20 years. WAV and MP3 files are not always superior to one another. While most WAV files are lossless, some may be compressed and have less data.
Audio File with Least Compression
Now let’s explore the audio file with the least amount of compression.
- FLAC (HI-RES): This lossless compression format maintains metadata, uses roughly half the space of WAV, and supports high-resolution sample rates. It is regarded as the recommended format for downloading and storing high-resolution albums because it is royalty-free. The drawback is that Apple does not support it, making it incompatible with Apple Music.
- Apple has also created their own lossless audio compression method, known as ALAC (HI-RES). The complete library of Apple Music is encoded in AAC as well as ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) in resolutions ranging from 16-bit/44.1 kHz (CD quality) to 24-bit/192 kHz.
- Super Audio CDs employ the single-bit DSD (HI-RES) format. Available at 2.8MHz, 5.6MHz, and 11.2MHz frequencies, this high-quality, uncompressed audio is (mainly) unsuitable for streaming.
- Apple’s ‘Advanced Audio Coding’ (AAC) is an alternative to MP3 (NOT HI-RES). Although compressed and lossy, it sounds better overall. used for streaming Apple Music.
- MP3 (NOT HI-RES): Although it guarantees a short file size, this widely used lossy compressed format is not the best for sound quality. Easy to use for keeping music on iPods and phones.
- OGG (NOT HI-RES): Occasionally referred to as Ogg Vorbis in its entirety. A patent-free, lossy, open-source replacement for MP3 and AAC. The file format that Spotify streams in at 320 kbps.
- WAV (HI-RES): This is the common format used to encode all CDs. Excellent sound quality, but large file sizes due to uncompression (particularly for hi-res files). It doesn’t support metadata well, which includes information on the artist, song title, and album artwork.
FLAC vs WAV
Let’s investigate if FLAC is smaller than WAV.
The acronym for Free Lossless Audio Codec is FLAC. The ability to compress different file formats into FLAC is implied by the word "lossless." By using FLAC, you might reduce the size of audio files by 60% without sacrificing their original quality. The Xiph.Org Foundation launched the FLAC format in 2001, and it has since become one of the most popular audio file formats on the play. FLAC is a significantly more flexible and versatile file format, which is one of the considerations when choosing between it and WAV. FLAC may be played on almost any contemporary music player. Since FLAC files are lossless, the original recording’s quality is preserved. It is possible to compress FLAC audio files by 50% to 70% without compromising on quality. Sending FLAC files by email or even cloud-based apps to friends and family is considerably quicker and easier. The majority of devices are capable of playing FLAC files. Since WAV files are uncompressed, they have higher quality levels than other file types. While FLAC files have restrictions on bit-depth and sampling rate, WAV files are unrestricted in these areas. WAV files are a safe option for avoiding compatibility problems because they work with all applications and devices. FLAC files are much smaller than WAV files. Two file types that can be converted quite quickly are FLAC and WAV. As FLAC and WAV files are lossless, converting between them won’t cause you to lose any data. WAV and FLAC are regarded as two of the best file formats for audio files.
AAC vs WAV
Let’s investigate if AAC is less than WAV in size.
Because of the ease of use provided by their smaller size, MP3 files are extensively utilized in the podcasting industry. Certain portions of the MP3 audio recording are removed during encoding in order to compress the file and make it smaller. Compared to WAV files, which typically have a bitrate of 1,411 kbps at 16 bit, MP3 files can have a bitrate ranging from 90 kbps to 320 kbps. Encoding does not compress WAV files. This implies that the file retains all of the original audio components. There is a cost associated with higher WAV vs MP3 quality. Although uncompressed WAV files are far larger than their MP3 equivalents, you might still get fantastic sound effects. WAV files preserve all of their frequencies in the audio spectrum, in contrast to MP3s that undergo lossy compression. WAV files have higher file sizes as a trade-off for their superior quality.